BradyGames signature series guide God of War III
The epic tale of the Ghost of Sparta concludes as Kratos demands his thirst for vengeance be quenched as Sony released God of War III, this time on the PS3. Promising to be the biggest yet in this epic franchise, will you be up to the final challenge? Bradygames has insured you wont miss a thing in GoW III by publishing their extensive guide in their signature series.
The cover art is powerful with the up close image of Kratos’ painted eye dominating the front cover and imagery and a short summary of contents on the back cover. As with the previous Brady games signature series guides there’s a mix of matt and gloss finish on the cover accentuating the artwork and text.
On opening the book , we are presented with a large double spread image from the game with the God Of War III logo before turning the page to find the main menu (superimposed over another double page image). The menu is broken up into six main chapters – controlling your fate, A Spartan’s tactics, the Road to Glory (divided into eleven Acts), Enemies of the Gods, Trials of the Gods, and Godly rewards. The wording, fonts and Roman numerals are in keeping with the whole theme and setting of the game.
After another double page introduction of the Tale so far by covering the series history and release platforms and the chronological history of the God of War series, we are ready to go !
The first chapter, controlling your fate will show us how to get the peak performance from Kratos by explaining the basic controls of the game. Firstly the interface is explained and then how the controller layout is used to achieve movement such as running, evasive rolls, jumps grapple points, aerial assaults etc is demonstrated in picture and text. At this point too when we began at Controlling your Fate you will see displayed from the top, going downwards, of the outer edge of the right hand side page, a colour coded list of index items which makes for easy access to the different chapters. Combat moves follow on from movement with a table of their possible button commands and showcased with in game screenshots.
Bradygames God of War III signature series
Bradygames God of War III signature series
The Menus, options and Miscellany pages will guide you as to how to access you status, moves, power up info etc. along with other miscellaneous menu options.
While controlling your Fate explained the controls of the game, A Spartan’s Tactics (the second chapter) shows the tactics behind the various moves and attacks. Not only will you learn the commands to use the general moves but also how to use your weapons to maximum effect. All the data is broken down into tables and the different moves allowed by each individual weapon illustrated in a series of panels showing the command needed and a summary of the resulting outcome of implementing the move. Also detailed in this manner are Items. New to God of War III, Kratos can use a number of items such as Boots of Hermes, Bow of Apollo and Head of Helios. These items are both a tool and weapon. Finally in the tactics section are the spoils of war here you can learn where and how to locate various treasures and what you’ll need to increase Kratos’ stats.
The Road to Glory is what I would call the main walkthrough for the game. Broken up into 11 Acts, Kratos begins his quest on Mount Olympus and here we are guided step by step through each event in the game in wonderful detail with extensive text and wonderfully detailed imagery. Maps and overviews are provided and the pages are laid out in different coloured panels showing tips, characteristics of foes, hit points and mini game stats, locations of power ups and treasure. The use of the different coloured panels not only breaks up the large body of text but serves the purpose of quick referencing for gamers who maybe need a quick tip to progress. Every page also contains a large number of images sometimes for demonstration purposes other times to introduce a new character but all are beautifully reproduced to create quite a spectacle for a guide.
Enemies of the Gods or Bestiary section is dedicated to your foes ! In this chapter Bradygames detail their attacks and their weaknesses and lists all the non-boss (boss data is listed in the main walkthrough where strategies involved to defeat each boss are provided) enemies in GoW III, providing a wealth of information for defeating them. Each enemy type is illustrated along with hit points, mini game, orb data, stone data along with other details in individual darkened panels along with more text detailing further characteristics and advising the best plays to use against them. Altogether there are eighteen pages dedicated to these enemies.
Bradygames God of War III signature series
Bradygames God of War III signature series
Trials of the Gods is a series of challenges unlocked once you have beat God of War III for the first time. Again Bradygames have simplified the challenge by breaking it down into smaller achievable blocks and by using imagery and coloured panels containing tips. Once the challenges are completed you can enter the combat arena where its all down to player customisation .
Finally we are shown the many faces of Krato showing Kratos in six different guises five of which are downloadable content although donning these means Katos looses all opportunities to achieve trophies, they do add to the fun factor to revisit the game .
To end the book we are shown the Godly Awards in a series of different coloured tables. These detail the trophys that can be won and how to unlock them and on the last page there are the Bradygames’ acknowledgemnts.
Summary
Once again BradyGames have produced a beautifully illustrated walkthrough to compliment a top rated game. Usually the procedure would be for a gamer to purchase the guide after or alongside buying the game but, the signature series of guides from BradyGames are of such a high standard that you would feel the urge to buy the game after flicking through the book. Highly recommended
