Moon of anger

Okay, before I really get into details, let me first exclaim that God of War III is, in most respects, a really good game.  The action is fluid and fun, the puzzles are clever and never annoying, and the overall scope of the game is massive.  All in all, it's one of the most epic games I've ever played (especially the opening sequence).  However, after finishing the game, it left a really bad taste in my mouth.

A quick heads up to anyone who hasn't played God of War III and plans on doing so, there will be spoilers in this post.

God of War III is the first installment of the series that I've actually played.  Going into this game, I was expecting things to get rather gratuitous, but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer amount of testosterone that was pumped into this game.  This game is straight up ruthless, to the point where it was off-putting to me, and not even just because of the violence.

Let me explain.  I am very fond of video games.  They have played a pretty significant role in my overall development as a person, and I prefer to treat them as "experiences" rather than as games.  Because of this, it bothers me when the majority of the populous automatically dismisses or bashes games.  Ignorance runs rampant in our day and age, and the video game industry is surrounded by it.  Most onlookers see video games as violent and disgusting forms of media which are always harmful when exposed to younger audiences.  To a point, I would agree - not all games are meant for all audiences, and some games should be kept away from people of varying maturity levels.  However, not all games are the horrid things that outsiders stubbornly make them out to be.  Games are becoming more and more sophisticated, and this is very pleasing to me.  With every new, intelligent or creative game that is released, we as gamers have another piece of evidence to defend the industry.  This is why it pains me when a game such as God of War III is released.

God of War III, in my opinion, has little to no level of sophistication.  The main draw of this game is it's gratuitous and violent nature.  This would sit fine with me if our society wasn't so puritan and critical of the industry, but the fact of the matter is that this game is going to be used as an example for all the haters.  I thought about it for a long time, and if someone were to start arguing with me about violence in games using God of War III as an example, I wouldn't be able to counter their argument on this particular game.  The thing is, all of the brutality in the game is completely unnecessary.  There is no underlying moral, and the game teaches almost nothing of value.

For the entire game, the main character, Kratos, is hell bent on revenge.  It is his main driving force, and his character never develops beyond that.  One of my friends tried to argue the point that Kratos drops his thirst for vengeance at the end of the game when he kills himself, but that's not actually true.  Kratos does kill himself, yes, but only after he kills Zeus, the source of his vengeance the entire time.  So in the end, Kratos never really abandons his revenge, he only takes his own life after he satisfies it.  That's hardly a moral in my opinion.  To go along with that, I have no way of relating to Kratos in any way.  I just don't really understand the types of people who really enjoy ruthlessly pummeling the face of an adversary in for minutes at a time.  Aside from the initial shock value or possible underlying humor, it's completely unnecessary.

I wanted to like God of War III, I really did, but it's games like these that force the industry take a step backward.  The game has great shock value, and it's incredibly imaginative, but in the end, it's going to be a blemish on the industry overall, as the ignorance of all the stubborn outsiders will have a field day with this game's brutal nature.

I hate using the argument, "It's just a game" to combat people who bash video games, because that's not the point.  However, in this case, it's the only defense I have.

It's just a game

*sigh*