Hercules ain't got nothing on Kratos.

Overview:
I've heard a lot of hype on this game from various gaming sources. So I figured I would give it a try. The price wasn't bad at all, which kind of made me nervous. I thought
an epic game would be a little more expensive. But I popped this little miracle and was blown away.

Graphics:
The graphics on this game are just astounding. Even the intro cut-scene had an epic atmosphere. But unlike other games, the wonderful graphics stay wonderful after the cutscenes. Kratos' movements are so fluid and smooth that you sometimes forget your looking at a virtual character. All battle sequences are very fluid and never skip. There are sometimes where a certain zombie or whatnot is glitching into another zombie, but your too distracted to notice, and that happens so rarely that it doesn't hurt the gameplay. The background and environment was stunning. The surrounding buildings are interactive and have little interactive things that make the game more alive. Nothing is looked over, the minds of the designers really should be applauded. They captured the ancient Greek feel, but kept it a little dramatic to keep the epic experience. They did something with the background that was I had never seen before on the PS2. I could see the background clearly with great detail, but the background kept going back deeper, and deeper, and deeper, and deeper, with no lack of detail at all. For instance, While in the battle-torn Athens, I could see Ares just laying waste to the poor city further back. It really give a feeling of how huge this world is. In conclusion; These are mind-blowing graphics.

Audio:
The audio was flawlessly done throughout this game. The battle sounds were perfectly executed. Ever clash and slice was perfectly balanced that kept the battle brutal, but not over-dramatic. The voicing was cast extremely well. Kratos has a deep, powerful, impatient, angry voice that portrays this dark character well. The Narrator has an ancient Greek, wise tone in her that is what you expect in Greek themes. The Gods have a strong, wise, and commanding tone to them that gives that air of absolute authority. Every sound that you would expect to hear was there. As Ares took another swipe at the city. You could just hear a distant crashing and screams come from the direction of the blast. Overall: 10/10


Gameplay:
I can't rave enough of the gameplay here. It was perfectly done. All the movements in combat were fluid and flawlessly done. There wasn't a skip or glitch that was big enough in combat to catch my eye, just some movement issues as I stated in 'Graphics'. They took a chance in this game by arming Kratos not with a normal sword, but with two sick looking swords on CHAINED TO HIS WRISTS. And I applaud them for it. It's too much fun to jump around and swing these swords around to unsuspecting prey. And they got the combos down surprisingly well. The swords have a hefty arsenal of attacks ranging from light and quick to big and heavy. These complex moves can actually be performed easily. Anyone who has experience with one-on-one fighting games like Soul Calibur and Mortal Kombat should have no problems here. One thing I really enjoy with this game is that it is Challenging on even the Easy (Mortal) difficulty. I found myself on Easy and still ranting out in frustration. So it will always present a challenge to you. The puzzles are nicely spaced out and aren't obvious. They require you to really think in order to solve them. And they aren't terribly unrealistic, but some do stretch the reality cord a little. While others are completely realistic. One realistic puzzle is that you are trying to advance through Athens, and you yell at the gatekeeper to extend the bridge, but he is petrified with fear so he refuses to extend it and let the zombies come across too. So you have to figure out some way to make him extend it. One thing that they have very cleverly done is leave some open edges in the story-line. Those cliff-hangers are answered, but you can only unlock the answers by beating the hardest level. So yes, I now spend many hours trying to beat it so I can learn about what happened. Another new aspect are button sequences. These can range from quickly pressing certain buttons when the icon pops up to spinning the left stick in a given direction, to pressing one button as fast as you can. One non-combat example is if your trying to lift up a gate. You have to press R2 as fast as you can to throw it up. But the real fun with these are the combat sequences. Yes you can kill any monster by just hacking until they die, but each monster has an alternate death that requires a button sequence to kill it, and they are, in my opinion, pretty freaking awesome. One example is that if you weaken a minotaur enough, it will have a 'circle button' icon appear over it's head and once you press it, you go into a little scene where you tackle it and try to stab it through the mouth, but the minotaur has other ideas and tries to push the swords back. So you begin a sequence of pressing 'circle' as fast as you can to win over the minotaur's strength. Once you do, a quick and bloody scene occurs where he, in fact, does stab it through the mouth. On that note, I will acknowlage the fact that it is a very bloody and brutally violent game. There are hefty amounts of blood, gore, and dismember armatures flying around. There is some sexually explicit content in this game as well. There is this one OPTIONAL mini-game where you jump in bed with two girls and begin a button sequence game of pleasure. While it doesn't show anything, the camera does pan over to a very suggestive vase, if you know what I mean. I do acknowlage that, but I don't oppose it. It was rated 'M' for a reason. Parents, 'M' means "Don't buy this for your 10 year-old son, no matter how much he wants it."

Story and mythology:
Wow, just wow. This story is so epic, so deep and so well organised that most of the time I thought I was watching a movie. I won't provide any spoilers (I hope) but I will say that this is truly the most in-depth and layer story of any game I have ever played. It is nothing that is remotely similar to any game or movie. We really should give the writers and designers a real pat on the back. They envisioned all the famous Greek Creatures and objects in a very unique and realistic way. Pandora's Box has a design I had never seen before, but surprisingly, I thought, "Now that's how Pandora's Box should look like." The creatures are done with features that made them become real monsters. I won't go into detail to spoil it for you. But I will say this, the Sirens creeped me out the most. Conclusion; Two thumbs way up.

Multiplayer and Online:
There was no multiplayer or online capabilities, but when I think about it, there really was no way they could have done it. Kratos doesn't work with anybody. He does everything alone. That's his character. So I'm not disappointed.


Closing Comments:
God of War is a truly epic game that could be easily adapted into a movie. This is such a flawless game for a relatively old system that I am just blown-away. Be cautious of explicit themes though. Make sure the kids are at school before playing.