God of War III

God of War III is an action-adventure game with hack and slash elements. It is a third-person single-player video game. As with previous installments, the player controls the character Kratos from a fixed-camera perspective in combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle games. The enemies are an assortment of Greek mythological creatures, including centaurs, harpies, chimeras, cyclopes, satyrs, minotaurs, Sirens, cerberuses, and Gorgons. The player must also climb walls and ladders, jump across chasms, and swing on ropes to proceed through the game. The puzzles included vary in difficulty: some puzzles only require objects to be placed in a specific position, while some require timing and precision, such as a puzzle with mechanics similar to Guitar Hero. In addition to finding Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers of the previous games, Minotaur Horns are a new item to be found. Where the eyes and feathers increase the player's health and magic meters, the horns increase the items meter, which allows further use of secondary weapons, called "Items". Combat (right). This is an example of a QTE sequence found in all God of War games; moving the left analog stick as shown by the orange arrow will allow him to continue his attack. Kratos' main weapon is the Blades of Exile, replacing the Blades of Athena used in previous installments and the opening moments of the game. The weapon is a pair of blades attached to chains wrapped around Kratos' wrists and forearms that can be swung in a number of maneuvers. During the game, Kratos acquires new weapons—the Claws of Hades, the Nemean Cestus, and the Nemesis Whip—with other combat options. The Nemean Cestus, a pair of gauntlets, and the Nemesis Whip, similar to the Blades of Exile, crafted by Hephaestus initially intended to use it against Kratos but Kratos somehow manages to turn it against him. These weapons are required to advance in parts of the game; for example, the Nemean Cestus is needed to break through objects composed of onyx. The relics Poseidon's Trident, the Golden Fleece, and Icarus' Wings acquired in previous games are retained and used to overcome environmental obstacles, with the Golden Fleece used to deflect enemy attacks. Hades' Soul allows Kratos to swim in the River Styx. The Blade of Olympus, a primary weapon in God of War II, is used in this game with the special ability Rage of Sparta for temporary invulnerability and increased attack damage. == Synopsis ==

Setting As with previous games, God of War III is set in an alternate version of ancient Greece populated by Olympian gods, Titans, heroes, and other characters from Greek mythology. The events of the game are set between 2007's God of War II and 2018's God of War. The game is set across several locations on Mount Olympus, including the Tomb of Ares, the ancient city of Olympia, the Path of Eos, the Labyrinth, several areas of the Palace of the Gods, such as the Forum and Hera's Gardens, and the Underworld and Tartarus. The Tomb of Ares—housing the former God of War's remains—and the city of Olympia lie on the sides of Mount Olympus. Just beyond the city is the Path of Eos, a hidden cavern near the foot of Olympus. The Palace of the Gods is the home of the Olympians, and features the Forum (a small coliseum), Hera's Gardens, and the chambers of Aphrodite and Poseidon. The Labyrinth is a large aerial puzzle constructed by the architect Daedalus to imprison Pandora in the Caverns of Olympus, home of Skorpius and its offspring. The Underworld, ruled by Hades and divided by the River Styx, is the realm of the dead. Hades' palace contains the remains of his wife, Persephone, whom Kratos killed in Chains of Olympus. The Underworld is also home to statues of the three Judges of the Underworld, who hold the Chain of Balance connecting the Underworld to Olympus. Tartarus is the prison of the dead where the Titan Cronos was banished after Kratos retrieved Pandora's Box from Pandora's Temple in 2005's God of War. Characters Kratos (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), the protagonist of the game, is a Spartan demigod warrior who became the God of War after killing Ares and seeks revenge on Zeus for his betrayal. Other characters include Greek gods such as Athena (Erin Torpey), the Goddess of Wisdom and Kratos' mentor and ally; Zeus (Corey Burton), King of the Gods, Kratos' father and the primary antagonist; Poseidon (Gideon Emery), God of the Sea; Hades (Clancy Brown), God of the Underworld; Hephaestus (Rip Torn), the Smith God; Hermes (Greg Ellis), Messenger of the Gods and the God of Speed and Commerce; Helios (Crispin Freeman), the Sun God; Hera (Adrienne Barbeau), Queen of the Gods who controls plant life; and Aphrodite (April Stewart), Goddess of Love and Sexuality. Several Titans are featured, including Gaia (Susan Blakeslee), Cronos (George Ball), Epimetheus, Oceanus, and Perses. Other characters include Hercules (Kevin Sorbo), a demigod and Kratos' half-brother; the architect Daedalus (Malcolm McDowell), Icarus' father; and Pandora (Natalie Lander), Hephaestus's artificial daughter. Minor characters include the three Judges of the Underworld: King Minos (Mark Moseley), King Rhadamanthus, and King Aeacus; Peirithous (Simon Templeman), an Underworld prisoner in love with Persephone, and Kratos' wife and daughter: Lysandra (Gwendoline Yeo) and Calliope (Debi Derryberry), who appear in a plot sequence in which Kratos journeys through his own psyche. Plot Kratos, Gaia, and the other Titans ascend Mount Olympus to destroy the Olympian gods. Poseidon launches an assault against them, but is killed by Kratos, causing the oceans to flood Greece. Reaching Olympus' peak, they attempt to attack Zeus, but he knocks them off the mountain with his lightning bolt. As Gaia clings to the mountainside, she refuses to save Kratos, deeming him a pawn for the Titans' revenge. Kratos falls into the River Styx, where he loses the Blade of Olympus before the souls of the Underworld weaken him and ruin the Blades of Athena. Climbing from the river, he is greeted by Athena's spirit, who ascended to a higher existence after sacrificing herself to save Zeus from Kratos, and had witnessed truths which she previously could not see. She gives Kratos the Blades of Exile and tells him he must extinguish the Flame of Olympus to kill Zeus. After finding the three Judges of the Underworld and the Chain of Balance, Kratos briefly meets the spirit of Pandora, whom he initially mistakes for his dead daughter, Calliope. Following an encounter with the Olympian blacksmith Hephaestus and recovering the Blade of Olympus, he kills Hades and releases the souls of the Underworld. Kratos considers searching for Calliope's soul, but Athena reminds him of his quest, and he leaves the Underworld. Kratos reaches Olympia and finds Gaia pleading for help, only for Kratos to sever her arm as payback for her earlier betrayal, causing her to fall to her apparent death. ' arm. The image also depicts the size of the Titans featured in the game. Kratos continues his ascent, murdering powerful foes such as the Titan Perses and the Sun God Helios, plunging Greece into eternal darkness in the process. He pursues the overconfident Hermes to the Chamber of the Flame and finds that Pandora's Box is held within the Flame of Olympus, which Athena says can only be quelled by Pandora herself. Kratos then catches and kills Hermes, releasing a plague upon Greece. At the Forum, he has an audience with the drunken Hera, who ignores his request for Pandora's location and summons Hercules, whom Kratos offers a chance to step aside from his war to no avail. After discussing his jealousy of his half-brother, Hercules duels with Kratos, but Kratos gains the upper hand and kills him. Kratos then encounters Aphrodite, who is indifferent to his war on Olympus. She leads him back to her estranged husband, Hephaestus, through Hyperion's Gate. The blacksmith, learning of Kratos' plan to quell the Flame of Olympus, sends him to Tartarus to retrieve the Omphalos Stone, claiming he will forge a new weapon for the Spartan. Kratos encounters Cronos, kills the Titan for the stone, and returns to Hephaestus. After forging the weapon, Hephaestus tries to kill Kratos, but is impaled by his own anvil. Before dying, Hephaestus admits that he was trying to protect his daughter Pandora, who was imprisoned in the Labyrinth after Kratos opened her box, and pleads with Kratos to spare her. Reusing the Hyperion Gate, Kratos travels through Hera's Garden, where he kills Hera for insulting Pandora, ending all Greek plant life, before making his way to the Labyrinth. The imprisoned architect, Daedalus, distraught to learn of his son Icarus' death, dies as Kratos proceeds to unite the Labyrinth and venture through the aerial puzzle to rescue Pandora. Neutralizing the judges and breaking the Chain of Balance, Kratos raises the Labyrinth, and Pandora tries to enter the Flame. Zeus intervenes and fights Kratos, but Pandora sacrifices herself despite Kratos' reluctance. Finding Pandora's Box empty, Kratos attacks Zeus before Gaia joins the fray and attempts to kill them both. They escape through an open wound on her body and continue their battle inside her chest. Kratos impales Zeus against Gaia's heart with the Blade of Olympus, killing her and apparently Zeus. Believing Zeus to be dead, Kratos leaves but is attacked by Zeus' astral form, who rids him of his weapons and powers. Before Zeus can finish him off, Kratos is saved by a vision of Pandora during a journey into his psyche. With the help from the spirits of Calliope and his wife Lysandra, Kratos forgives himself before regaining consciousness along with the power of hope. He forces Zeus' spirit back into his body and then beats him to death. Kratos looks upon an apocalyptic Greece in complete chaos. Athena reappears, demanding that Kratos return what she thinks he took from Pandora's Box. When Kratos tells her it was empty, she refuses to believe this, explaining that when Zeus sealed the evils of the world in the box after the Great War, she placed the power of hope in it as well, foreseeing that it would eventually be opened. Athena then realizes that when Kratos opened the box to defeat Ares, the evils escaped and slowly corrupted the gods while Kratos was imbued with hope, which had been hidden by the guilt and failures of his past. She demands Kratos to return the power of hope with the intention of establishing her own rule over Greece. Kratos refuses and seemingly kills himself with the Blade of Olympus so that hope can be distributed among mankind. A disappointed Athena leaves empty-handed while Kratos collapses on a mural of a phoenix. In a post-credits scene, a trail of blood is seen leading away from the mural and the Blade of Olympus, implying Kratos' survival. == Development ==

In a 2007 interview with GameTrailers, God of War creator and game director David Jaffe explained his original intention for the series, which is different from the actual ending of God of War III, which was based on game director Stig Asmussen's vision. Jaffe's idea was that "God of War explains, or ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths". He said that it would have been "hell on earth" as the gods and Titans battled each other for domination. Other mythological pantheons would have become involved after Kratos killed Zeus and the other Greek gods, and the result would be that humankind no longer believed in the gods—according to Jaffe, the only way a god can truly die. God of War III was first mentioned by God of War II game director Cory Barlog at a God of War II launch event. Barlog said that the game would have full 1080p HD resolution (changed to 720p in final release) and support Sixaxis tilt and vibration functions. Announced before the DualShock 3 controller was introduced, this caused confusion since the Sixaxis controller does not support rumble. During the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC), the creative team said that the Sixaxis tilt capability had been removed because they "could not find a suitable situation to use Sixaxis in the game effectively". After the first eight months of development, Barlog left Santa Monica for other opportunities, and Stig Asmussen took over as game director; Asmussen previously served as lead environment artist and art director on God of War and God of War II, respectively. In an interview with IGN, Asmussen said that Barlog "had a major impact on the game" and although he had left the team, they spoke several times afterwards and "bounced a few ideas off him," but there was no formal collaboration. He also said that David Jaffe "[had] been around the studio a few times" and they "[had] gone over some high-level stuff with him to get his observations and feedback." Early in development when Barlog was still with the team, he expressed interest in a cooperative mode "if we can do something unique with it". However, in January 2010 John Hight told Joystiq: "While God of War III will conclude the trilogy, it won't spell the end of the franchise ... We're going to be really careful about what we do next". Asmussen mentioned the possibility of downloadable content; the game would be shipped with the regular challenge mode, and new challenge modes might be released as downloadable content to maintain the series. In March 2009, it was reported that Sony was seeking opinions about a collector's edition from PlayStation 3 owners. In October, an Ultimate Edition was unveiled for North America, and an Ultimate Trilogy Edition was announced soon afterwards for a limited European, Australian, and New Zealand release. A Trilogy Edition was announced for Japan, where the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO) gave the game an adults-only Z rating after the previous two versions were considered suitable for players 17 and older. Technical Asmussen said that one of the greatest challenges in developing God of War III for the PlayStation 3 was the "complexity of everything"; individual tasks, such as designing Helios' decapitation, could take a year because the "level of detail [that was] expected [was] so high and intricate, it [crossed] multiple departments." He said that the PlayStation 3's hardware capabilities allowed more flexibility in character creation and interaction with the environment. The engine for God of War III was from the first two installments. Santa Monica senior producer Steve Caterson said that the development team ported God of War IIs engine to the PlayStation 3 and were able to quickly play the game. Everything that Kratos could do in previous games, he could do on the PlayStation 3, which allowed the developers to immediately begin designing new content. As the game was being developed, the code department would swap out PlayStation 2 components with PlayStation 3 components. They replaced the renderer, the particle system, and the collision system. Feldman said that although they were re-using the engine from God of War II, the core engine for God of War III was brand new. Between the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and the time the game shipped, morphological anti-aliasing (MLAA) was added, which graphics engineer Ben Diamand said "improved edges dramatically and saved substantial amounts of frame-rate." MLAA is "now a popular edge-detection process that can cost-effectively remove jagged edges from each frame", which helped Santa Monica free up the processing cycle and "allowed them to add to the spectacle in other ways." Diamand also said that "depth-of-field, motion blur, crepuscular 'god' rays and refraction were either added or improved in quality and speed" during that same time period. Asmussen estimated overall game length to be 10 to 20 hours, "depending on how good of a gamer you are." and the number of onscreen enemies increased from 15 in the previous games to a maximum of 50. To light the game, Turtle by Illuminate Labs was used. Head of development Christer Ericson of Santa Monica Studio confirmed that God of War III has seamless loading; no loading screens and no hard disk drive installation requirement. SCE America animator Bruno Velazquez said that while the first two God of War titles had computer-generated imagery (CGI) cinematics, there would be no true CGI in the third game: "all the cutscenes are created using our in-game engine." A God of War III game trailer debuted on Spike's GameTrailers TV on February 11, 2010, New camera angles were added; during some major battles the player can still control Kratos while the camera pans away from the fight, and a first-person camera view was used for the final portion of the Poseidon and Zeus boss fights. According to Santa Monica Studio director of technology Tim Moss, God of War III used 35 gigabytes (GB) of Blu-ray Disc. God of War IIIs budget was $44 million USD, and the game had a staff of 132 at the end of its development. Several voice actors returned from previous installments, including Terrence C. Carson, Erin Torpey, Corey Burton, Debi Derryberry, and Gwendoline Yeo, voicing Kratos, Athena, Zeus, Calliope, and Lysandra, respectively. Susan Blakeslee, who voiced two characters in God of War, voiced Gaia. Narrator Linda Hunt, who previously voiced Gaia, only provided an introductory narration for the game. Rip Torn, Natalie Lander, and Malcolm McDowell joined the cast of voice actors. Lloyd Sherr and Nolan North, who had originally voiced Cronos and Hades, were replaced by George Ball and Clancy Brown, respectively. Kevin Sorbo was chosen to voice Hercules because of his portrayal of the character in the television series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Elijah Wood had a minor voice role, and Josh Keaton and Fred Tatasciore, who voiced characters in previous games, also had minor roles. == Release ==

At E3 2009, the God of War III demo was unveiled, with Kratos on the cliffs of Mount Olympus battling Olympian legionnaires, a centaur, a chimera, and a cyclops. He decapitates Helios, encounters Perses, rides harpies, and uses the Blades of Athena and new weapons (the Nemean Cestus and Bow of Apollo). On October 28, 2009, SCE Europe sent emails to PlayStation Network members with an activation code for the demo. On October 30, GameStop began providing voucher codes for customers who pre-ordered the game, The Blu-ray version of District 9 included the God of War III demo and a "making of" featurette, and the demo was released to Qore subscribers on February 4, 2010. On February 25, Sony Computer Entertainment released the demo for download on the PlayStation Store in Europe and North America. Just before the game's release, Eurogamer published an article comparing the graphics in the God of War III demo to those in the final game, reporting improved lighting and realistic motion blur in the final release. God of War III was released in North America on March 16, 2010, on March 18 in Australia, March 19 in Europe, and March 25 in Japan. The game outsold its predecessor by nearly 400,000 copies in its first week. According to retail tracker NPD Group, God of War III sold about 1.1 million copies in the United States by the end of March 2010, making it the best-selling game of that month, and its opening-month sales were 32 percent higher than those of God of War II. By June 2012, God of War III had sold almost 5.2 million copies worldwide—about 2.8 million in North America, 2 million in PAL regions, and 417,866 in Japan and Asia. The game is also part of PlayStation 3's Greatest Hits lineup. Marketing God of War III had an extensive marketing campaign before its release. This campaign began in early 2008 when a teaser for God of War III appeared as an image (the original PlayStation 3 logo surrounded by the Greek omega) at the end of the instruction manual for God of War: Chains of Olympus. This was soon followed by a teaser trailer screened at Sony's 2008 E3 press conference. Another trailer premiered at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards, and an "official" God of War III trailer was released in February 2009. A new trailer debuted with the release of God of War III on March 16, 2010. included in the Ultimate Edition and Ultimate Trilogy Edition In October 2009, Santa Monica Studio announced the God of War III Ultimate Edition, available by pre-order in North America. The package included a replica Pandora's Box, a limited-edition The Art of God of War III book, and downloadable content (DLC) from the PlayStation Network, which included the "Challenge of Exile" mode, Kratos' "Dominus" costume, the God of War: Unearthing the Legend documentary, the God of War Trilogy Soundtrack, and the God of War: Blood & Metal EP. A limited Ultimate Trilogy Edition was released in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand and included the contents of the Ultimate Edition, as well as God of War Collection, four Kratos costumes, and God of War postcards. A God of War III PS3 bundle, with a 250 GB PS3 and a copy of God of War III, was also available in Europe. A God of War III media kit with special packaging and content was distributed to journalists in the PAL regions, and several were given as prizes on PlayStation Europe's website during the week of March 22, 2010. In Japan, God of War III was released in two packages: a standalone version and a God of War Trilogy Edition. The latter included God of War III, God of War Collection, an art book, and a Kratos skin. For pre-orders, some retailers included a premium costume for Kratos: the Apollo, Forgotten Warrior, and Phantom of Chaos skins from Amazon.com, Game Crazy and Play.com, and GameStop, respectively. GameStop pre-orders also included a poster signed by God of War III concept artist Andy Park and an entry in its "Be the Envy of the Gods" sweepstakes. 7-Eleven issued a God of War III poster for pre-orders and sold a Kratos' Fury Slurpee in God of War III cups. The cups and their specially marked Mountain Dew bottles had codes usable on the Slurpee website for God of War III downloadable content, including a behind-the-scenes video, wallpapers, PlayStation Home content, and an in-game Kratos skin, the Morpheus Armor. In December 2009, Santa Monica accepted video submissions from players to determine the ultimate God of War fan. The top 18 submissions were included in the closing credits of God of War: Unearthing the Legend, and all winners received a copy of the God of War III Ultimate Edition signed by the development team. Sony and Spike TV sponsored a Last Titan Standing contest, in which fans over 21 could win a chance to play God of War III before its mainstream release. Spike's GameTrailers TV presented God of War III: Last Titan Standing on March 15, 2010, and the winner received a custom-made God of War III PS3. A week before God of War IIIs release, the developers released Kratos' backstory on the God of War website, under the title "Path to Olympus". On March 20, 2010, a NASCAR car driven by Joey Logano during the Scotts Turf Builder 300 had a God of War III and GameStop-themed paint design. In April, Machinima.com released five "Art of the Game" videos for God of War III on the PlayStation Store, featuring interviews with team developers. A God of War III action figure line was produced by DC Unlimited. To celebrate the game's entrance into Sony's Greatest Hits library, Santa Monica sponsored a sweepstakes from March 4 to April 1, 2011. Fans could submit an original design of an "Ultimate God of War Monster" for one of three prizes: a limited folio edition, a special edition, and a paperback edition of The Art of God of War III, signed by the development team. The game has 36 trophies, awarded for player achievements (for example, "Releasing the Floodgates" for killing Poseidon). When players received the platinum trophy, they were linked to the website spartansstandtall.com. On May 4, 2010, the site became the official website for God of War: Ghost of Sparta, the next installment in the series and the second for the PlayStation Portable. Early copies of Ghost of Sparta (and all digital copies in Europe) included a voucher to download Kratos' brother Deimos as a costume for use in God of War III. Downloadable content On November 2, 2010, the Dominus character skin and Challenge of Exile mode—previously exclusive to the Ultimate Edition and Ultimate Trilogy Edition—were released as a bundle on the PlayStation Store. The bundle is free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, who could receive the Phantom of Chaos and Forgotten Warrior skins when purchasing God of War and God of War II, respectively, for a limited time. All previous pre-order bonus costumes—Apollo, Forgotten Warrior, and Phantom of Chaos—and the 7-Eleven promotional DLC—the Morpheus Armor—were also released on the PlayStation Store. God of War III Remastered God of War III Remastered is a remastered port of God of War III for the PlayStation 4 console. It was first released in North America on July 14, 2015, followed by Australia and mainland Europe on July 15, and the UK on July 17. Santa Monica's Creative Director Cory Barlog announced the remastered game in celebration of the God of War franchise's tenth anniversary. Ported by Wholesale Algorithms, the remastered version has full 1080p support targeted at 60 frames per second and features a photo mode, allowing players to edit their photos and share their favorite moments. For the entire month of July 2015, the downloadable version was the seventh best-selling PlayStation 4 title from the PlayStation Store. By June 2023, the game had sold an estimated 4 million copies. Soundtrack In March and April 2010, God of War III: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game, composed by Gerard K. Marino, Ron Fish, Mike Reagan, Jeff Rona, and Cris Velasco, was included as downloadable content in the God of War III Ultimate Edition and Ultimate Trilogy Edition. The soundtrack was recorded by the Skywalker Session Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Chorus. In an interview with Game Music Online, Mike Reagan said that although the composers might have used each other's themes, they did not collaborate with each other. Reagan said the real collaboration came from Clint Bajakian, Senior Music Supervisor at Sony, and his team. In scoring for God of War III, Reagan said that the composers were "able to explore more melodic development than we were on the first [God of War]." The score was recorded under the new American Federation of Musicians video game agreement and because of Sony's vision and support, the composers were able to record locally with some of the best musicians in the world. In an interview with PlayStation.Blog, Clint Bajakian described the different ensembles that recorded the score: the brass section is the "lead guitar", the choir gives the game its epic feel, the strings are the body of the sound, and the percussion is the foundation. A nine-out-of-ten review from Square Enix Music Online praised the soundtrack's orchestration, calling it the best score in the series to date. G4 praised its quality, saying that the compositions were strong and it was "fantastic" as standalone music. A six-out-of-ten review from Tracksounds said that although the score "lacks the intricacy and personality that could set it apart and give it a sense of uniqueness...[it] delivers on its promise of a loud, wrathful bundle of tunes you can kill gods to...for better or worse." The reviewer said to "Enjoy in small doses." At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Score. == Reception ==

God of War III received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator website Metacritic, According to Donlan, the story is as simple as it can get. The game sold 43,181 copies in Japan according to Media Create's weekly sales chart. By June 2012, God of War III has sold 5.1 million copies worldwide. Awards and accolades God of War III was awarded the "Most Anticipated Game of 2010" at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, it was awarded "Best PS3 Game" and "Best Graphics", and Kratos received the "Biggest Badass" award. It was also a nominee for "Game of the Year", "Best Action Adventure Game", "Best Original Score", and "Character of the Year" (Kratos). Other individual awards include "Best Action/Adventure Game" (GameTrailers), "Best Action Game" (GameSpy), "Best PS3 Game" (Game Revolution), and "Best PS3 Exclusive" (Shacknews). At the 2011 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Video Game Awards, God of War III received the "Artistic Achievement" award, and it was a nominee for the "Action" and "Gameplay" awards. At the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards), the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded God of War III with "Outstanding Achievement in Animation"; it also received nominations for "Game of the Year", "Action Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering", and "Outstanding Character Performance" for Terrence C. Carson's vocal portrayal of Kratos. Remastered Though the original release of God of War III was met with critical acclaim, God of War III Remastered only garnered "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers found it odd that Sony decided to remaster God of War III for PlayStation 4, as its story picks up immediately from the ending of God of War II, which may confuse newcomers who have never played the previous games. Praise was given to the smoother textures and improved frame rate, though because the original already had impressive graphics, the changes were not major, and reviewers said these changes were not a strong enough argument to rebuy the game for US$40. == References ==