PS2s mount everest! Great game, full of blood, guts and kick ass adventuring in ancient greece!
The game is set in a fictional and mythological ancient Greece meaning Gods, minotaurs, gorgons etc. You play as Kratos, a beast of a man whos haunted by his past and working for the gods for forginess. Basically he gods want you to do one final thing for them...kill the God of War. And from there its a bloody ride of epic proportions as you battle through hordes of undead soldiers, cyclopses, gorgons,minotaurs, Hydras, Sirens, ceberi, and mythological legends such as Medusa as you battle to find a weapon capable of killing a god for the most climatic battle ever!
The first level sets the tone for the whole game as you basically have to fight your way through ships as they are attacked by the hydra. Once you subsequently beat the thing to death you know your in for a ride. The action is great and is statisfyingly gory. Its a bit of a button masher as you hit 'square' and 'triangle' alot forming devastating combos ripping and shredding you enemies to death with the blades of chaos and other weapons. You even get to grab and rip up harpies and other soldiers. Theres also magic attacks which you recieve as you progress through the game which you recive from all the various different Greek gods including Zues and Hades. These attacks are brutal and really help you out in tricky situations. You also recive other weapons throughout the game which are all great.
God of War features a sort of levelling up system where you collect red orbes from defeated enemies and from various crates located around the game, which you use to level up weapons and magic attacks to make them more powerful, and to unlock new moves and abilities. Its quite satsifying near the end of the game when you've levelelled up your favourite weapons and attacks to devastating effect as you master powerful combos. However, when you replay the game for a second run through your weapons and upgrades dont carry over which kind of misses the point as all tht hardwork is lost.
One of my favourite features of God of War is the minigames featured in your battles. Basically, weaken your enemies and a 'circle' icon appears above their head. Tap the circle button and you eneter a bloody minigame where you have to tap the right buttons and Kratos performs deadly moves which subsequently kills your enemy in dramatic bloody fashion. This is brilliant when you face the bigger enemies and bosses as Kratos rips gorgon's heads off, plunges blades in throats, rips out eyes and impales enemies with their own weapons. Its great and brutal.
Some negative points- Although the combat is fun it can get a bit repetitve, especially as you draw near to the end of the game as you face endless waves of enemies which can be frustrating as you kill one enemy another spawns. Also, some parts in the game is terribly difficult which is a nice way of saying frustrating! Theres one particlar part which im sure everyone whos played this gam will agree is so frustrating, the path of hades level where you have to climb a pillar of blades. I wont say anymore but lets just say you'll grow to hate it.
Simply put God of War is simply a masterpeice and all games should strive towards its quality. The location are stunning and graphically its great and pushes PS2. The bosses are greta fun and the inclusion of mythological legends and characters is nice. The storyline is fanatastic and really motivates you to play to the end. You really feel for Kratos as he is genuinly toubled and insane. I wont spoil the plot buts its gr8 and you'll really hate Ares by th end. Simply put its great game tht should be enjoyed by all.