Welcome to GoW 3. Now, fasten your seatbelt.
Buy an HDTV if you haven't already. Don't just buy one for God of War 3. Buy one for the future of gaming. Buy one for Blu-ray. Buy one for Avatar. Call your parents for the first time in weeks and beg for money; talk to a loan shark; go into debt... whatever it takes. At this point, you owe yourself that much.
**This review is based off my completion of the game in Hard mode.
That being said, GoW 3 is a graphical masterpiece. Before I continue, I must classify myself as one that ADORES the camera angles/views. I have seen mixed feelings regarding the camera movement in GoW 3. While I completely understand that everyone has their own preference and the camera movement can get pretty... radical... at times, I believe it's radical like "ninja turtles" radical. Like less "Bill & Ted's bogus adventure" radical and more "Bill & Ted's excellent adventure" radical. When the game goes into an extreme close-up of Kratos as he sidesteps through a narrow tunnel, I find myself thinking, "Sony, you naughty girl you... Showing off like this." I won't even get into what I was thinking during Kratos'... uh... run-in... with Aphrodite.
The pros seem endless--an apposite exaggeration. The weapons are a roar of a good time... they're "stupid fun" as the hip-hop culture would classify it. The graphics make Dante's Inferno look like it was developed for N64. You'll get a sick, psychotic joy from being covered in your enemies' blood after a battle. The story is literally divine... What else can I address here? Yup, that was improved upon and is awesome as well.
For me, the only con that made the game a 9.5 instead of a perfect 10, was the combat mechanics. Don't get me wrong, the combos, finishing moves, special items, magic use, etc. have all been improved upon for a third time and are a huge success. However, the actual battle mechanics strike an on-going button-masher pet peeve of mine: lower mob type enemies will often bypass your attacks as if you were doing nothing and I cannot cancel out of a combat-move to avoid their attacks. Enemies have certain moves that cannot be broken and that's fine. I am not saying this cripples the game-play by any means. I realize this is a style of game-play. I simply find it obnoxious. I would like the ability to cancel my own combat-moves at any point. GoW 3's style of combat is why I classified the game as "Hard." Hard mode is bloody frustrating, pun intended. I love the challenge.
Lastly, this game is certainly M for mature. I'm in Internet retail, so I am well aware that the average gamer is 38 years old. So, if you're big on censorship, GoW 3 may not be the best game to whip out while your toddlers are running around. Like all God of War games, the gore goes without warning. It's the abundance of arguably the best part of the female anatomy, a five letter word (when pluralized) that appropriately rhymes with "lubes," that may push your PG limits. I just thought I'd mention it, because the last thing you need is a handful of horny adolescents... practicing with themselves on your PS3. You touch that controller and Lysol only kills 99.9% of germs... Just something to keep in mind.
God of War 3 is an epic installment and a large contributor to the classic franchise. It does not disappoint.