The original fans will be pleased with the improvements. The newcomers will not want to miss this...BUY IT!!!
Graphics 9.8/10: Yes I immediately saw the work they put into polishing up a few things, ESPECIALLY in God of War 2, but 1 was as good as it could have been. The only minor gripe I had were going from the cutscenes from 1 and back into gameplay as it becomes noticeable that the game has aged a little. Granted in terms of PS2 games the graphics are at the top of their game. Funny enough from a current gen standpoint, they look like some of the current games, ESPECIALLY God of War 2. Despite original system limitations, the particle effects were on point. The lighting, water effects, etc. I would go as far as to say that God of War 2 graphics can compare to xbox 360 AND PS3 games. For example, as some points I did remember Devil May Cry 4. That in itself shows how touched up the fps and textures were. The environments blew me away. The war torn Athens really made me feel the destruction war had brought them. The massive Ares also made me realize how insignificant I was. The Colossus of Rhodes was also a.....humbling experience I hadn't felt since facing the Dragon God in Demon's Souls.
Story 10/10: Yes, considering this is an action series (with some rpg'ish elements thrown in, nonetheless action), the story is well developed. From Kratos' dark past, his sworn loyalty to Ares, all the way up to his rising (I don't want to spoil full story), it is all well developed. Kratos is outright vicious, yet I can connect with his character and see how he is the product of what society as well as the Pantheon has made him. I can sympathize with Athena and her actions as well, although I am not a fan of the rest of the Gods for my own reasons. The ending in 1 leads perfectly to the start of 2, and the ending of 2 made me enjoy the demo of 3 (which comes as the redeemable code in the collection) even more because of such an extensive backstory. Being a fan of greek mythology since high school (I am 28 now) I was glad to see how the gods were portrayed (some more limited than others) as superior beings who have similar worries to the mortals. Also it is shown time and again that like the mortals, the gods aren't perfect and thus the line between good and evil is blurred.
Gameplay 9.8/10: Initially it may come off as a typical hack-n-slash game where you can just get away with just mashing the square button, but that is faaaaaar from the truth. In reality within an hour or so (provided you are a good player and can get somewhere far in that time span) you realize that other factors come into play, such as using guard breaks like prometheus' flame (square square triangle), or using combo's to take the fight to the air to avoid being surrounded (square, hold triangle, L1 + square, circle, square square circle), the game can change up on you within seconds. What is so great is that you can play in one style and have a friend over and see him do a set of combos totally different from you. Not to mention that all spells as well as subweapons are actually useful. Whether it's Medusa's head, Hades' armies or Poseidon's rage (GoW1), as well as Spear of Destiny (my favorite), Cronus' Rage, or Atlas' stomp (forget the name but it was amazing crowd control and power); there is sooooo much to play with. One thing I have to commend SCEA is that although I am a fan of controlling camera angles (and would have liked it at times), they did a great job at not placing the player in really awkward camera angles. Most people tend to immediately point out the problems of camera angles based on that 1 or 2 times they had troubles with a certain platform area but don't realize for the past few hours they have never had any control of the camera. The controls are flawless and respond very well to the various inputs, including the desperation ones (rage of the gods or rage of the titans when surrounded, hehe). I did like the minor changes on the controls in God of War 2. Also the button pressing events are the best I have seen in any video game (yes I said it, even better than RE4 and I did love that game).
Both God of War 1 and 2 have an excellent replay value thanks to several factors: trophy addition, Challenge of the gods, challenge of the titans, concept art, making of the games, bonus play, higher difficulties (tied in to more trophies), costumes, deleted levels and characters,etc. They are both games that keep rewarding, not to mention the God of War series is also great when you have a bad day at work or school and want to rip someone's head off in a very gruesome manner.
All in all, this is a collection you don't want to miss.
P.S. To piss off a few xboxers, I find it funny how they can touch up 2 PS2 titles and make them play in HD at 720p, 60fps constant and with comparable graphics and they can't even have halo 3 or ODST run past 640 :P (i know i know, I like halo but I prefer Bungie's "better" game: ONI).