God of War for PlayStation 2

God of War is one of the most entertaining, breath-takingly beautiful video games I have played in a very long time. However, make sure you leave your morality at the door.

God of War is a hack-and-slash game. The combat is real-time and action-packed. The game does not rely on platform jumping or puzzle solving. There are a few of those elements in the game, but primarily they are used to provide a break in the action, and they are not pervasive elements of the game as a whole.

As a word to the wise, the faint of heart need not even look at the box of this game. The game is extremely bloody and gory, almost every female character is at least partially nude, and the main character has a tendency to make very immoral and reprehensible choices on his path to glory. For some, these aspects of the game are selling points, but if you are offended by such material, then this game is definitely not for you.

If you haven't been turned off by what the game is not, then let me have the privilege and honor to tell you what you are in store for. God of War has many hours of game play to it. I didn't find myself beating it over the course of a weekend but rather found that the game lasted longer than I had anticipated. Your experience may differ from mine, but I am accustomed to games such as this being fairly quick and this was not. Level design is beautiful and very straightforward. You will rarely find yourself wondering where to go next in this game. The game has several difficulty levels available, so anyone from a novice to an experienced gamer can find a beatable challenge in the game. The monsters are well designed and unique in style. You may occasionally get tired of fighting the same sort of enemy repeatedly, but new enemies appear often enough to keep most people satisfied. Upgradeable attacks and spells allow for some specialization and variation in gaming experience, but by the end of the game you're probably going to have almost every ability, so choosing one ability over another won't make or break the game for you. The storyline is an interesting one, but it is definitely not the most driving feature of the game. The ending is well done and manages to properly conclude a very epic and majestic experience. The replay value is decent, since the game offers the chance to unlock an extreme difficulty option and a challenges option for trying to accomplish goals that are, well, a challenge to say the least.

Part of the appeal of this game, to me, is the way in which combat plays out. Mechanically, the game is incredibly smooth. Attack combinations are relatively easily achieved without locking in to a particular set of moves. The speed and flexibility of the attacks reduces the feeling of disconnection, making the game feel more responsive and intense. In addition, graphically, the combat is exquisite. The main character's primary weaponry is a pair of swords on the ends of chains. The animation for these weapons is wonderfully rendered, and the poetry of motion and brutal attack options are not to be underestimated. God of War also makes use of a sort of mini game style of combat, allowing the player to press a button appropriate to launch a special series of attacks where well times button pressing is translated into rich and complex attacks against an enemy that are so well done they more closely resemble cut scenes than your average game play. At times I found myself almost wishing I could watch myself playing the game so that I could sit back and enjoy the visual art that is God of War while I played.