God of War for PlayStation 2

All I can say is wow! What a game. Surprisingly enough this thought to be hit is a hit. God of War is no disappointment to all the hype it has received. All the glory that this game gets is totally deserved. Santa Monica studios brings the action genre a game of gore and intense violence and no mercy. About a ruthless warrior and his painful past and his quest to be forgiven by the gods of Olympus. Yes this game is just that epic. Director David Jaffe set out to bring a motion picture thrill ride to a game about Greek mythology and he has done it.

Kratos the main character is a war hungry, bloodthirsty savage man. He has conquered many armies and killed many adversaries but now he is trying to undo and be forgiven for his murderous past. His quest is to bring down the God of War Ares who is a crazy wrecking machine and has unleashed his fury on Athens the city of Athena. Right from the get go this game will throw you into combat on a ship in the middle of a storm. Combat is quick and easy to used to as simple button presses can lead to massive combos on the undead soldiers. Kratos has a normal attack, heavy attack, and a grab button. All of these can be seamlessly combined to create amazing battle sequences. He wields the blades of chaos, which are probably the coolest blades on earth. The power they have is awesome and performing these slick combo maneuvers is really fun. Blocking and juggling enemies can also be done with fluid ease by pressing O. Hands down God of War serves up the best action a game has seen. Its quick relentless and mind numbingly fun. One thing that could have been tweaked is the dodge roll technique which you do by tapping the right analog. Kratos will only dive in a strict four directions. If he could actually dodge in the direction you pushed it could have made some of the tough enemys a bit easier to handle.

There is a very basic upgrade system in God of War. Killing enemys and destroying things yields red orbs. Then you can invest in upgrade a weapon or magic. Usually there are about 3-5 levels of upgrading. You gain things like more moves for your blades or more damage for your magic. A little more complex system could have been cool but this helps keep you focused on other things than just upgrading.

Further more this game boasts its truly amazing puzzles, which I thought half were amazing and half I had seen before. Most of the puzzles in God of War which usually take place in Pandora's temple are very block oriented. Pushing, pulling, lifting, whatever a box can do you do it. Most puzzles are refreshing and not too complicated and completing huge puzzles is very satisfying. Even though most of them do have lots of block pushing its still surprisingly the best way to approach puzzles. One will even have you using a soldier as a human sacrifice, which just shows how much cares about everyone else.

Along the way Kratos will also receive four awesome powers of the Gods. The army of Hades, Zeus' fury, Poseidon's rage, and Medusa's gaze. All of these cool powers have their uses like taking out hordes of guys. Using magic keeps the combat interesting so that each encounter can be a little different. You also receive an optional blade but its no where near as cool as the blades of chaos.

This game still poses a deep challenge though since blocking and mastering the magic abilities take a bit of skill. The wide array of enemies is crazy with multiple undead soldiers, Minotaurs, gorgons, harpies, centaurs, Cyclops's, and more. All these enemies must be approached slightly differently. Taking down the big enemies is the most fun since damaging them enough causes them to be dizzy which leads to a cool mini game of button presses. Successfully pulling these off gives a cool action sequence of Kratos taking down the beast.

God of War also boasts some very impressive boss battles which the only problem here is that there are only three of them and more would have nice because they are so fun and visually stunning. The bosses also have the mini game challenge at the end of the fight, which usually kills the boss. At least the bosses that made it too the game are extremely awesome.


The visuals in God of War put the PS2's limits to the test because the characters and levels all look very stunning. The Greek atmosphere is captured perfectly from the architecture to the monsters and the people. The mountains, the deserts, the temples, all have so much detail and color you wonder the toils it must have taken to create such a great environment. While playing simply traversing the landscape is a true joy since looking around is as worthwhile as the combat. Then on top of that are the gorgeous cut scenes, which help push the story along. The only bad thing I could find in this game is that on a phew occasions the camera makes simple tasks a little harder than they should be but otherwise the camera was great and you don't have to worry about controlling it yourself because you can't.

For musical score this game should win an Oscar. The Greek feeling in the music is simply heart stopping. The music will always set the mood just right whether you're fighting or solving a puzzle. The epic music matches the epic scale of the game. The voiceovers and done really well too. The narrator and Kratos stick out in my mind as the best. Ares to me didn't sound godly enough but he only has a couple lines anyway.

Be aware that this game is a mature title for good reason. In one part you see bare chests and most of the women characters have see through shirts. You can even take part in a sex mini game which is worth the extra red orbs that you receive. The blood is not too over the top but it's obviously there. Mostly your killing magical creatures anyway so its not to realistic. The game surprisingly has no swearing even though the game box says there is. I didn't even hear any low key curses like the d and p words. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I have beaten this game and I heard no swearing.

The big picture here is that God of War is worth every penny spent. Not only does beating the game unlock cool special stuff but you'll want to play the game through at least three or more times on all the difficulties. From the opening cinematic to the final battle with Ares Kratos' journey is a thrill ride not to be missed.