God of War II feels similar to its predecessor, but it's also a huge improvement.
The Bad: Graphics still aren't all there for a game from Sony itself; while the story is stronger, it's a bit slow toward the middle and has an irritating cliffhanger.
God of War was a fantastic new intellectual property released in 2005 by Sony for its massively popular PS2. While that was at the end of the PS2's limelight, and this game, God of War II, is part of the way into the PS3's life, it's still a worthy investment for anyone into excellent hack-and-slash gaming.
It picks up where the first game left off. Previously, Kratos, a Spartan soldier, was dying on a battlefield and sold his sould to Ares, the god of war. He was forced to lead countless battles for Ares, leading Sparta to rule the world. However, when Ares forced Kratos to kill his own family, Kratos rebelled, and went out to kill Ares. He succeeded, and became the god of war at the end of the first game.
Now, the other gods dislike Kratos for his determination to make Sparta even more powerful (as it's his homeland). Early on, Zeus takes away Kratos's powers and casts him into the underworld. The thing is, Kratos is a badass, as any God of War fan will tell you. His new mission is to get out of the underworld, defying his death and the destiny the Sisters of Fate have planned for him, and kill Zeus.
The first game had the gods helping Kratos, because Ares also tried to dominate the world by leading Sparta before he died. Now, since Kratos is trying to kill the leader of the gods, they turn against him. Kratos allies with the Titans, who hate Zeus as well for locking them away, which is how he gets all of his power-ups and such.
Clearly, there's more complexity toward this game's story, and it's better for it. One of my biggest complaints about the first game (which I gave a 9.0) was that the story was as bare bones as possible. I understand that they probably made this decision to keep things fast-paced, but a good story never hurts. There are still some annoyances here: toward the middle of the game it doesn't feel like you're making much progress, as it takes a long time to get to the Sisters, and the ending of the game is a huge cliffhanger. Nevertheless, I found the story more intriguing this time around.
The controls are just as complex as they were in the first game. There are a lot of different ways to attack, multiple weapons and special powers to use, and many platforming elements. No, this isn't just a hack-and-slash game- there are a lot of challenging puzzles to switch things up, which I applaud. The combat is just as challenging though, because you'll have to utilize every weapon and attack you have to beat the difficult enemies and bosses that await you. These aren't run-of-the-mill battles. You'll die many, many times on your way (at least, I did on Normal mode), but the fighting is so engaging that it generally isn't irritating. It's that "I can do this, just one more try" kind of feeling that shows a game is doing difficult gameplay right.
Another thing I liked more about this game than in the first is that it's not difficult by being cheap. Generally, I felt like I died because I needed to rethink my strategy in the first game, but there are some scenes where you have to press a button really fast that were ridiculous. I couldn't move my thumb that fast. I had to take my hand off and use my index finger to get the thing to work, and I consider that unfair. God of War II has no such problem, so when I die, I feel like it was my fault, not the game cheating me.
While I'm not positive, I'm pretty sure God of War II has a longer campain than its predecessor. Not by a lot, but every little bit counts. The first game took me around 15-20 hours, if I remember correctly, and this one took me in the 20-25 range. It's always good to get more bang for your buck.
Something I complained about in my God of War I review was that the graphics weren't very impressive. It may just be that I saw the best the PS2 can do playing Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid, but I expected more from a game designed by the company that made the console. The first game was blocky and weak graphically, even by PS2 standards. This one, on the other hand, is a huge step forward. While I still don't think the graphics are fantastic, they're at least competent. I'm not a graphics whore, but it's nice to see that the team went the extra mile and put more effort into the game design this time around.
My last little tidbit is that the music and sound effects are just as awesome as they were in the first game. The sound is distinctly ancient Greek, and yet there's also a feeling of hard rock in there to emphasize the badassery of Kratos (who, incidentally, is a fantastic dark hero). I think the voice acting is a bit better too, which is also helpful for that sense of immersion. Kratos's voice actor is back, and he's great, but the supporting cast is above the bar the first game set.
In short, God of War II is a fantastic hack-and-slash game, with a strong story (particularly for its genre), great production values, a high difficulty level, and a flawless, deep control system. I have to recommend starting with the first game for the story, but this one is a big improvement that'll make you hungry for the conclusion.