God of War II defines one of those cases where the sequel surpasses the original in almost every way.
This time around, the story seems to focus less on Kratos and more on his journey to – and through – the far off island. That’s not to say that it’s a bad thing since Kratos comes off as more of a bad ass this time around despite the lack of a connection to his character. The story plays out as a veritable who’s who of Greek mythology as you’ll come across such infamous characters like Icarus and Prometheus who are oftentimes less than thrilled to meet your acquaintance. Keeping with the source material, you’ll also have to battle through your fair share of Cyclops, medusae, sirens, Minotaurs, and gladiators among other nefarious creatures. While the previous game was chock full of stylish, yet brutal action, the sequel amazingly kicks the brutality up a notch or two, thus satisfying the bloodlust of anyone wanting to crack a few heads open. The combat system remains virtually unchanged from the first game, which goes with the old “if it ain’t broke…” way of thinking. That’s not to say God of War II is more of the same, however, as there are plenty of new perks to keep the action feeling fresh and interesting. Most notable are the new weapons that you’ll inherit as you battle to the seemingly unreachable fortress of the sisters. As you progress, you’ll wield a giant hammer that threatens to crush everything in its path or the proverbial money shot that is the spear of destiny that will not only allow you to juggle enemies in the air with a retracting/detracting spearhead, but is capable of shooting a huge purple blast. Of course, nothing truly beats Kratos’ trademark Athena blades, which he can swing around with ease taking out anything within reach. As you power weapons up, they become more powerful and new combos are unlocked guaranteeing you greater killing power. A series staple, of course, is the multiple brutal kills that you can give a baddie that’s on the brink of death. Once an enemy is at death’s door, an icon will appear over their head, which, with a press of the circle button, will often trigger a small mini game where you’ll be prompted to quickly press a series of buttons or perform a number of movements with the analog stick to execute an especially bloody kill. Once you have the combat system down, you’ll be pulling heads off of medusae, beating zombies to death with their own severed arms, and impaling enemies on their own weapons in no time. As stylish and deadly as Kratos is, battles are often far from being fair as he’ll constantly be outnumbered – sometimes by creatures twice as big as he is. While conventional weapons during these often-frustrating battles are great, magic is the true equalizer. When you find yourself in a bind you can summon lightning bolts that will shock a group of enemies into a frenzy, summon a quake to knock them all to the ground, or you can just turn them to stone using a severed medusa head. The magic, with the exception of the latter, helps you to gain an edge in a fight and once they’re fully powered up, become an integral part to victory. Of course, with a limited mana meter, some strategy is involved as to when you should be using it as to not be caught with your kilt down when it’s really needed. Luck for you, health pickups and bonus mana are plentiful in spots and the action never lulls, nor do your enemies show any kind of mercy, which means you’ll almost constantly be on the edge of your seat. This, as well as he overall scope of the game, will be summarized its opening levels, which provide some of the most memorable moments in the last few years. If anyone is going to remember God of War II, it’s going to be the boss battles. This becomes readily apparent in the game’s opening level that takes place in a war-ravaged city, as you’re not only battling hordes of enemy soldiers, but also a statue that makes Kratos seem small in comparison. Just when you think nothing can top this grandiose battle, subsequent bosses continue to amaze in terms of size and creativity. As is the case with the lesser enemies, each boss battle ends with a larger button pressing mini game that provides a brutal and bloody end to an epic battle. Later on, bosses can take up entire sections of a level and you’ll find yourself climbing up their very bodies just to get a piece of them. While combat is plentiful, puzzles are just as common and while they might stump you at first, they ultimately make sense once they’re solved, and in turn, make you feel like an idiot for not realizing the solution in the first place. Block moving, switch flipping, swinging from special grapple points, using corpses to weigh down pressure switches, and creative use of a time stop ability are the orders of the day, yet never get old. If anything, God of War II is a little heavier on the puzzles, but none of them feel like they’re frustrating just for the sake of it. That’s not to say some of them will leave you stumped for a bit. Others take a more creative tone, like one sequence where you have to escort a translator to read a book in an otherwise unreadable language. After protecting him from waves of enemies, you force him to read passages then smash his face into the book as the blood sacrifice. Don't think of it as immorality, it just goes to show how much of an anti-hero that Kratos is. The first few hours of action are broken up with some new sequences where you’ll take flight on the back of a Pegasus while battling baddies on the backs of Griffons. These sequences offer a break from the traditional gameplay and offer a little something new, though it’s obvious that these sequences resemble a sort of racing game where you can swing at anything that gets close to you to whittle its life down. Still, it’s a welcome change that truly deserves more than just a couple of short sequences. While God of War II is nothing short of an amazing game, the multiple environments, and most notably, the level design are truly the stars of the show. The transitions between areas are seamless and put together well. The combat, storyline, enigmatic main character, and even the epic boss battles take a back seat to the multiple environments you’ll be exploring. One section in particular has you exploring a temple in the middle of the ocean. As you make your way through, you can make out some giant statues of horses attached to chains off in the distance. While it looks impressive from a distance, you’ll be floored as you eventually find yourself walking along the giant chains and watching these giant statues fill your screen as you hop and battle your way across them. Words really can’t describe the feeling; it’s just something that has to be seen to be believed. The best part about it all is that this game pulls it off somehow with nary a loading screen or a drop in frame rate. The technical abilities behind it are awesome. Despite taking place on a desolate island, there are a huge variety of environments to explore including temples, jungles, dank caves, and fiery volcanoes among others. Each environment brings its own impressive effects, like the super cool particles from the lava in the volcano, that make you excited to see what’s next. It all comes together nicely and never feels disjointed, since every time you emerge back into the outdoors after making your way through a structure or cave, your ultimate destination, that being the spire that the sisters of fate reside in, comes a little closer into view and the next portion of the island lies in the distance. The excellent visuals don’t just stop at the environments. Somehow, the designers have made it so that a large number of impressive looking characters can be displayed onscreen at any given time. Animations between attacking, getting hit, dodging attacks, and casting magic are seamless and rarely result in missing frames or awkward transitions. Cutscenes are played out through the in-game engine and are almost indistinguishable from the only full CG sequence at the end of the game. Considering the platform this game was designed for, that alone is a feat. Combined with the near-perfect production and polish given to this game, it’s nothing short of an interactive movie. While the visuals and gameplay are near perfect, the soundtrack is by no means a slouch. Every level, battle, and cutscene is accompanied by a pounding epic score complete with choral singing. In those rare quiet moments, the score will quiet down, but never loses your attention. It’s a score that demands to be heard and you have no choice but to comply. The voice acting is also spot on with every actor delivering their lines in the most believable way possible, from the surly Kratos to the voice of Gaia, the game’s narrator, to the characters that only have cameo appearances. There isn’t a laughable, wooden, or bored line in the game, and for that, I thank them. While the original God of War was an excellent game, this is one of those rare occasions where the sequel surpasses the original. As far as games on the seminal black monolith go, it just doesn’t get any better than this. The gameplay, aural and visual elements, not to mention the sheer scope of the environments and momentous battles you’ll be engaged in are some of the best you’ll ever experience in our favorite medium. Aside from the occasional frustrating battle (especially with those pesky medusae), the only negative part about this game is that it’s over in about thirteen hours and ultimately leaves you hanging at the very end. Sure, there are some bonus games, alternate costumes and unforgiving harder difficulties, but those just seem like obligatory consolation prizes in comparison to the completed story mode. In the end, great action, great story, an excellent main character, and great environments make this game a must have, but the technical feats this game brings make it even more. A 2,000-word review just can’t do it justice.