In preparation for God of War 3′s release I decided to pickup and replay the first two games. So seeing as they’d released a Special Edition HD upgrade for the PS3 with both titles included I figured it was the perfect choice. So far I’ve only had time to get through the first game, so we’ll cover that and I’ll update with the second game once I get through it.
Graphically the game looks good, though you can see its last gen parentage they did a really nice job of sprucing things up and ramping up the resolution. The various spell effects look gorgeous and the fight scenes are beautiful ballets of carnage that are a joy to see. The cut scenes however apparently didn’t receive the same level of attention and oddly they look worse, with far less detail and resolution, then the gameplay. There are a few clipping and graphical collision issues during the platforming and puzzle portions. You can often see gaps between Kratos’s hands and surfaces he’s supposed be holding onto or pushing. This is a bit of a disappointment but the game was one of the best looking of the last generation and they’ve done a great job upgrading it.
The controls for the platforming sections felt a little loose to me. I’ve never been the best when it comes to platform games so that’s likely part of the problem, but still there are many places where the controls simply weren’t as precise as I thought they should have been for a PS3 release, likely another artifact of their origins. The combat on the other hand was remained as incredible as its original release. Very smooth shifts between attacks and blocking. Using magic and swapping weapons mid attack was easy. Combos are easy to pull off once you know them and look great. Every complaint I had against the platforming sections were brushed away by how enjoyable the combat continued to be.
Obviously if your already a fan of the series you’ve likely already picked this up as it’s a great update of the originals. If you’re a new comer to the series and have any interest at all I heartedly recommend it. Just a word of caution however the game is meant for a mature audience and there are a few moments of nudity throughout. And I also have to note that neither game is incredibly long, the first will likely give you eight to ten hours of gameplay, although it’s possible to complete it in under five hours. So though I think everyone should play it many might see it as more of a rental.