Our first submitted reader review comes from Some Guy (age 15). We’ve known Some Guy since he was about 12 maybe 13 and he’s always been one of our most eloquent posters. He’s always passionately defended young teens playing M-rated games so I’m particularly excited to see him debut with the infamous God of War franchise. So, parents, want to know what a Teen really thinks? Here you go! -GD

God of War III Reader Review by Some Guy (15): The long-awaited final instalment of the critically-acclaimed God of War series is finally here, and it’s just as epic and gruesome as ever. The God of War series is a game series based fairly loosely on Greek mythology. The games fall comfortably within the “Hack n’ Slasher” genre as you’ll be spending most of your time in the games fighting a bunch of varied and imaginative enemies at a close range. This game concludes the trilogy (excluding the PSP prequel) and the series has now jumped into this console generation. With what Santa Monica studio has been able to do on the PS2, the hype for this game is understandable. Does it live up to expectations, though?

The Game

The Game starts off exactly where God of War II ended, with Kratos (the main character) scaling Mount Olympus with the titans in pursuit of Zeus. The story is pretty simple although it does require knowledge of the plot in the previous games to truly understand. The story is pretty light most of the way through but the ending makes a commendable effort to humanise the main character and tie up all of the loose ends. The plot isn’t fantastic, but it’s certainly sufficient and ends the trilogy well.

While the story may not be top-class, the gameplay certainly is. Anyone who’s played any of the previous games in the series will feel right at home. There are two main attack buttons, a jump button, and a button for magic. The right analogue stick is used for rolling and the other buttons also contribute to the combat, allowing for multiple combos. You collect red orb-thingies along the way which are used to power up Kratos’ weapons and items. The gameplay really hasn’t changed, and it works just as well here as before, if not better. Like God of War II, multiple weapons are unlocked as the game progresses, but the other weapons feel more useful this time. All of the weapons come in useful so you can’t just rely on perfecting the use of the Blades of Exile (the main weapon in the game) to get along.

There is still a fair bit of variety as there are also some puzzles to solve and platforming areas to get past, but these aren’t executed as well as the combat. The platforming shifts from being mindlessly easy to frustrating and the only notable puzzle is a particularly clever Echochrome-esque maze puzzle.

It may sound like nothing much has improved from the previous God of War games, but the one area that is most clearly improved is the scale of the game. Some of the set-pieces and battles in the game are on a scale simply not seen before, and certainly not possible on the PS2. The game starts off with a huge bang and there are many memorable moments, including what could be the largest boss in video game history later on.

While the game is certainly big on scale and is very well made, the adventure doesn’t last as long as some would hope. I completed the game in about 12 hours on normal difficulty, while others have apparently completed the game in closer to 8 hours. With no Online to speak of and little incentive to replay the game, God of War III is a brilliant game but it would best to rent rather than buy it.

The “Adult” Content

The big question here, though, is the level of “mature” content. Is the game appropriate for person X, Y or Z of age X, Y or Z. For any parent asking this or teen trying to get parental permission, there’s one big problem with this question, and that is that I don’t you/your child and I can’t tell you/your child’s level of maturity simply by how many times you/he/she’s travelled round the sun. I can only tell you what the “mature” content is in the game, I can’t assign a specific age limit.

The ESRB (the game rating board in the US) gives the game an M (17+) rating with the content descriptors “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content”. Other rating boards have given God of War III similar ratings.

The violence is a no-brainer. The game is essentially all about beating the crap out of various mythological creatures so the game is very bloody. Most of the time, the camera is at a fair distance and the gore mainly consists of vague red blurs, but this all changes for the bosses and more significant enemies. As with the previous games, the bigger enemies and bosses are finished off with QTEs (quick time events) where the camera zooms in on the action as Kratos impales, stabs, slashes, disembodies ect. the enemy. These moments are very graphic, and are now more so due to the increased graphical capabilities of the PS3.

The sexual content in the game comes in only one scene, but still may concern some parents. The ESRB describes the sex scene like this:

“Players will encounter a goddess and her two hand maidens, all topless, all holding and caressing each other. If players wish to, they may join the goddess (and only the goddess) in bed. Actual sex is never depicted as the camera drifts, then fixes on the two maidens, who watch from a distance. As players respond to the on-screen prompts with button presses, the topless maidens will continue to watch, and sometimes caress. Moaning sounds from the bed can be heard throughout the sequence.”

Swearing is one thing that isn’t abundant in the game. GOWIII stays away from modern colloquial language, clearly to keep the theme consistent (although the words bastard and whore are used in the main game). There is some occasional but strong language in the bonus behind the scenes videos, though.

Gameplay footage can easily be found on sites such as YouTube for anyone who wants to see the game in action.

Overall, it’s a very good game but it’s very over the top in terms of adult content. For anyone who can handle the content, though, it’s a definite rental and maybe even a buy for some people.

Tags: Game Reviews, Reader Reviews!