God of War (PS2)

Do you remember that thrill when you played Devil May Cry for the first time? That experience that was familiar in some aspects but so different in a completely bad ass way? The opening moments of God of War exceed that thrill. In fact it brings to mind what comedian Dane Cook would call a BAMF. I'll let you do the math.

The opening moments are filled with creatures both small and large that you can effortlessly kill, the game subtly teaching you the mechanics. But all of that is just setup for a truly epic first boss fight against the Hydra that not only kicks the game into high gear, but also is better than practically any "end boss" fights of most games. With context sensitive button pushes, the game incorporates a cinematic experience into your fighting. By pushing buttons at the right time, you are dodging, climbing and killing each Hydra head thrown at you. It is intense and immensely satisfying. Never before have I felt this immersion in a video game. Instead of watching a cutscene of Kratos finishing a Hydra, YOU are doing it. You are swinging off its nose, jamming your blades into its eyes. It is awesome.

Graphically, the game excels. I have been constantly surprised recently with the graphic quality of PS2 games. God of War is almost seamless. The game moves from gameplay, to cutscene, to gameplay, level to level without a load screen. In fact, with the exception of the initial load, I don't remember ever seeing a load screen. It is beautiful to watch, gruesome to play and just fantastic.

Sound-wise, the game also is gold. It has a fully orchestrated soundtrack that fits perfectly with the Greek time period. In fact, the soundtrack is available for a free download if you buy the game and its definitely worth it to those who like this kind of music. The voice work is well done and the lip synching for once matches perfectly.

For all of the graphic prowess, there are some problems. The biggest of which is a kind of scanning problem. When the camera moves, sometimes the areas get...squiggly?...I don't how to explain it, but there's lines moving through the game because it can't handle it. There's also a little bit of slowdown when battles get hectic. Neither of these are major problems but it does detract from what really are wonderful graphics.

The camera also generally shows the best angle for the action. You can't control the camera, it's preset like Devil May Cry. There are a couple instances, however, where you can get sandwiched between two or more huge brutes and you can't see yourself because of the camera. It can be incredibly annoying when it happens but it is so rare that it isn't much of a complaint.

Finally, the game isn't too long. It's a 10-15 hour game depending on how well you play and what difficulty setting you choose. They actually had to cut the game down to get it done on time. You can check out the levels and monsters that were cut after finishing the game. Along with the shortness, there aren't many bosses. In fact, there's only three. But man, when they throw a boss at you, they really throw a boss at you.

Note of warning: This game is definitely rated M. The violence and gore is in your face as there are decapitations, breaking necks, wings ripped off, people cut in half, violence against women, etc. And there's nudity and sexual situations. Copious breast shots follow suit.

I can't recommend this game enough. If you are a fan of action games, this game redefines the stylish action Devil May Cry heralded back in the day. Playing as Kratos gives you the same bad ass feeling Dante did, only God of War ramps this up to the extremes. Play this game, you'll be glad you did.

UPDATE: I don't know if there's anyone out there who hasn't played this game yet, but if you haven't, why not? At 19.99, this game is a complete steal! There is a sequel on the way, coming out on the PS2 in early 2007.

holy crap this game is awesome! i was skeptical at first, but then i started seeing all the good reviews in magazines, so i had to go out and pick me up a copy and see what all the fuss was about. and i couldn't be happier that i did.

you play as a warrior named Kratos, and he got screwed over by the god of war, Ares, so now he wants to kill Ares. The plot is pretty good, and told quite well through flashback cinemas, and present time ones, too. But the story isn't where it's at with this game, oh no, this game is all about the killin'. And trust me, you'll be doin' lots of it, in the coolest ways possible. Ripping people's heads off, tearing them in half, breaking their backs, gouging their eyes out, ramming your Blades of Chaos down their gullets...the list goes on and on.

The graphics in God of War are flat out amazing. from the highly details character models (even the regular enemies look amazing), to the awe-inspiring backgrounds that are almost always filled with fighting and some type of storm (sand, rain, lots of buildings on fire), and the first time you see Ares just marchin' around town (and you being about the size of one of his huge hands), you will crap yourself. you obtain different god powers throughout your quest of vengeance (and sadism...), such as Medusa's Gaze, which temporarily petrifies enemies in a stone casing, Poseidon's Rage, which is a large electrical blast to surrounding foes, Artemis' Blade, a massive, razor-sharp weapon that helps you just plain smack the crap out of enemies, and there are others, but i won't ruin all the fun for everyone. the bosses look amazing, too. from the Hydra to Ares, you'll be half kicking ass, and half admiring the graphics with which you are doing so.

the game isn't terribly hard, and i think i beat it in just under ten hours...i think. i could be wrong. that might sound relatively short, but trust me, it's just the right amount of time for a game like this. Sure, the developers could have tacked on a bunch of half-assed side-quests or backtracking missions to lengthen your adventure, but then the game would just feel...i don't know...tainted, somehow. like it was perfect, but then they had to get greedy and try to throw in some cheap crap to boost the number of hours it takes to complete the game. i'm glad they didn't though, because as it is, the game is flat out amazing. and you'll be playing it for a long time anyway, just for the action. but anyway, when you beat it, you unlock a harder mode, which i haven't touched yet, and you also can unlock a ton of other goodies that will keep you playing, if you aren't already hooked on beating the pants off every enemy and trying to rack up a huge chain of hits while you do it. I do like how the game flows, though. There isn't really any traditional level design, everything just goes right from one stage to the next, with little to no loading time, which is always a plus. but i don't even think an irritating loading time could harm this game's greatness. it is by far the best game of the year, already, and will probably stand as one of the best action/adventure games of all time...until God of War II comes out, anyway....

That's what I've started doing. It's a game that drips testosterone from marble columns of Athens to (but not quenching) the infernals of Hades. There's not much happy in Krato's Ancient Greece. Well, strike that. Maybe Aries is happy because he's ripping Athens to shreds. Fires, thunderstorms, Aries' steel clanging, while the helpless humans fire arrows at the God of War unleashed. Pah! Human Arrows. It's like trying to put out Hades' flames by blowing bubbles.

There is so much amazing about God of War. First, I'll talk about thought. There's folly about. That's the theme of Greek Mythology, ALWAYS. Folly between the gods and "their human playthings". However, Greek gods are flawed just like the human pawns. For the gods of Olympus err clumbsiness then clean-up their mistakes after. What folly! God of War WORKS as Greek Mythology. I love the concept of "destroying a god" through Pandora's Box. Opening Pandora's Box, the colloquialism, is to unleash a maelstrom of unpredictable chaotic events. Is that what happens when a god is killed? Absolutely. This is what I mean regarding thought. There are philosphical gems that glisten in Ancient Greece.

Second, the gameplay and controls are extremely tight. You'll use every button on the contoller when battling. You'll use every move. Rolling/evasion, blocking, comboes that can rise to triple digit numbers (my highest is 124) are necessary to avoid becoming burger to Aries' black-hearted baddies. This said, tight controls are necessary, work perfect, creating some ridiculously fast paced/intense action.

Third, is balance. Now some friends say I smoke too much over drinking, but I understand balance is required. God of War balances action and puzzle solving, and not once do the scales dip to one side. Sure, the game gets difficult and frustrating the further you take Kratos, but never is there too much fighting, too much puzzle-solving, or too much drinking. Wah? The balance is great.

Did I mention level design? No? It's brilliant. Sometimes it reminds me of Prince of Persia:SOT and sometimes Tomb Raider. Environments are very fluid, from the details of statues and Greek architecture, to Kratos' ugly reflection on a highly polished floor? I'd hate to be the sap who keeps those Greek floors so spickitty span clean. I wonder what that dude makes an hour. Benefits are worth it, especially if you get to glimpse the Oracle of Athens in her sheer top. Huh? Great level design.

To add one more edge on Kratos already sharp blades, God of War has a wonderful soundtrack. The music is ambiant sometimes, orchestral at others. Should I say it again? Ok. Balanced soundtrack.

I'll wrap it up. My wife came down when I was playing and she said, "Honey, why do you have your shirt off?" I looked at her. My eyes were bloodshot but not from God of War. I replied, "Kratos doesn't wear a shirt. If he doesn't, I don't."

The PlayStation 2 got a decent dose of bloody Roman history earlier this year with Shadow of Rome, a more or less playable version of the movie Gladiator. However, Sony has completely upped the ante with God of War, an adventure of Herculean proportions that brilliantly plays off Greek mythology and delivers one of the most intense gaming experiences of the year.

The game's premise is as ancient as the mythos itself: Ares, the titular deity with serious self-esteem issues, has gone on a rampage and must be stopped. Being Greek gods (who are prone to sit on their eternal asses and empower others to do their dirty work), a mortal dutifully takes up the task: Kratos, a tortured Spartan warrior who can pry off Gorgon heads, tear some enemies completely in half, and perform other super-human feats. Formidable as Kratos' strength is, the only thing that can kill Ares is Pandora's Box, an artifact resting behind a series of bosses, devilishly constructed traps, and perplexing puzzles (most of which come in the form of moving objects and pulling levers).

Borrowing perhaps a bit too liberally from Devil May Cry (the first one, anyway), Kratos is a serious-minded one-man slaughterhouse, sans the oh-so-cool swagger. Equipped with a pair of extending chains each capped with a sword, the Spartan uses these weapons for mid-range combo attacks, including vicious air-juggles. Larger foes, though, require more skill, and some must be softened up before they can be finished off by a series of onscreen button-press cues. Additional combos are unlocked by cashing in dead souls collected from felled enemies. Accessory weapons are also available. For instance, once you wrench off Medusa's head, it can be used as a power-up to temporarily petrify enemies that can then be shattered if struck before they can thaw. The gods chime in, too, and dole out various devastating powers, such as Zeus' lightning bolts and Hades' dead souls.

Robust fighting engine aside, God of War draws additional strength from the sheer diversity of tasks to be completed and the clever way it plays off the source material. Classic monsters, such as the Hydra, Minotaur, Sirens, and Harpies (among others) require specific techniques in order to defeat as the events take place against a driving music score reminiscent of the best Roman movie sagas like Ben-Hur. The excellent visuals bring these foes to life and the detailed architecture deliver the aesthetic punch of an era long gone.

All is not perfect on Olympus, though. The inconsistent camera (that destroyer of other games) takes its toll as it makes seemingly simple tasks like navigating lengthy catwalks more perilous than it should be, and some of the puzzles rely excessively on split-second timing and result in repetitive trial-and-error.

Setbacks aside, God of War is an exhausting, epic quest that challenges the mightiest video game warrior from the throne of their living-room couch.

God of War is fantastic. It's like a cross between Onimusha and Prince of Persia.

Basically, you are in the times of Athens and Sparta. There are a bunch of monsters you have to fight, which you will probably recognize. There are medusas, sirens, cyclops', minotaurs, etc. There are also gods, such as Ares, Athena, and Zeus. The story revolves around you trying to get your sins from the past wiped clean. You must do this during a war the gods are waging with each other. So right away the story is pretty interesting. They manage to work in different monsters and gods at just the right times to keep you hooked. Right when the game started to get boring, I witnessed Ares for the first time and couldn't imagine what would happen next.

The fighting is good. There are basic attacks and strong attacks. As you progress, you can unlock new moves. There's a large enough variety of moves that you won't become bored too easily. There are god powers, which keep the game interesting. The cool thing is, you can do so much while fighting. The right analog stick lets you roll to evade things. This is very clever and one of the best uses of the analog stick I've ever seen. If you wonder about the camera, fear not. It is always in sort of fixed places. You always see what you need to see, and you never have to fiddle with the camera to solve a puzzle. Hoo ray.

The reason I compared this game to Onimusha was because the glowing spheres that come out of dead enemies. In this and that game, killing enemies results in different colored spheres. Green restore health, red let you power up, and blue restore magic. In Onimusha you have to hold down "O" and be real close to suck orbs up. In this game, it's automatic and they will absorb from far away. This saves you alot of time, and makes killing enemies meaningful. The game reminds me of Prince of Persia because of all the platforming. It is very easy, just like Prince of Persia. The thing that makes this game better is the fighting. Prince of Persia has you doing a lot of cool platforming, but the fighting is stupid. In this game, both the platforming and fighting are good.

Lastly, the graphics are great. They aren't mind-blowing, but they are really good. The textures fit well with the game. The landscape doesn't seem to be all squares and circles. What's better is that you can usually see a lot. The camera is always fixed, but you will always be able to see something interesting. I was climbing some vines and I noticed a battle off in the distance. Later I got to witness that battle.

The last reviewer said it best. It's not long, but that's only because the creators didn't want to add in a bunch of stupid crap. I'm impressed.