EpicBattleAxe » God of War III

MEMBER BATTLE CRIES: 3/22/10

"TheAxeWielder" — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:04:21 +0000

With each passing year the gaming industry grows more and more competitive. Developers and publishers often take extreme measure to help differentiate their title from the crowd and in so doing, place lofty expectations within the hearts and minds of gamers the world over. On occasion, a particular game actually lives up to the hype, thereby granting a memorable experience to its players and inevitable success to its creators/marketers. With the recent release of God of War III, we’re reminded of how this scenario can play out…How a game with a huge fan base and ENORMOUS HYPE can actually fulfill expectations and deliver a sequel that not only surpasses its predecessors, but delivers a sense of hope that sometimes gamers don’t have to worry about being let down.

So, with that in mind, I pose the following question to you in this week’s MBC Topic Starter:

WHICH GAMES DELIVERED THE GOODS AND LIVED UP TO THE HYPE?

Obviously, you can pull from any generation and any console, but the goal remains the same. Tell us about a game you were SO FRICKIN’ PUMPED FOR that DIDN’T let you down! We’ve discussed the opposite spectrum of this topic before, so now it’s time to explore the positive side of hype.

Simple enough, right? Now, get busy thinking of the games that delivered, comment below with your Member BatleCry, check back daily to see if your Cry gets featured, and most of all, CRY HAVOC AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!

Peace,
DK

God of War Collection, Trilogy Slaying Europe

"TheAxeWielder" — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:39:31 +0000

According to Sony, European God of War fans looking for more carnage than most doctors would prescribe can now anxiously await the release of the God of War Collection (€39.99/£24.99 RRP) and the newly revealed God of War Trilogy. The Collection features both God of War I & II while the God of War Trilogy, as one might suspect, will contain all three uber epic games in one convenient bundle. The Trilogy, which is currently only announced for a European launch, will set you back €89.99 (£64.99) and will release alongside the Collection on April 30 in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria, April 29 in Australia and New Zealand, and April 29 elsewhere in PAL territories.

So, there appear to be lots of options on the table for God of War fans (although we’re awaiting word of the Trilogy shipping in the US), but no matter which option you choose, we can confirm that they all end in blood…LOTS OF BLOOD!

You can check out the God of War Trilogy box art right here and we’ll keep you in the know about its potential release outside of Europe.

Via Joystiq

uREVIEW: God of War III

"TheAxeWielder" — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:33:13 +0000

Empowering the EBA Community with a voice to collaboratively review the industry’s hottest titles, the EpicBattleAxe.com uREVIEW (about) delivers real insight from real gamers about The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY pertaining to the biggest games in the world. This is the EpicBattleAxe.com uREVIEW for God of War III. Let’s get started:

FACTS:

Publisher: SCE | Developer: SCE Studios Santa Monica
Genre(s): Third-Person Action, Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: March 16, 2010
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Official Website

GAME SUMMARY:

Set in the realm of brutal Greek mythology, God of War III is a single-player game that allows players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he scales through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him. Armed with double-chained blades, and an array of new weapons and magic for this iteration of the trilogy, Kratos must take on mythology’s darkest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest to destroy Olympus. [SCEA]

NOTE: BEFORE CONTRIBUTING TO THIS EpicBattleAxe.com uREVIEW, PLEASE READ THE SUBMISSION GUIDE RIGHT HERE. All comments/ratings not within the guidelines WILL BE DELETED. Thank you.

MEMBER BATTLECRY: Loss of Conviction

"Viking Brent" Adams — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:44:11 +0000

Greetings! As the discussion continues this week on delays and whether they help or hurt the games we play, we bring you another stellar Member BattleCry. We’re seeing a lot of good points raised in the dialogue on this subject and many people are pointing out two situations; one where the delay helped and the other where not so much.

Coky14 checks in with not only two such examples, but also so insightful comments on how gamers perception affects their attitude about the delay as well as the psychological impact of a firm street date being broken vs a vague release window changing. Let’s turn things over to him…

Coky14 Says:

Here’s my Epic Battle Member Cry,

I really prefer to see a game delayed so they can work on it a litle longer so we, as gamers and customers, get a better and more refined experience. The problem, as the last choice of the poll says, is that publishers shouldn’t announce a clear date when they don’t know if they’re gonna ship in time.

The best example of how to do it is, God of War III. Announced for MARCH 2010, in June 2009, they gave themselves a large window to see if other games could make them change their idea or if the developpement went faster or slower than supposed. I also feel that if God of War would have been delayed, because the date wasn’t set in stone, it would not have been taken so harshly by the community.

The counter-example, is Splinter Cell : Conviction. How to completely destroy momentum. The game was awaited for so long. They released a trailer this winter where it the release was dated for 23.02.10. The whole point of the trailer was to say the release date. Now, the codeofconviction.com thingy (which I participated in) helped us get the real release date as for April 13th. After 5 years more or less of developpement it really didn’t need that. Shame on marketing or the developpement team for that bad decision. We’d better get our cash out of that game or else you’ll have a line of frustrated gamers ready to NOT buy another Splinter Cell game as they will have lost their faith on the franchise.

Finally, the positive affects are mostly unappreciable by gamers as we will never get to understand the amount of polish that was made during the time of the delay (of whatever the game was actually delayed for). It’s mostly intengible. This is why we see so much delays as a bad thing.

The negative effect is mostly dangerous for smaller franchises or new IPs. God of War III and FFXIII will sell as much on March or on April. It could sell well in Christmas time, Easter, Halloween, etc. People have confidance in their developpers and know they’re doing the right choice. Alpha Protocol (sorry Daniel), as much as they can delay that game, it’s not looking too good. I’d be happy for SEGA if they get a 85 from critics. The game looks clunky, the style seems weird, caracters empty, and delays won’t change that. As said, we haven’t been conditionned to think SEGA will release triple A titles.

Finally, my Battle Cry is in fact to developpers who have to make the heart breaking choice to make these delays happen or not. Will you break the momentum to make a better game? Can think of what I would do I such a position.

End

People can agree or disagree on his assessment of how delays have affected God of War III and Splinter Cell: Conviction. However, I think he makes an extremely good point about why gamers often view delays as inherently bad…we often have no basis for comparison; we don’t know how bad things were to begin with or how much better they are after some more time is spent tweaking things. I also appreciate him taking a look at things from the devs or publishers point of view. These can’t be easy decisions to make, especially when we gamers can be as hard to please as we often are.

So what do you all think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and if you have something else entirely that you’d like to sound off on, then feel free to do that over on this week’s topics starter post where you can SUBMIT A NEW TOPIC:

SUBMIT YOUR MEMBER BATTLECRY IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE.

That’s gonna do it for now, but we hope you continue having an awesome week and keep your rants, raves, and recommendations coming here on EpicBattleAxe.com!

Stay Brutal,
Viking Brent

God of War III Pre-Order Sweepstakes Announced

"TheAxeWielder" — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:31:56 +0000

Love God of War? Love Vegas? Love…PIZZA!?!?! Well, Sony and GameStop recently announced the “Be the Envy of the Gods” sweepstakes that can potentially turn your God of War III pre-order into a palatable pesto pie. Basically, folks who pre-order the PS3-exclusive can use their receipt code or online confirmation number to enter the contest once per week on the sweepstakes’ website to be eligible to win both instant and weekly grand prizes. Said weekly grand prizes include a new Sony Home Entertainment System, a VIP experience at a premier music experience at either Coachella or Lollapalooza, free pizza for a year, or an MMA VIP experience in Las Vegas.

Anyone who pre-orders will get the “Phantom of Chaos” character skin (accessible after you beat the game) while daily instant prizes include things like Avatars, digital strategy guides, the God of War III Theme for PS3, and more.

Anyway, if you’re interested, you can check the details out here. Unfortunately, the sweepstakes is only open to “legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia”…It’s one of THOSE again.

MEMBER BATTLECRY: God Only Knows

"TheAxeWielder" — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:18:19 +0000

What’s up everybody!!! DK here kicking off yet another week of EPICNESS with this week’s Member BattleCries. If you haven’t watched EBC Skirmish 063 as of yet or checked out this week’s topic starter post (What the hell is wrong w/you?), then lemme clue you in. This week we’re taking on the (somewhat sensitive) topic of the best console exclusives…ya know, those gems that you rush out and BUY A SYSTEM FOR??? We’ve asked you to talk up your favs and let us know which franchise exclusives you swear by and so far, you all are responding rather well.

Now, lemme say this out of the gate gang…KEEP THE CONVERSATION CONSTRUCTIVE! I know these things get heated, passionate, whatever, but we’re here to discuss the games we LOVE, not the ones we HATE. So, with that in mind (and out of the way), let’s kick things off with this week’s first MBC which comes from Axe Head Jinxstar and goes out to the most bad-ass console exclusive character of all…

Jinxstar says:

My Battle cry goes to God of War. A franchise that defined the meaning of “Scale”. A Franchise that had some amazing story from start to finish. A franchise where you get to kill gods.

This is my favorite franchise. Everything from pioneering QTE’s which are commonplace anymore to most games in some way or another. The game was amazing as is perfectly paced with great systems for upgrades and otherwise. Pacing is something that should not be overlooked. God of War has a very good formula for story delivery and a great story too. Steal Pandoras box to find forgiveness for slaughtering your own family and kill the god that created you and trained you to be the most bad ass guy around…

There is just too much good to be said about the God of War franchise. Huge boss battles, great controls, great story telling and delivery, Great characters, Great atmosphere and scale… even on the PSP. I could go on for a while but I just feel that all around it’s a pretty damn good franchise.

END

Well, I think it’d be pretty difficult to argue with that! God of War is EASILY one of the best things Sony has going with the PlayStation and perhaps one of the biggest system sellers in the world. Well, at least that’s what I think…What about YOU? Let us know your thoughts on God of War in the comments section below and as always, feel free to sound off about ANYTHING pertaining to the game’s industry over on this week’s topics starter post where you can SUBMIT A NEW TOPIC:

SUBMIT YOUR MEMBER BATTLECRY IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE.

That’s all for now, but check back tomorrow to see which Member BattleCry gets featured right here on EpicBattleAxe.com. Ya never know…it just might be yours!

Later,
DK

EBC Skirmish 063: Van-Dammit

"Viking Brent" Adams — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:40:57 +0000

Archers nock and ready the firestorm, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish we discuss the recently announced (and temporarily 360 exclusive) Modern Warefare 2 DLC, Left 4 Dead 2′s ‘The Passing’ downloadable content, the plethora (yeah, we went there) of pre-order bonuses announced for Red Dead Redemption, and the announcement of Ghost Recon Future Soldier.

The Microsoft X10 conference in San Francisco provided gamers with a heaping pile of new media and details for some of the biggest titles coming out this year on 360. We, your humble Axe Lords, run down the list and pick the games we’ll be on the lookout for in 2010.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to the Hughes Bros film adaptation of the anime classic Akira, 8 Bit Horse, a new web-shrine to all things pixel & sprite from Mommy’s Best Games’ creator Nathan Fouts, the new Chaos Will Rise trailer for God of War III, and the original Fallout.

Stay sharp.

In light of the trouble playing the video last week, we’re going to try breaking up the show in smaller bite-size morsels. Note that there might be a slight delay when the player skips from one part to another. We apologize for trouble last week and hope that the steps we’ve taken will ensure a good experience for everybody. Let us know what you think in the comments.

This text will be replaced

-iPod compatible mp4 download-

-Audio only download-

PROMO: GOD OF WAR III On Tonight's GTTV!

"TheAxeWielder" — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:35 +0000

I just checked my watch…It’s promo time!

God of War fans, tonight’s episode of GameTrailers TV is gonna do lots of things…Deliver new info and footage from Splinter Cell: Conviction, showcase the sweet looking MLB 10: The Show, promote world peace, and teach you how to make a nifty flashlight using just toothpicks and expired Pop-Tarts (not really), BUT THE THING IT WILL MOST BE REMEMBERED FOR???

GOD OF WAR III

Yeah, you see, there’s gonna be brand-new, world premiere, galactic exclusive footage from the game that you’ve never seen before (unless you used the Pop-Tarts and toothpicks to make a time machine…) and guess what…IT’S FREAKIN AWESOME!

More info, vid promo over on my GT Gamepad, so go check it out and be sure to watch tonight’s GTTV to see what everyone will be talking about this time tomorrow.

PROMO: GOD OF WAR III On Tonight’s GTTV!

"TheAxeWielder" — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:35 +0000

I just checked my watch…It’s promo time!

GOD OF WAR III

More info, vid promo over on my GT Gamepad, so go check it out and be sure to watch tonight’s GTTV to see what everyone will be talking about this time tomorrow.

MEMBER BATTLE CRIES: 2/1/10

"TheAxeWielder" — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:59:32 +0000

Hey everybody, DK here getting another week of Member BattleCries rolling on EpicBattleAxe.com and after last week’s great conversation about the Role Playing Genre (here), I’m really stoked to check out what you all have to say about this week’s topic. Now, with the upcoming release of Dante’s Inferno and ensuing marketing blitz that will no doubt put the game on EVERYONE’s radar, it got me thinking about the action/adventure genre and what TRULY makes for a great experience within that realm. So, I’m opening the floor to you, the EBA Community, to speak your mind and let us know which action/adventure titles you think have set the bar. Here’s this week’s MBC topic:

WHICH ACTION/ADVENTURE GAMES DO YOU CONSIDER AS GENRE DEFINING AND WHY?

As always, there’s really no limit as to what you can submit. Any game, any genre, it’s all good. We want to know your thoughts on the topic as we prepare for Dante’s Inferno and of course God of War III. We’ll be featuring a new Member BattleCry each day here on the ‘Axe and then highlighting the Member BattleCry of the week on the next skirmish of the EpicBattleCry video podcast. Hey, speaking of Dante’s Inferno, be sure to cast your vote in this week’s EBA poll to let us know your level of expectation regarding the game.

Alright gang, let’s hear what you have to say! Check back daily to see if your MBC has been featured and to see what all of the other ‘Axe Heads are saying.

Cheers!
DK