God of War III

By John Gaudiosi Published 1 April, 2009

The men behind the myth.

To get a sense of just how big a leap Sony's Santa Monica Studio reckons it's made from God of War II on PlayStation 2 to the upcoming PlayStation 3 God of War III, simply recall the leap Kratos took off Mount Olympus in the first one.

"The depth of PlayStation 3 allowed us to dive deeper into the plot itself," says Steve Cash, senior producer, who's just gone through a live demonstration of the game. "The only real way I can describe it is for you to look at the first generation of PS2 games and then look at some of the [later] games. They're all using the same hardware, but people just got a lot better at using the hardware. They learned all the tricks and what the restraints were, and what the best ways to achieve the best results were. The difference in my mind is just astronomical."

Beyond the obvious graphical enhancements - the fidelity, rim shadowing techniques, texture resolution and the sheer number of joints in each character - that PS3's Cell processor has opened up for the team of over 100 in Santa Monica, the game's story and gameplay has also enjoyed a nice buffing.

"I know based on the things that I asked for in terms of design that this is a completely different God of War, because we never could do that on PlayStation 2," explains Stig Asmussen, God of War III's game director. "Just the level of detail and clarity that we are getting, and the fact that we can now use the memory that it takes to store all the animations to do things like right body turns, and that we can process enough characters on screen to bring this level of action to the gameplay..."

Anyone who's seen the God of War III trailer that debuted after this Sony event will take solace in the fact that Asmussen assures gamers everything was produced using in-game footage and gameplay. In essence, the leap to PS3 has enabled the team to bring the type of detailed action once allocated to cut-scenes into the gameplay experience itself.

'God of War III' Screenshot 1

The, er, Olympics. Presumably.

"I've never seen anyone else work on this kind of scale," says Asmussen. "Because of that, we don't have anything to refer to. We want to design it so that it has a flow, and we won't have to drop hints. We also do extensive play testing."

Since the original God of War took off to become a blockbuster and its sequel grew to an even larger Hollywood epic scale, there's a much larger audience of gamers to hit. And with the demographics also expanding, the team's focus turned to crafting an experience that would appease core and casual fans.

"When we started off writing the script for God of War III, it was important for us to bridge the series," explains Asmussen. "Key moments and things that were relevant in the first two games are profound in this game. We are making a story that is a refresher course for fans of the series, but serves as an introduction for the new players."

During the gameplay demo, Kratos finds himself in the heat of an escalating battle between the gods and the Titans. While Kratos is on his own quest for vengeance, he sides with the Titans - hulking beasts that can be used to his advantage. A lava-spewing behemoth tears through enemies in the distance, and Kratos remains extremely resourceful when it comes to taking advantage of the world around him. He can tear into a Cyclops and ride the beast through battle (and then rip its eyeball out and gut it when it's served its purpose). Kratos can fly through the air by hopping from one winged Harpy to another. He can also glide up tunnels and from precipices using the Wings of Icarus.

These manoeuvres enable Kratos to rush head-on into armies of skeleton warriors and fight against mythical monsters like the Chimera, a three-headed mini-boss that's part snake, part lion and part goat. Players use the traditional quick-time event mini-game when slicing off the three heads.

"We can now zoom in a lot tighter on the action, so when you are in the middle of a battle sequence you can practically smell what's going on right up close," adds John Hight, director at Sony Santa Monica Studios and executive producer of God of War III. "Next to that, we're pulling out all the stops. The Titans themselves, which were alluded to and actually took part in parts of the game of God of War II, are now an integral part of the game. So there are entire sequences - levels from beginning to end, that will be played on the backs of the Titans.

Asmussen said that seeing massive battlefields with 50 to 100 enemies on them has become common with the current generation of systems. But while these spectacles look awesome within gameplay, the actual experience hasn't lived up to the promise.

"When you play these games it's very much doing the same thing against 50 guys that you used to do against five," explains Asmussen. "The combat really didn't evolve. So what we're doing is implementing a bunch of new grab moves and actions and attacks that you're able to do that actually do evolve when more creatures get on screen."

'God of War III' Screenshot 2

Judging by the weather, the Wings of Icarus won't have any of their historic reliability issues.

The one-on-one battles are also epic, as Kratos can now change weapons on the fly, allowing for more robust combo chains. In the demo, Kratos takes on a 15-foot tall Centaur captain. It's interesting to note that when on screen, the Centaur actually improves the fighting of his undead minions through new artificial intelligence, according to Chase. But that doesn't stop Kratos disemboweling him in the end. The god Helios, who looks so powerful riding his fiery chariot, doesn't fare much better. Kratos rips his head clear off after an epic battle and then uses it to find the door into the base of Mount Olympus.

But the adventure is just beginning, not just for God of War III, but - Santa Monica Studio would have us believe - for the gameplay landscape on PS3.

"One of boss levels from God of War II is now able to fit in the hand of one of our Titan characters," concludes Cash. "From a technology standpoint, that is huge. I imagine that as we start heading into the later years of PlayStation 3, the stuff you are seeing with God of War III just pales in comparison with the kinds of things we will be able to do."

God of War III is due out exclusively for PlayStation 3 late this year or early next.

Picture of John.

About John Gaudiosi

Read more articles from John by visiting the John Gaudiosi archive page.

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Comments (56) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • RedSparrows #1 3 years ago

    ;o

  • bad09 #2 3 years ago

    Come on Sony do you never learn. It's a long way off, don't overkill the hype. Just keep it under your hat until it's a bit closer then dazzle us, why not give us something in the meantime instead of "just look what you'll get in a years time".

    / Forgets about God Of War until December so not to fall for Sony bull again

  • Ryze #3 3 years ago

    Let's bloooooody well hope so!

    I'm also not a fan of the early hype, as it really means nothing until the playable hits the shelves.

    I remember the 32X hype, when Mean Machines Sega showed 'screenshots' of Daytona USA - and they said that the hardware was more powerful than the Model 2 Arcade board. What a load of BOLLOCKS that was. Then Sony did the same with the PS3.

    This will make me impulse buy a PS3 - providing it lives up to its promise.

    They should shut up and work on finishing the game, in the meantime - as I bet the damn thing doesn't run in 256/200Mb RAM yet.
    Edited by 1 at 01/04/09 @ 13:56

  • lcmnick #4 3 years ago

    This article hasn't told us nothing we didn't already know weeks ago.

    I think he's right about the later years of the PS3 though.

    Look at early PS2 software compared to later PS2 software such as GOW2 and Shadow of the Colossus, and there's a complete gulf in class.

    But yeah, Santa Monica should zip it and just finish the thing...



  • Krelle #5 3 years ago

    Whats your job, Nick?

  • ChthonicEcho #6 3 years ago

    That picture seems to be more among the lines of 'Goddess of War'.

    Edit: Or Queer of War, come to think of it.
    Edited by 1 at 01/04/09 @ 14:26

  • chessboxer #7 3 years ago

    It's not locked at 30fps. It will run at 60fps but will drop down to a minimum of 30fps when there's a lot of action on screen. I have no idea if it will be native 1080p though.

  • robg #8 3 years ago

    "God of Queer"

    Welcome to the playground :)

  • Ryze #9 3 years ago

    The thing is, that launch titles for ANY platform are usually rushed shite.

    So yes - Smuggler's Run on PS2 is way behind Burnout 3.

    However - how much more advanced is God of War II from MGS2? Burnout 3 from Gran Turismo 3???

    The 2nd gen of games is usually massively better than the 1st (technically) - like GTA IV in comparison to Saints Row, for example. I can only wait and see how developers can get around having 200Mb main memory, a slow optical drive and a limited GPU.

    I'd like to think that some amazing results are possible - but you still have to overcome serious RAM, streaming and GPU limitations.
    Edited by 2 at 01/04/09 @ 14:55

  • Thunderbolt #10 3 years ago

    Cant wait for some HD boobage

    Having played all GOW games I can't wait but please enough with the QTE.

  • Widge #11 3 years ago

    STOP. STARTING. CONSOLE. WAR. COMMENT. THREADS.

    and keep the QTE, its not GoW without it and QTE does not mean shitness by default.
    Edited by 1 at 01/04/09 @ 15:45

  • Goodfella #12 3 years ago

    A bit like Gears of War then?

  • El-Dev #13 3 years ago

    Oh another good game for the PS3 this year, I expect it will be shit in comparison to most 360 games though. They all are.

  • NotSoSlim #14 3 years ago

    Goodfella

    You took the bait...shame on you. Ignore him, most people do anyway.

    Game looks mint and hopes it keeps the same style and gameply but just more accessible...loving the change weapons on the fly.

  • Widge #15 3 years ago

    I also think rather than continue the rather excellent series, God Of War 3 should aspire to be as good as the 'ok' Tomb Raider Underworld.

  • Goodfella #16 3 years ago

    lol, I didn't take the bait, I'm waiting to see what his laughable reply to it is?

  • ronuds #17 3 years ago

    Why is every PS3 exclusive interview 70% about the PS3 itself? Like, who the hell cares about that when they're supposed to be talking about a game and how cool it is?

    Ugh...well, game's looking pretty good anyway.

  • Grom #18 3 years ago

    Doh - they forgot to mention how BLU-RAY lets them fit twenty copies of the game on the disk, with room to spare for a hi-rez picture of Kaz Hirai's smiling face. That'll earn a bollocking from Sony HQ.

  • andijames #19 3 years ago

    I don't see the problem with QTE's as long as they're used contexually. It's not like the whole game is based around it. In all fairness most games out there are based on someone interacting with a pad and pressing the right button at the right time. QTE's just vary the button to press and prompt you on the screen with it.

    Simples.

  • NotSoSlim #20 3 years ago

    J1GSAW

    Couldnt agree more..here hoping for collectors edition with all 3 games bundled!! Drools :D

  • Goodfella #21 3 years ago

    That would be sweet as I foolishly traded in the first game due to lack of funds at the time.Won't happen though.

  • Widge #22 3 years ago

    People have a go at game mechanics but apply a generalisation to all games. Stealth sections is another one of them. Are we going to start saying that the next Splinter Cell is a no sale if it includes stealth because all stealth is bad, regardless of whether it does it well or not?

  • DrDamn #23 3 years ago

    @Widge
    I've seen stealth done well in several games. I've never seen QTE's add anything to a game. It always seems to be to do some really cool move they couldn't work out how to do any other way - the actual player doesn't even get to see said cool move because they are too busy being dragged out of the atmosphere of the game and concentrating on matching button presses the screen is telling them to do.

  • El-Dev #24 3 years ago

    Not overly into QTE's, was gonna buy Legends of Wrestlemania until i played the demo and the whol game is basically press a button when it appears on the screen, absolute poo. I don't mind them a little in a game but too much just ruins the whole thing.

  • ronuds #25 3 years ago

    "Couldnt agree more..here hoping for collectors edition with all 3 games bundled!! Drools :D"

    ^This - but for every sequel!!!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #26 3 years ago

    Guitar hero and rock band are the ultimate QTE games and they seem to have done quite well. :p

  • ronuds #27 3 years ago

    I think you're the one who could use some therapy. LOL

  • ronuds #28 3 years ago

    I have family and know people with PS3's. Someone has to keep an eye an these things for them.

    Besides, I haven't said anything negative about GOWIII. Looks good.
    Edited by 2 at 01/04/09 @ 17:57

  • Ryze #29 3 years ago

    Re QTEs:

    GamesProgrammer, Widge and andijames are spot on. If they're well implemented, and in contect to the action - then they're excellent.

    I personally think that Res Evil 4/5 and God of War are the best 2 action games where QTE is concerned. As long as it's not overused, or a silly load of bashing that doesn't match the action, then it's fine.

    I hope that they use a combination of button presses and SIXAXIS control for the QTEs in this game, but that the motion controls are much closer to the on-screen action to any Wii crap.

    It'd be nice to bash a monster's head in by making bashing motions with the pad - where the animation actually follows some of your movements.

    I'll wait and see what they manage.

    Going off topic slightly - it'd also be decent if Fight Night Round 4 allowed play using 2 SIXAXIS pads - one held in each hand to punch with.

  • Benno #30 3 years ago

    So whats better then? the x360 or Ps3?

    This game looks awesome btw

  • Ryze #31 3 years ago

    @J1GSAW

    With a bit of luck, they wont use too much of the following:

    - obvious corridors to hide load times

    - obvious small play areas / rooms to mask a struggling GPU

    - obvious repetition to mask a lack of RAM

    I'll wait and see...

  • Goodfella #32 3 years ago

    Well, the PS3 seems to cope fine with open world games such as Oblivion so I don't see what the problem is.

  • HermitArcader #33 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • ronuds #34 3 years ago

    "Well, the PS3 seems to cope fine with open world games such as Oblivion so I don't see what the problem is."

    You can't really compare Oblivion to GoWIII or games of that kind. In Oblivion there are 1 or 2 things going on at once, in GOWIII there are lots and lots. That's why you can't have games like GOWIII with the open world of a game like Oblivion.

  • Goodfella #35 3 years ago

    So what are you saying?

    I guess we're going back to Gears of War again because you can't do an open world version of that either.

  • HermitArcader #36 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • ronuds #37 3 years ago

    I'm not saying anything - only that you can't compare the inner workings of a game like Obvlion to a game like GOWIII...or Gears II for that matter, if that's the direction you want to swing it. Well, I guess I am saying something then. :p

    But nothing to do with the PS3. I'm not foolish enough to believe the PS3 or 360 can do anything the other can't.

  • ronuds #38 3 years ago

    "Bit vague that ronuds, when you mean stuff going on what do you mean, God of War is a scripted title in the Devil May Cry mould"

    I don't claim to be a programming genius, but I know that a game like Oblivion and a game like GOWIII are very differently programmed behind the scenes. I could try and describe why for you, but I'm sure there are people much more qualified. I only know from a high-level perspective. Scripted has nothing to do with it - it's more about how much is going on at once and how much a console can handle.

  • Widge #39 3 years ago

    I actually BLAME God Of War for poor QTE, that and Resi 4. Since those games, everyone seems to have it on their checklist to shoehorn in.

    Call the ones who do it shite out, but don't disregard the entire mechanic. Someone once said that if you took the QTE out of Shenmue, you'd have half a game left.

  • Widge #40 3 years ago

    Gears/Oblivion-Gears (and non-open world games, lets not just pin stuff on Gears, we can say Half Life 2 etc) is intended to be played a certain way through a certain route, you can use lots of smoke and mirrors to give the illusion of something massive going on. Oblivion, you can walk round the mirrors and through the smoke.... so you can't rely on them, as a result all the grunt that goes into the game is not on flash but on being able to cope without the gameplay being directed and approached in any fashion from any direction.

  • ronuds #41 3 years ago

    Right, but it would be difficult for a console to handle an entire open, streaming world, with the amount of things going on at once as in a game like Gears. GTA IV comes closest, but then you take the graphics hit. It's give and take.

  • Goodfella #42 3 years ago

    All good points and ronuds yeah you are right, it's just that I was replying to Ryze and his hinting at the PS3 not being able to cope with anything more than confined game design, and as I said neither console would be able to cope with an open world game that had the demanding activity of games such as God of War or Gears of War.

  • ronuds #43 3 years ago

    Well, Ryze's comment was nothing more than fanboy fodder. While he makes a point in the tricks they use with games like GOWIII, they do the same thing across all consoles. I believe there's Conan for the 360, which is something along the lines of GOWIII, and it's all small rooms and battlefields and such.

    That's just how it is. Maybe when there are PS5's and XBOX 1440's we'll be able to get rid of the smoke and mirrors, but it's not happening this gen.

  • drumbaby #44 3 years ago

    I think this game is going to suck due to low ram and crappy gpu. Should've done it on Wii.

  • dominalien #45 3 years ago

    I really liked QTEs in GoW, I thought they really added to the gameplay (especially killing off those women with snake tails, whatever those were called, these were wicked!).

    QTEs in RE4 were crap, half of my deaths counted at the end were from the single qte-based encounter with Krauser. Even after I got through it, I was too annoyed to try it again.

  • Pro_Gamer #46 3 years ago

    I have the PSP version of this game and I can't see what the fuss is about. Is it NOT a hack and slash game like any other? I think the game should move towards more RPG elements if it wants to succeed in todays day and age.

  • Waldo #47 3 years ago

    "Couldnt agree more..here hoping for collectors edition with all 3 games bundled!!"

    Are they going to bundle in some backwards-compatibility too?

  • Widge #48 3 years ago

    I think Fifa 09 needs to move towards RPG elements too.

  • bad09 #49 3 years ago

    "I have the PSP version of this game and I can't see what the fuss is about. Is it NOT a hack and slash game like any other?"

    I must admit my only experience of God Of War so far is the PSP version as I'm waiting to get new PS2 before I attempt the first two games, if they play similar though it is just a hack and slash as far as a I can see and can't see why such a fuss it made over GOW. Still I've yet to try the home console games as I say so could be proved wrong.

    The same happened with DMC tho, so many people hold that up a some great game, and that's just a fairly standard hack and slash IMO.
    Edited by 1 at 02/04/09 @ 07:29

  • Goodfella #50 3 years ago

    Well, what seperates God of War is that the combat is actually fun and satisfying, you feel like you're a bad ass, as the Americans would say. What sepeartes it further is that the narrative, music and level design are all top quality.

  • bad09 #51 3 years ago

    Yeah I'll give you that Goodfella, if the PSP version is anything to go by the narrative is great (big Clash of the Titans fan so love Greek mythology!) and even on the small screen it looks epic. I just can't help thinking more is made of this series simply because it was the last "big" series on PS2. As I said tho I've yet to sample the home versions.

    OK, no buts, I MUST fork out for my new PS2 on payday, I keep putting it off but saw GOW1 for a fiver in my local.

    / heads to Ebay
    Edited by 2 at 02/04/09 @ 07:56

  • Widge #52 3 years ago

    I didn't pick up on GoW until late, wondering what all the review praise was about.

    I started off through GoW1 and it just kept getting better and better and better as it went on. The direction, story, set plays and especially the music ... just epic. The Pandora's Temple bit is just perfect, reminding you of all the classic ancient epic films you'd see as a kid. Fantastical location full of exotic traps. It just went on and on as well, I kept thinking "could this get any more epic? the end must be around the corner now?" but it kept on upping it!

    Thats where it succeeds, and betters itself over DMC/NG.

  • Thunderbolt #53 3 years ago

    The PSP version is not as Epic as the PS2 games were and much more action focused due to the limitations of the PSP. It was still one of the best games on the PSP though and the reason I bought one in the first place.

    I recommend getting the PS2 games but but but I played these in 2005 and 2007 before I had a 'next-gen console' so I'm not sure how well they hold up to todays games. I'm sure that they are still awesome games but keep that in mind.

    Is it BC on the PS3, if you are lucky to have one of those early models?

  • septimus #54 3 years ago

    GOW 1 & 2 work fine on a BC PS3. 2 looks pretty good up-scaled to.

  • mungolikebeans #55 3 years ago

    This will be a 7/10

  • retr0gamer #56 3 years ago

    Couldn't give a shit about the story in this game. The story of the first one was alright but the second games story was utter shite. However it brought more spectacle, and more and better boss fights and was the better game. If this game lets me kick even more ass I'll be happy.