Greek gore

by ERIK LEIJON

How wrong I was to presume decapitating one three-headed monster meant you’ve decapitated them all. God of War III (PS3/SCE, Santa Monica Studios) proves there’s much more blood—immortal or otherwise—to be spilled and the possibilities appear endless. The hack and slash next-gen sequel, starring the Ancient Greek equivalent of a roid rager (hemlock?), is a glorious ode to mutilation, abscission, fustigation and pretty much all that is horrifically and cartoonishly violent.

Violence can most certainly be art, and unlike so many video games that reduce objectionable acts to repetitive dullness, God of War III treats death in a manner the Gods of Olympus might appreciate: big, lavish, ceremonial and steeped in mysticism. This isn’t your standard space shooter where hundreds of bloodthirsty aliens drop like flies, or a war sim where dead bodies vanish and re-spawn seconds later; the gore is the game in God of War.

From riding a minotaur-like creature into a troop of skeleton soldiers like a bowling ball knocking over pins, disembowelling gorgons, ripping out a cyclops’s eyeball, to a dramatic battle involving a close-up of Kratos (still the star of the show) tearing off a god’s skull from his neck as if it were stuck on with velcro, every meticulously planned battle seems intent on outshining the previous one with more shocking displays.

All the more enjoyable that Kratos’s intended targets are hilariously depicted characters from Greek mythology. God of War III pilfers the source material with Mel Brooks-like silliness, such as a churlish, alcoholic Hera mocking her husband Zeus’s constant philandering as she slumps in her throne, or Kratos’s half-bro Hercules portrayed as a giant lummox jealous of his comparatively pint-sized sibling.

Kratos himself seems like a tourist in his own world—as the gods mess with mortals and generally act like spoiled brats, the half-mortal son of Zeus threatens creatures 10 times his size and indiscriminately kills anyone who counters his quest for revenge against the god of all gods.

The Helios decapitation scene is understandably the most memorable in the game, and not just because it’s gruesome. God of War III plays exactly like the previous two (intentionally so) but the one area where the series takes a dramatic step forward is in the vastly improved marriage between the interactive portions and the cinematic interludes.

Recognizable locales such as the Underworld and Mount Olympus were described in Greek mythology in grand fashion, and God of War respects that ideal by injecting each massive stage with distinctive eye candy at every turn. The only caveat in past Gods of War was that once the gauntlet was dropped in a fight scene, the gorgeous environment would become heavily restricted and the immersion somewhat lost.

The Helios scene (as well as the other, equally gory battles) combine incredible visuals with challenging combat. After fighting Helios’s various underlings, Kratos has to approach the helpless Sun God, defensively positioned and attempting to blind our hero with his sun powers. As you walk towards him, it’s necessary to shield your eyes from his light beam. Once completed, in traditional God of War style, you get a few contextspecific buttons to press and voilà, an extreme close-up of Helios’s skull being torn from his body.

From combat to head grab, there’s no pause in gameplay, no long-winded cutscene or anything that might cause the player to button-tap their way to the big denouement. Come to think of it, God of War III never really stops its frenzied pace (save for the occasional botched double jump, although that’s based on my own deficiencies). God of War III is no Greek tragedy, but a triumph.