Diary of a Sound Recordist: Top 5 Video Games - 4. GOD OF WAR III

Alongside my love of films, TV and music is my passion for video games. In this new personal series of blogs, I’m going to talk through my top 5 video games of all time and discuss what’s great about them, what they mean to me and how they might have inspired me in my career as a filmmaker, sound recordist and sound designer.

This week, we’re looking at entry number 4 in my countdown of all time favourite video games; God of War III.

God of War 3 – Plot Summary

God of War III follows Kratos, the former Spartan warrior turned Ghost of Sparta, as he seeks vengeance against the Olympian gods for their betrayal. Riding on the back of the Titan Gaia, he storms Mount Olympus to kill Zeus, but is ultimately cast down into the Underworld. With the help of Athena’s spirit, Kratos fights his way through powerful foes, including Hades, Poseidon, and Hermes, systematically destroying Olympus. As he faces Zeus in a final battle, Kratos uncovers the truth about Pandora’s Box and the cycle of vengeance that has consumed him. In the end, after seemingly defeating Zeus, Kratos, burdened by his past, chooses to end his own life, bringing hope to the world by releasing the power of hope from within himself.

What Makes It So Great?

I’ve always been a huge fan of the God of War series and think very highly of the new incarnations in the series for the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5, but there’s something about the third (main) instalment in the series which really gripped me both on a narrative level and also gameplay level too. It’s one of the few games in my life where I find myself revisiting every now and again as I just love the journey of it all so much, and I even took the challenge of obtaining every trophy/achievement you could get in the game which was no mean feat let me tell you!

I love how the game represents and brings to life the Greek mythology, putting really cool spins to iconic characters and having the main Protagonist, Kratos, interact- or should I say brutally incapacitate- most of the Greek gods and legendary characters.

Oh! And that opening title sequence to the game is superb! It’s such a great piece of animation that summarised the plot thus far (from God of War and God of War II) and combined with an incredible music score, it’s fantastic.

Music

Speaking of the music, the game’s soundtrack is not only one of my all time favourite video games soundtracks but also one of my favourites across all entertainment. Even 15 years after the game’s release, I still listen fairly regularly on Spotify! Not only is the main theme so iconic and so well utilised in various forms throughout, the music scores for all the intense action sequences match the action of the gameplay so well, really making you feel you are a serious bad ass as you slay your enemies.

What It Means To Me

How much I revisit this game and the big, memorable moments is a testament to how much of an impact this game had on me. Like with other video game series at the time, the third instalment often produces some of the best content of their respective franchises (just look at my number 5 ranked game, Metal Gear Solid 3 and even Splinter Cell’s third instalment, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Ratchet & Clank’s third instalment which both only narrowly missed out on my top 5). Maybe the third time round is the point where developers, directors and creators have really honed in on their craft and have refined all the elements that make their storytelling and gameplay work so well.

There’s been a number of spin-off God of War games and even prequel games, but none of those ever reached the highs of God of War III in my opinion. However, in 2018, 8 years after the release of God of War III, a brand new game in the franchise was launched, a kind of rebirth of the franchise, but still continuing the story and journey of our beloved Kratos, this time in a completely new setting and with brand new characters, swapping out the Greek setting and Greek mythology with Norse mythology. This was then followed up by God of War: Ragnarök in 2022. Both of these are phenomenal games and are definitely up there in contention for my favourite PS4 games, having retained the charm and nostalgia of the original trilogy while bringing in new story and gameplay elements that are a fantastic expansion of the franchise.

God of War III though I think will always go down as my favourite instalment, maybe because of the nostalgia and memories I have with it, but also because it is just one phenomenal gaming experience. As a filmmaker, the God of War franchise is one of the few video games I always wanted to adapt into a film or television show (and I believe it now is in development by Amazon?), as it’s certainly got all the potential to be such an exhilarating, action-packed gorefest with larger-than-life Greek mythological characters that I think none video game players would enjoy so much. Here’s hoping the adaptation follows in the footsteps of The Last of Us!

Dan Guest

Sound Recordist