God Of War III

God of War III is a forthcoming installment in the God of War series, currently in development for the PlaySation 3. The game was announced at E3 2008 and is due for release in March 2010. It is the fifth chapter in the series chronologically, after God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War, God of War: Betrayal and God of War II.

God of War III is expected to feature gameplay similar to that of previous installments. Only two weapons have been confirmed so far: the trademark Blades of Athena, and the Cestus, a pair of fist gauntlets shaped like lion heads, that wield devastating strength. These new weapons appear to have the ability to smash through solid objects such as rocks, and sport a maneuvering fighting style similar to boxing. The Golden Fleece appears on Kratos' arm in gameplay trailers, and the Icarus' wings from screenshots, showing that he keeps both from his adventure in God of War II. In a recent screenshot Kratos is seen tearing off the head of the God Helios. In the game his head can be used in a similar fashion to those of Medusa and Euryale from previous games. Although where their powers revolved around stone, Helios's stems from light. Its functions include distracting undead soldiers, and as a lantern in dark areas. Developers have stated that more weapons will be announced and will be more user-friendly than the sub-weapons from previous titles. In addition, Kratos uses a FireBow;presumably Apollo's.Combos from previous titles will also make a return as well as new combos yet to be introduced. The number of enemies onscreen has been increased to 50 as opposed to the maximum of 15 in previous God of War installments. Game director Stig Asmussen claimed that the hardware capabilities of the Playstation 3 would allow more flexibility in creating the characters of God of War III and to allow for further interaction with the environment. On March 26, 2009 a 1-minute Gameplay Trailer was released at the Game Developers Conference. The trailer showed Kratos fighting a group of soldiers briefly and taking control of a cyclops to quickly dispatch of the enemies, and ultimately killing the cyclops after the soldiers die. This has been the first Gameplay trailer released that shows Kratos as the way he would appear when being controlled by the player. At E3 2009, more Gameplay footage was shown live during Sony's press conference. The game play showed familiar game play from the previous installments as well as some new, for instance, Kratos can grab an enemy and use it in a battering ram-like action to push through other enemies. It also showed Kratos being able to control a Harpie for a short time to fly him by stabbing the Harpie a few times. This footage also showed the Cestus weapon in action. The Cestus are used in a boxing fashion to fight the enemies. It also showed the Cestus shoot chains from the ends of them and then use those chains to strike the enemy.

God of War III takes place right after the events of God of War II, with Kratos upon Gaia's back eager to exact vengeance on the Gods and make them "suffer". As seen in the trailers, the whereabouts of the Blade of Olympus is unknown, even though Kratos had been wielding the blade at the ending of God of War II. Little information has been released on the battle between the Gods and Titans that will explain the end of Greek Mythology. A more recent screen shot shows Helios on his knees with a bloodied face, Kratos is also in the picture grasping the god's head, about to tear it off with his bare hands. A game demo released at E3 2009 shows Kratos, with assistance from a Titan, bringing down Helios and his chariot and then ripping off the god's head. Helios' head is also shown to be a weapon that can be used to reveal secrets and to illuminate dark areas or blind enemies. Later on, Kratos uses his Wings of Icarus to be lifted from an updraft in the cave he was exploring. Seen in a gameplay trailer are iron or bronze boots with wings on them that greatly augment Kratos' acrobatic abilities. The wings and nature of the boots suggest that Kratos, at some point in the game, battles and kills Hermes, before taking his boots. It has also been said that Kratos is looking for a "back door" for his attack on Mount Olympus.