God of War II gives everyone what they want that was missed in the original and delivers almost flawlessly.
God of War II starts a little after the first game when Kratos is enjoying his status and powers as the God of War. Kratos never gets bored as he and his Spartan army destroy cities, which causes the other gods at Olympus to take action. As Kratos descends to Rhodes destroying that city, he gets betrayed by Athena losing its godlike powers and becoming a mortal again. His lust for power takes over him as Zeus hands him the Blade of Olympus to strip away his powers, which results in Zeus killing Kratos. Other than going to Hades again, Kratos gets saved by Gaia, one of the Titans, and receives a second chance to get revenge on Zeus by going to the Sisters of Fate to change his fate of death. This journey is a long, but perfectly paced towards the Sisters of Fate setting up a final battle with Zeus. The ending, despite almost being a cliffhanger, satisfies the story and sets up for the obvious sequel going along with the motto that the end begins.
Kratos gets started with his chained blades maxed out, his best magic from the first game, Poseidon's Rage with a maxed out magic meter, and maxed out health. He eventually loses all that power Metroid style powering up the Blade of Olympus and starts over from scratch experience wise after receiving his second chance from Gaia. As in the first game, you use red orbs to upgrade all your weapons and magic to their maximum potential from many chests and enemies. Your health and magic meters increase just like in the first game by Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers. The Rage of the Gods gets replaced by the Rage of the Titans in the sequel allowing Kratos to have increased power for a short time, but longer than the Rage of the Gods from the first game. The Rage of the Titans meter usually increases faster than the Rage of the Gods, which allows more use for it if you are in a tight spot. Kratos's chained blades are the only returning weapons from the first game with more new weapons and magic to use such as Cronos's Rage, Typhon's Bane, the Spear of Destiny, and the Atlas Quake. The only thing about the new weapons and magic is that most of them are not that used, which is similar to the first game and the chained blades are pretty much the weapons you will stick with throughout the whole game.
The core combat in God of War II remains the same using the same controls from the first game. There are new moves Kratos can use with his chained blades that are not in the first game along with the Rage of the Titans. There are many puzzles throughout Kratos's journey when the action quiets down, but they are not that hard just like the first game. The context senstitive gameplay also returns in the sequel when defeating certain enemies and the bosses, which are increased in number. The bosses in this game offer a variety in terms of size and tactics, which range from titan minotaurs to the characters from all the Greek myths. Also from the Metroid games is the ability to grapple unreachable spots using the chained blades, which makes the platforming a little more fun. The only thing about the gameplay is that the camera, with no control, can be frustrating at times, but not that much. Despite having more moves, magic, and bosses to kill, the gameplay in God of War II remains significantly unchanged, which is a good thing since the combat is nearly perfect.
The graphics in this game are awesome even though it is on a Playstation 2. It pushes the system to its limits with its diverse environments and epic scope. There are some CG cutscenes throughout the game, which are mostly flashback scenes from the Greek myths. The first God of War never really had a variety to environments, only a handful, and the sequel changed that with the Islands of Creation, swampy forests, the pits of Hades, snowy mountaintops, the sky for the Pegasus segments, and more. Kratos looks nearly the same in this game compared to the original which is good because he is already considered one of the more popular characters in this modern era of games. The violence factor also makes the graphics awesome with its brutal blood effects. My only complaint about the graphics is that it might be a little ugly playing the game on a high definition television other than a standard one.
The sound in God of War II is flawless as in with the first game. The music still offers that cinematic feel as seen in movies and fits in with the Greek mythology theme. The voice overs are also solid with the same guy voicing Kratos since he goes on a rampage killing numerous enemies. There are also more voices of the Greek characters with actors voicing Zeus, Athena, Gaia, etc. The soundtrack is still one of the best aspects of God of War II's sound and arguably the best non-licensed soundtrack of music so far this year.
God of War II is one of those special games that should not be missed even though it is on the Playstation 2. Despite most gamers have moved on the next-gen consoles, this game proves that the PS2 generation is not dead yet, but it is probably the last great PS2 game anyone will play. It is the nearly perfect sequel that is worth the two year wait with more of the awesome gore and brutality of the action it delivers. It is already an early contender for being the best game of the year despite more big games coming out later in the year. If you still have a Playstation 2 or even a Playstation 3, you should play God of War II. If you don't have a Sony console to play this amazing game, you should borrow someone else's console just to witness one of the greatest games of 2007.