tries too hard to be God of War...but it's still worth playing
the cutscenes are poor-quality for a next gen console, the voice acting in the scnes makes it feel like you're watching a 50' black and white movie, the characters are so emotionless it can sometimes be a pain to listen or watch them.
there are about 50 different combos in the game and most are pretty easy to pull off, you only start with only a few combos, but as you can unlock new combos with red runes, which you get from defeating enemies. although there are a wide range of combos you can use, as you progress further into the game, most enemies has the ability to block most of your attacks and some are armed with a shield, you will need to use a block breaker and shield breaker attack in order to break their guard, but there are only a few of them available, which means you'll most likely have to repeat the same combo over and over again to kill them, or you can try and pull off a counter attack, which is one of the best features in the game IMO, in order to do a counter attack, you'll have to press the block button right before the enemy's attack hits you, then you will parry the attack and a button will pop up on the screen, if you press the right button in time you will hit the enemy with a violent attack which instantly kills him. there are boss fights on almost every chapter, but most of the bosses are similar to each other and are easy and straight forward, there are also button frequencies at the end of boss fights, most of these triggers a violent finishing move like the God of War series- but without the coolness.
the platforming in this game is boring and frustrating, but not because it's hard, it's because the jumping sequences are so dodgy, it seems like the distance you jump is random everytime you press the jump button, you'll probably end up punching your TV after thousands of unsucessful jumps, fortunately, there arent many jump platforming in the game.
the soundtrack is well-suited to the barbarian feeling, but the battle quotes are repetitive and as i have mentioned before- emotionless, i think the developers should have focused more on the sound on the weapons and other sound effects.
there isnt much to do after you completed the story mode, other than playing through again on a higher difficulty level, but that's rather pointless, as most of the unlockable from playing those modes arent really worth the time playing through the game again. while this game is worth getting for action and hack and slash fans, if your looking for an unforgettable experience for the PS3, you'll be better off with Heavenly Sword