Previous parts of this interview are right here: The Playstation and Me: David Jaffe, Part 1, The Playstation and Me: David Jaffe, Part 2
If you’ve been reading this multi-part talk and wondering where the Twisted Metal update is, then wonder no longer. Jaffe discusses development on the new iteration of his car combat series and the games he’s finally trying to catch up on.
I’m going to hit you quickly with few more follow-up questions about more stuff that’s happening now. What was your reaction to God of War III?
I thought it was great. Obviously the first thing you notice with the game is just the spectacle and the graphics and the production value is just second to none. Just an amazing achievement. It was the first God of War game that I hadn’t been involved with.
(More on Techland: Power and Pathos: Previewing God of War III)
So everything was a surprise to me. It was really neat to play a God of War game that I didn’t know what was around the next corner and what the puzzles were, and what the surprises were or where the plot was going. So I really enjoyed it. People a lot of times ask me, “Was it better than God of War 2, was it better than God of War 1?” I have such a unique relationship with those first two games, and to an extent, a little bit of the first PSP game, that I’m not in any real position to assess that. I just know as a standalone game, which is the only way I can look at God of War 3, I thought it was technically an amazing achievement, and I thought it was a hell of a lot of fun.
(More on Techland: Whom The Gods Would Destroy: The God of War III Review)
I know you read a lot of comic books.
Oh yeah.
What you’re saying about God of War III reminds me of when writers end their tenures on a particular title. A lot of times, when they go off a book, some people say, “I can’t read it for awhile.” Because, the interpretation varies and they read the stuff that other writers have the character do, and the response is “Man, I wouldn’t do that.” I was anticipating a reaction like that from you. Like, “I’m a little too close to it.” But it sounds like you did the exact opposite. You were able to get enough distance.
Yeah. It had been awhile. And to be frank, I had already put out there or I have since put out there, what I would have done with God of War III. I just did a panel the other night with the director of that game, and the director of God Of War II, and all the other God of War games. And I tell Stig who directed God Of War III, it’s like, “Yeah, it’s not what I would have done.” I had and have a story for God of War that I think it’s just the bees knees. It’s just fantastic.
And that’s what I had hoped they would have done with God of War 3, but that doesn’t lessen, by any means, what they did do with it. So I can be critical of it in the sense that it’s not certainly the game that I would have made, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not a fantastic game.