GoofyBoy's Journal: God of War - Blades of Hades = WTF?!?

I just completed what must be the worst part of any highly rated game ever. Half-Life's Xen level was wonderful in comparison.

What is wrong with Blades of Hades
1. Requires skill you haven't used before - slowly maneuvering within a small path. Ok, there was those thin beams at the very beginning, but how about building up to it. Without the blades. Without the right-angle turns. Without the long paths so there is that much more chance to screw up.

2. Fail=start right back to the beginning. This is just painful; punishment for a tiny mistake.

3. Disorienting camera angles. While you are walking along, why does the camera angle have to change? It really screws up the analog joystick control during critical times.

4. Bad camera angles. I died a few times just before the jumping on the log to the ladder because the view from behind Kratos big head doesn't help trying to figure out what the hell is exactly up ahead.

5. Unforgiving blades. You get even a hair's breath close to it, its death and starting from the beginning. Very frustrating.

Who ever designed this level and who ever approved of it should have known better. You design games for fun and challenge; not for work (after starting the level for the tenth time it starts be coming work) and frustration.

How I did it
1. Learn to double-jump. You get more time in the air to let the blades pass. To do this press X to jump and when Kratos is at the top of the jump press X again. So its; X, wait, X.
2. Focus on the path and position of Kratos and block out the background. I found this helps with the bad camera angles.
3. At the beginning, step on to the first short segment of beam but don't turn left. Run forward and double-jump (off the short beam) and you should reach a platform. This allows you to skip the first rotating blade.
4. For the second rotating blade, double-jump over the blades as they come. Advance slowly.
5. To get on the rotating ladder you need to jump on the 1 moving arm that doesn't have blades (the other 3 have blades). To jump on the non-blade arm, get close to the end of the beam so that all the arms can pass without hitting you. After the blade arm passes and before the non-blade arm passes, move closer to the end (the beam is darker there). You need to jump straight up and land on the non-blade arm as it passes under you. It took me 3 times to do this because the bad camera angle doesn't allow you to see exactly what is going on with the beam and the moving blades.

Just a poorly designed level that brings down the entire game's experience.