God of War III - The Escort Mission

Escort missions are pretty much the bane of video game existance. You're running along just fine having a grand time by yourself when suddenly you get a (generally) helpless companion who you have to protect. Normally this companion has horribly controlled AI, cannot fend for themselves, constantly dies/ gets in your way and is all around useless. When this mission finally happens I normally cannot wait for it to be over and this holds true in God of War III. The only escort mission that seems to get a lot of praise is actually an entire game called Ico. I wasn't really a big fan of Ico, but I love Shadow of the Colossus.

The actual Labyrinth should really have its name changed. A labyrinth is a giant maze filled with challenges. This Labyrinth has a couple of small puzzles that involve rotating the room and an occasional fight. Since each room is pretty straight forward you won't find yourself having to backtrack because you took a wrong turn. Plus there's no giant minotaur waiting at the end of the Labyrinth which is too bad since I was really looking forward to it. As a whole it doesn't feel very Labyrinth-like, more like cheap death-y.

The worst room in the whole Labyrinth is this room with spikes. The spikes will pop out of the floor in a predictable pattern while demons, minotaurs and sirens will spawn and give Kratos a hard time. I actually died in this room quite a few times (enough that I was offered easy mode). The room is more frustrating then challenging, but I find this true for most large enemy fights. I would end up getting stuck on the spikes while trying to dodge an enemy and it's a one hit kill. Once this room is cleared Kratos reaches the Heart of the Labyrinth, here Kratos finds Pandora.

This is what I thought of when I saw Pandora 

Alexandra Cabot. She has a skunk on her head.

So Pandora is this kid who's had a rough life and she's lived in this Labyrinth for a little while. Apparently she's been here long enough to know the way out. Kratos now has Pandora in tow. It's not really an escort mission since I don't think Pandora can be killed by enemies, I count that as a blessing. She also won't SHUT THE HELL UP!!! Shortly after rescuing her Kratos gets into a fight with some common enemies. The entire fight Pandora is running around yelling at Kratos to "watch out" or "be careful" or to "help her". She literally seems to yell something every 2 seconds or so. I just want her to shut up already.

Pandora also gets herself stuck in traps on a regular basis. Leaving the Labyrinth requires that two people work together. Since Pandora is so small she has to slide into narrower areas to activate switches. Every time she does she inevitably triggers a trap. This normally gives Kratos a small window of time to disarm the trap and save Pandora. The entire time Pandora is trapped she'll yell, "Eek! Save me Kratos!" "Kratos hurry!" "I'm incapable of doing anything myself Kratos" Ok, I made that last one up but hopefully you get the point. But that's what it feels like. I honestly can't wait for her eventual death. And if by some horrid twist of fate she should survive the end of the game, I'll be pissed.

Once Kratos and Pandora have escaped the Labyrinth Pandora tells Kratos that he mush break that Chain of Balance, ya know, the really big chain that Kratos flew/climbed up at the beginning of the game. Kratos jumps off the top of the Labyrinth and follows the chain. Back. Down. To. Hades. This is Kratos' 5th trip to Hades over the numbered games (so not counting the PSP titles). At least these last two times have been his own personal choice and not by someone killing him.

The flight down the Chain is not fun and it is long. Sections of gameplay like this can be rough to pull off properly. The biggest issue is the dev team has is to give enough warning so the player can reach an opening. This section doesn't really have that. Plus it's hard to tell what size hole Kratos can actually fit through. There were many times when I hit something when I thought I could fit and many times where I fit when I thought I would crash.  This section also suffers from the "hit one and you hit them all" syndrome. I would literally smash into one wooden plank and then proceed to hit 5 more before I was able to gain control again. This section could have easily benefited by giving Kratos some sort of "smash" move so he could nullify a plank or board. The move would have to be limited so it couldn't be spammed. A move to slow Kratos down would also be appreciated. It would really help me get my barrings. Of course, this would also have to be limited. Just to note: if you die on the way down, you have to do the whole thing all over again.

Once at the base of the Chain Kratos has to fight a flaming Cerberus that spits exploding puppies at you. The fight gets harder once Satyrs start showing up. I had to learn to kill the Satyrs first and then focus on the Cerberus all the while dodging exploding puppies. I still had to use my Rage mode (which I'm still not a big fan of) to finish the fight. Once the boss was dead it was time to break the Chain.

Breaking the Chain requires deactivating the three Judges that control it. This is very simple. It just requires using the Gauntlets on the crystal on the back of each Judge's head. There are a few fights that appear, but they're fairly minor and easy to overcome. With the Judges down Kratos can easily break that chain. Once the Chain is broken Pandora calls for help (surprise, surprise). So Kratos rushes to her. This involves another flying sequence. Thankfully it's a short one.

Pandora's not really in trouble. It seems that Athena appeared just to keep her company or something. Athena tells Kratos to remember his purpose and that's pretty much where I saved. It's pretty obvious I'm near the end. I do look forward to finally taking Zeus down.

I'm also impressed that Daedalus was able to write Kratos a note in his own blood, especially since Daedalus is suspended in the air by his arms. His outstretched arms.