The God of War Collection for PS3 review
By Joseph Tresca
I know it may be hard to believe but honestly up until E3 last year I had barely touched a God of War game. I know, I know, for a self proclaimed hardcore gamer, I knew I was missing out. But the truth is, I fell into the hype of God of War when it was first released on PS2 and originally I was left unsatisfied with the game’s graphics. I’m thinking that having also owned an Xbox, the more powerful of the three systems last generation, I was expecting something less blurry looking. Ultimately, because I’m a graphics snob I stopped playing one of the best third person action adventure games ever created. Years went by and each time I would mention God of War, everyone had the same answer more or less. “It’s a classic!”, they would say. Well it is a classic and I’m making up for lost time with the newly released God of War Collection for the Playstation 3.
From the very beginning until the very end, God of War grips you and refuses to left go. Sony Santa Monica appear to be the originator of many of the dynamic camera angles we’ve come to know and love in the Uncharted series. You feel as though you are playing a movie. The camera artfully pans just behind the lead character, Kratos shoulders as you discover a new area. It pulls back perfectly to allow you to string together combo after combo knocking enemies in every direction. It is so smooth that it really does make the case for running a game like this at 60 frames per second.
Since we’re talking about frame rate, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the incredible animation. Kratos swims, climbs, rolls and runs with an impecceble attention to detail. The game also has such beautiful set pieces, that to an untrained eye it could easily be mistaken for a PS3 game. It’s worth noting that Sony went the extra mile to re-render the game in beautiful 720P, which was one of the main factors behind my giving the series a second chance. I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed that the movie and cut scenes do not share the same benefit as the in game graphics. While working your way through the various levels and settings of the two games, especially the first God of War, you’ll suddenly watch your beautifully rendered 720p Kratos get all pixelated and muddy looking as the old PS2 graphics are shown on screen for any of the cut scenes. This is a minor blemish for me that keeps this re-release from achieving perfection.
The boss battles are some of the best I’ve ever played, the gameplay is furiously fast and amazingly polished. The sound and music is multi-layered, ambient and immersive. The storyline though simple, is cool enough to keep you coming back for more. And come back for more I did. Thank you Sony for re-releasing this master piece. You’ve made a God of War fan out of a non believer. No easy task. Now I’m counting the days before God of War 3 is released!
