God of War III is an action-adventure finale that picks up exactly where God of War II ends, with Kratos riding a Titan up the slopes of Olympus. The campaign was completed through its credits and post-credits scene on original PS3 hardware.
The visuals are insane for the hardware, with the glowing blades and the scale of Olympus making the jump from God of War II huge. The intro’s direct continuation of the previous ending looks dramatically better.
The weapon-swap system lets combat switch weapons mid-combo, and the spells tied to each weapon are all pretty good. The Claws of Hades are the favourite, versatile thanks to the many souls that can be summoned.
Combat quality-of-life improvements land, with movement while attacking, faster object pushing and a visible max-upgrade indicator. The Hermes fight is a fun highlight, and the Zeus finale’s dynamic fighting stage is a cool touch.
The new quick-time events are the biggest issue, since the small buttons at the screen edges are far harder to read than the centred prompts of earlier games. The close over-the-shoulder camera feels wrong, and enemy-heavy stretches drag.
The scorpion queen fight and the cerberus are worse than ever, and the shield enemies block constantly. The Pandora escort mission is a chore, and the Hermes boots barely last longer than two seconds.
Overall, the visuals, the weapon-swap combat and the epic set pieces make God of War III a very good game. The edge-of-screen quick-time events and the close camera are the caveats.