I purchased God of War 3 not too long ago, and just today beat it for the first time. Since I thoroughly enjoyed both GoW1 and GoW2, I was very excited to start experiencing Kratos's first brutal path to vengence on the PS3. As expected my friends and I were blown away by the sheer awesomeness of the graphics in this game. Theres nothing quite like slicing a centaurs stomach and watching the blood and guts flow from the beast's inners. The begining boss fight was unforgetable; Swinging from one giant water horse/snake/Poseiden monster to the next slicing and dicing throughout, and laughing out loud at some of the truly spectacular moves that Kratos manages to pull off day in and day out.

However, when for the third time in the series, Kratos was killed and sent to the underworld, and forced to find a way back to the land of the living; I began to think to myself "Are they really gonna make me do this again??" Not that escaping the grasp of Hades is not incredibly bad ass or anything, it's just that after a third round in the Underworld, it would have been nice to maybe have a bit of a change of scenery.

The feeling of overuse in the game doesn't stop here though. For the first time ever Kratos now has wings, that we can use to both glide across long gaps with ease and to speed dangerously through tube shaped mine shafts placed throughout the entire game. There must be ten different infuriatingly small tubes that Kratos either falls or flies through in this game. By the fifth mine shaft I was forced to glide through the distinct feeling of intensity and franticness had faded, and I distinctly remember getting that frustration felt only after dying for the umteenth time on a cheap death on a level you weren't even having much fun playing anyway.

Now aside from the repetetive gameplay issues, there are still a few areas of GoW3 that I have issues with. Mainly the plot. GoW3's story made sense for about as long as it took for the giant horse serpent monster to appear atop Mt. Olympus. It was clear I was on a mission to destroy Zues, and that Kratos would stop at nothing, and destroy anything that got in his way; But oh wait, was'nt that essentially the same exact climax of the previous game? GoW3 seemed to be a game of hanging cubes, mysterious portals convieniently placed anywhere there seemed to be a plot hole, and endless waves of enemies and Olympians for the slaying.

This brings me to another point. Half of the game revolved around the famed Labyrinth, which was said to be the holding area of Pandora, who was somehow needed to advance the impending death of Zues. Regardless, the Labyrinth turned out to be nothing more than the floating cubes that hung from a topless cieling. With all the incredible lore from the ancient Greeks describing the Labyrinth and the monsters and traps that inhabitted the structure, I find it hard to believe that the level designers could think of nothing more than floating cubes. Especially since the first and second games were both filled with incredible puzzles, landscapes, and artistic design.

All in all, GoW3 was a fun game for about 3 hours or so, but steadily declined untill the end of the game where i could barely bring myself to finish the game. Certainly not deserving of the Gamespot issued 9.0 at least. GoW3 reminded me somewhat of Star Wars: Episode 1, in the sense that you know that its Star Wars and you have to pay respects, but after one playthrough, you leave with a bitter taste in your mouth. Gaping plot holes, simple and dumbed down level design, and repetive gameplay elements are what leads GoW3 down a path David Jaffe would never be proud of.

-Bahldark