God of War III - Enter Escher

Apparently the dev team decided to channel a little bit of M.C. Escher. If you don't know who I mean, M.C. Escher was an artist known for his unique take on perspective. In his work he would create structures that could not actually exist in the physical world. It's absolutely brilliant stuff. Here's a sample and for more info on the man go visit his official website.

Now to pass the Gardens Kratos has to create an Escher style walkway, nothing as fancy as the picture up above though. What I really like about this section is how it forces you to think outside of the realm of normal logic. While running through the Gardens Kratos can use a stone that allows him to see things from a different perspective. It's challenging, it's creative, and I had a good time.

I do, of course, have some complaints that I wish to address. First is the mystical gem that allows Kratos to see all of this. Kratos gets the gem off of a cup that belongs to Hera. Throughout the game, whenever Kratos killed a God or Godlike being they would normally drop an item. If Kratos picked up that item it would unlock a cheat that Kratos could use on the next playthrough. The cup is similar in that nature, it's Hera's special item. The problem that I have is that the cup is necessary to complete the Gardens so it's not actually an extra/bonus item. Personally, I just want to see some consistency, I don't get that here.

Also for Kratos to beat this area, a lot of random things have to actually happen. For instance, if Hera didn't throw away her cup at the start of the Gardens Kratos would never have been able to complete the area. It's actually crucial that Hera be in the Gardens for anyone to complete it. There's a point when Kratos has to fill these giant chalices with water. But Kratos can't access one of them because it has a bunch of vines growing on it. I don't see why Kratos can't just chop down the vines with his blades, but this is a game and it has rules.

To get past the vines actually requires Kratos to find Hera again and when he does she's still drunk and pissing and moaning about how everything is falling apart and how much Kratos sucks. Kratos actually doesn't care, at least until she insults Pandora, then Kratos snaps her neck. Hera's death causes all of the plant life to immediately shrivel and die. This is still odd since Hera was the Goddess of women and marriage. You would think that divorce rates would go up instead or something. But with Hera dead Kratos can burn the vines and fill the chalice.

That's great, but there's actually another chalice that needs to be filled, but there's no way to get water to it. It's a good thing Hera's body didn't explode or dissolve when she died, because Kratos dumps it in the final chalice thus allowing the Escher staircase to be completed and the exit discovered.

You see if Hera hadn't been there Kratos would never have gotten the cup, he never would have killed the plants, and he would've had to look harder for a body to use. Kratos beating the Gardens is all Hera's fault. If she hadn't been there she would of had her wish. Kratos would have wandered the Gardens forever and he never would have found his way out. But lets be honest, he probably would have just torn the place down brick by brick to get through.

The next part is much more straight forward. Kratos is actually back in that giant box room from earlier when he climbed the giant chain while chasing Hermes. All this area really involves is finding a giant "Skorpion" (it has a K, it's fancy) and getting an ice crystal thing from it. I was hoping this ice crystal would give Kratos an ice attack, but sadly the crystal is only used at certain points. With the crystal Kratos makes his way to Daedalus, who, much to my surprise, is still alive. I was expecting to ransack his body and use it for keys or something (this might still happen). Kratos informs Daedalus that Icarus is dead. But Icarus would have only died a couple of weeks ago so it actually wasn't unjustified of Daedalus to expect to see his son again. Daedalus is sad and Kratos doesn't care. Kratos uses the ice crystal on another key location (fun swinging parts along the way), Daedalus gets trapped between some boxes and Kratos finally enters the actual Labyrinth. And here I thought Kratos was in the Labyrinth the entire time. Turns out the Labyrinth is actually a bunch of giant boxes shoved together into a giant cube. This sounds like a set up for a bad movie. And that's where I saved.

I like the fact that I'm finding hidden chests and red orbs like mad through this section. It's like the devs said "He's close to the end and there's not enough collectibles in the game yet. Quickly, flood the Labyrinth with them." Not a complaint, just an observation.