2

5 /5

Golden Axe III is like its predecessors a beat 'em-up game that puts players in the shoes of a hero out to save the land from evil. This time Damud Hellbringer, the 'Prince of Darkness', has taken away the Golden Axe and put an evil curse over all the warriors of the land. However, one of the heroes has their curse relieved and is sent to set things straight and lift the curse off other warriors, defeat the villains and return with the Golden Axe.

The barbarian and amazon of the first two parts remain although receiving new names (Kain Grinder and Sahra Burn). The two new characters introduced are the panther warrior Chronos Raid and Proud Cragger the giant. Gilius Thunderhead the dwarf gives you instructions, but is not playable. The gameplay has been expanded slightly, but is essentially the same hack 'n' slash as in the previous games. New features to the series include junction points where you can choose which path to take. Like in the first Golden Axe, you get magic potions and health power-ups by kicking gnomes during the occasional intermission. Every character has unique magic spells, but they function in the same way: the power and the damage of the spell increase with the number of potions available (and you can't choose a weaker one if you want to spare more potions for later). New moves include blocks, grapples, sweeps and team attacks.