OK, don’t get me wrong. The new, remastered versions of the original God of War and God of War II look amazing, especially in comparison to their first appearances on the PlayStation 2, but even with a new coat of high definition paint, they still pale in comparison to next year’s God of War III.

Take this video from the upcoming God of War Collection for example:

Looks great, right? How about this next one?

Also looks fantastic, especially when you match that footage up with what you have in your mind’s eye while thinking about the first time you played God of War and God of War II.

But when you watch the following footage from the demo of God of War III, the differences between the last generation of games and the current generation is easily apparent, with extreme graphical detail on show, and incredible attention to detail as compared to anything the PlayStation 2 could have handled (warning: the following video is extremely graphic):

When God of War Collection for the PS3 releases on November 17th in the US, and next year in Europe, those of us who haven’t yet played God of War or God of War II, and even those who have, will be treated to a great experience, both in terms of gameplay and visuals.

We’ll have to wait until March next year, however, in order to sample the true generational leap represented in God of War III, and to see further examples of the kinds of strides game developers have made moving to next generation videogame hardware.