New Addition to Hall - God of War III

After a few days of crushing skulls, and severing optical nerves I have finally completed this standard bearer for the Playstation 3. I have to say, this was surprisingly one of the best experiences I've had with a PS3 game. This was easily a top-3 game on the system for me.

To avoid being too spoiler-y (though the game has been out for almost 3 years now), my favorite part of the whole experience was an epic fight Kratos has with a certain titan who shall not be named, roughly half-way through. The sheer scale of that fight, and the way in which it unfolds had me glued to the screen with my tonsils on the floor. Simply amazing.

I also loved any opportunity I could get to ride a cyclops and club the shit out of everything around me. OH THAT FELT SO GOOD.

This piece by Lead Concept Artist, Andy Park

The game sort of lost luster towards the last hour or so, mostly because the final boss fight takes up the majority of it, and it's REALLY TOUGH. I find in fights like that, the lack of a health bar to show you your progress is really daunting.

Overall though, I had a great time with GoW3 and I'd HIGHLY reccommend it to anyone with a PS3 who has yet to play it. It's part of the Greatest Hits collection now so it should be readily available most everywhere and at a more than reasonable price, especially if your getting a used copy.

It also has had the interesting side-effect of making me excited for Santa Monica Studios' next installment in the series, God of War: Ascension, which you can check out a trailer for here: CLICK ME MORTAL

Song of the Week

Sorry for the late post, but the last couple days have been crazy (School, Internship, SuperSonics).

The song for this week is from a game that I've really come to adore, the somewhat recently released Rayman Origins.

This classic-style 2D platformer is absolutely gorgeous. It is case study number one for how a 2D platformer can succeed in this modern era of video games, standing up against triple-A 3D titles and providing equally, if not more, compelling game play.

It also has an epic soundtrack. Case in point:

"Inferno Mariachi" - composed by Christophe Heral & Billy Martin

Ai yi yi, indeed.

Song of the Week

Following the hype from the most recent Metal Gear announcement, it seems only fitting that I focus on a song from the series. In fact, I'm so excited, I'm going to post two songs, because shut the hell up its my blog.

First, the "Theme of Tara" from Metal Gear (MSX2, 1987):

This piece was composed by Iku Mizutani, and got it's name from the "Ta-ra" sound that ends each phrase at the beginning of the song. It's not my favorite song in the MSX version of the game, but it is certainly the song you hear the most while playing. I played Metal Gear earlier this Summer, and heard this song loop so many times that I couldn't perform normal daily functions without it thumping along in my head.

Next, "Level 1 Warning" from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2, 1990):

This piece, and the entire soundtrack, was composed and produced by the KONAMI KuKeiHa CLUB. This music accompanies you at the very beginning of the game, as you infiltrate the first facility of Zanzibar land. With ease, no other track has ever immediately immersed me into the atmosphere of a game like this one.

And just because it's awesome, here is the orchestral remake that came as a bonus in Metal Gear Solid 4:

Ok, so this post basically became Metal Gear song history of the week. However, Metal Gear's music rocks, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the news of another entry in the series than looking back at some of its great music; a staple of any Metal Gear game.

New Metal Gear Title!

And here's the trailer which debuted to the general public at PAX, in my home city of Seattle!

It looks like this game will be a Prologue to a new numbered entry in the series, which will likely becoming out on next generation consoles. In the mean time, MGS: Ground Zeroes will keep us chomping at the bit on our PS3s and 360s until that day comes.

Mark me down as entirely too excited.