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HD God of War I & II due this holiday

Remastered versions of Kratos' PS2 adventures being rereleased later this year on single $40 Blu-ray; will feature 1280x720p graphics running at 60fps, added PSN Trophies

Even though its new $299 slim model has drawn praise from cash-strapped consumers, the PlayStation 3's lack of backward compatibility remains a contentious issue. Today, though, Sony announced that two of the most popular PlayStation 2 games will be playable on its younger sibling, courtesy of a Blu-ray rerelease of God of War and God of War II.

Kratos will soon vent his fury in hi-def.

Kratos will soon vent his fury in hi-def.

Due this holiday for $39.99, the God of War Collection will feature both fantasy-action titles, which were developed at Sony's Santa Monica studio. The games' critically praised graphics will receive a high-definition upgrade, running in anti-aliased 1280x720 resolution at 60 frames per second. The remastering is being handled by Bluepoint Games, the Austin, Texas-based developer behind Blast Factor, and will add PlayStation Network Trophies to both games.

(Warning: Reviews below contain spoilers.)

Released in 2005 to stellar reviews, God of War tells the tale of Kratos, a rugged Spartan with a grudge the size of Mount Olympus against Ares, the titular god of war. To take down the renegade deity, players must kill all manner of foes out of the Greek mythological pantheon, including minotaurs, cyclopes, and harpies. The 2007 sequel, which received similar critical hosannas, saw more supernatural slaughter, with Kratos taking on Zeus and other deities from Mount Olympus.

God of War and God of War II were followed by the PSP prequel God of War: Chains of Olympus in 2008. God of War III is set for release in March 2010 and was a central draw at Sony's E3 2009 press briefing in June.

786 Comments

  • Smoolander

    Posted Oct 11, 2009 6:16 am GMT

    Sweet. I'm sure they'll charge $100 for this in Australia to continue our price screwing.

  • coolguy681

    Posted Oct 8, 2009 10:21 pm GMT

    These companies are killing me by releasing awesome games all near each other.

  • AlfaxD_Centauro

    Posted Oct 1, 2009 12:12 am GMT

    720p 60FPS GoW 1 and 2 with the Demo of GoW 3.

    Oh my...

    The same day CODMW2 will release. I don't know what game I will buy between those.

    Both for sure.

  • DreamKiller28

    Posted Sep 25, 2009 12:40 pm GMT

    i think that's gonna be nice from sony

  • Sir_Demii

    Posted Sep 20, 2009 3:14 pm GMT

    Oh yeah!

  • KrzyJoe

    Posted Sep 17, 2009 4:41 pm GMT

    MGS REmake now!

  • kingdevil2

    Posted Sep 16, 2009 1:58 am GMT

    TROPHYS PS3 REMAKES OMFG

  • Duke_v2

    Posted Sep 15, 2009 1:17 am GMT

    bring it on HD style!!!!!!!Ghost of Sparta!!!!

  • Myxisbird

    Posted Sep 12, 2009 2:18 pm GMT

    Oh I'm loving this! I sold my old PS2 and now I'll finally have GOW on my PS3.

  • 06JRM06

    Posted Sep 11, 2009 11:59 am GMT

    This is awesome. And not to sound selfish, but, Metal gear 1, 2, & 3 in HD, please.

  • solomn6rundy

    Posted Sep 10, 2009 10:43 am GMT

    What about Kingdom Hearts I & II? That would be awesome.

  • WTFitsPauL

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 4:17 pm GMT

    i hope there is a demo in there

  • theplagued

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 3:52 pm GMT

    Very nice! Can't wait and am actually glad I did not pick up the regular versions before with this godly beast on its way. This is a good choice for the series as reinforcing past games is a definite way to get a larger audience, especially since the trilogy is about to come to a close with God of War Three. Yikes! What can we mortals do but tremble on the eve of redemption?

  • vuxnut

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 9:17 am GMT

    This actually made my morning. i'm really looking forward to this. and trophies to boot that's just an added bonus of awesome.

  • zidan4000

    Posted Sep 8, 2009 6:54 am GMT

    i played the original god of war like 3 or 4 times and can go through it again and again and again because it is awesome,i never got the chance to play the second game though, im gonna buy this because it is in glorious HD and the trophies of course.

  • akylasn

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 2:31 pm GMT

    that would be amazing if they did that for metal gear solid 1 , 2 , 3 and for final fantasy 7 i would buy same day

  • akylasn

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 2:29 pm GMT

    nice never got a chance to play them on ps2 cant wait for it then later come gow 3333333333333333333333

  • handstone82

    Posted Sep 7, 2009 9:15 am GMT

    EXCELLENT!

  • Ssj4Gogeta007

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 11:13 pm GMT

    Long Life Ghost Of Sparta!!!! I'll be willing to do anything for him!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • EliteCobra718

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 7:26 pm GMT

    I just want this for Trophies simple as that.

  • 19adam92

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 10:43 am GMT

    hey, does anyone know how much memory its going to take up on the HDD?

  • S84ndWave09

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 5:35 am GMT

    Is it going to be coming out in the UK also? As I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere other than on US websites =(
    cloudstrife75 your right what about FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX & FFX they would look amazing on the PS3!

  • cloudstrife75

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 7:25 pm GMT

    what about final fantasy 7 and 8?

  • Cubano7649

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 4:40 pm GMT

    The must get game for this year, God of War 1 & 2 in HD freaken AWESOME!!!!!! Now I am so glad I waited to by these games.

  • ChidoriBoyU

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 4:39 pm GMT

    if it's the same game i'm not buying it who cares about the graphics

  • abhiram_33

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 3:36 pm GMT

    cant wait

  • JoePiervincenti

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 2:09 pm GMT

    If they ever did this with Final Fantasy X and X-2 I think I'd take a two week vacation and never leave the house once they came out!

    I hope it sells so good that other developers follow suit. $40 is an incredible value for this, I think!

  • JoePiervincenti

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 2:08 pm GMT

    Un-freakin-believable how excited I am for this. My PS3 that had backward compatibility died on me and I picked up the slim, knowing I would have eventually bought it anyway. Wanted to play 1 & 2 again so badly before GOW3 comes out that I was considering buying a used PS2 just for that again!

  • middo_06

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:55 pm GMT

    sweet, always wanted to play GoW 1+2 but couldn't afford it at the time and my ps3 doesn't have backwards comp, that and MW2 should keep me entertained until the GoW 3

  • ahnzz

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:25 pm GMT

    i still like psx/ps2 games and god of war 1 and 2 hi-def sounds good but i wouldnt buy it

  • mightycloud

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 12:25 pm GMT

    @ rht992

    Don't worry, the ps3 is multi-region so we can still import it without any hassle. As long as there's no DLC we'll be fine. That said, I just bought God of War 2 on ebay a couple of months ago, and now I feel i may need to splash out again (who can deny the Gods?).

  • dadoesch

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 11:46 am GMT

    Will trophies be available for the original versions? Or just this HD version?

  • shii666

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 11:35 am GMT

    @SalarianChemist

    How do you know that GOW III's framerate will drop so much? (Perhaps it is through logic that you should predict this, based on past performances, but even so, you shouldn't make that assumption in the way you did without evidence to back that up.)

  • simmeon1

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 9:55 am GMT

    sweet,i'l collect all of the god of war ps3 series (once i get one).It would also be awesome if they made mgs2:substance and mgs3:subsistence for the ps3 as well

  • InquisitorCrox

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 9:34 am GMT

    I de rather keep it for me PS2 for now and avoid getting milked.
    I will consider it after the GOW III hype goes away and it may appear in a trilogy special offer.

  • mwmars

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 8:18 am GMT

    my ps2 is officially for sale now

  • rht992

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 6:28 am GMT

    Not coming to Europe. . . . . bummer

  • WhiskeyDickRick

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 4:42 am GMT

    Niiiiiice!

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 1:45 am GMT

    This isn't a surprise, because reliable sources in the industry had continuously been saying that these two games were going to appear on the same Blu-ray disc that God of War 3 was released on.

    When God of War 3 became yet another PS3 game to be delayed, Sony was in the undesirable position of having the remixed versions of the first two games complete, but not the disc it was supposed to be released on.

    I think Sony is making the right decision by releasing these two versions at a lower price, even without God of War 3.

    It's nice to see that the games will run at a smooth 60 frames per second on the PS3. One of the biggest complaints people had against God of War 1 & 2 was that they dropped all the way down to 20 frames per second when the action picked up. Thankfully this was solved for thier PS3 release.

    The only bad thing is that God of War 3 on the PS3 suffers from the same problem of dropping all the way down to 20 frames per second during those intense action scenes.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 12:54 am GMT

    A good idea. That begs for more games to be added to the list of "HD updates."

  • king_bobo

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 11:12 pm GMT

    Nice - I love the fact that they added Trophies to these games. I think they should do that for all rereleases they do, be them on PSN or otherwise. I realise that it could be a fairly complicated process, as you'd need to have the original code in order to embed the actual triggers for the Trophies, but it would still be great.

  • jaifrecap

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 10:51 pm GMT

    i'm definetely buying this, since my PS2 broke...
    Besides it will be entretaining to get all the trophies...
    I just wish they did this with other PS2 games........

  • cube-gage

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 10:21 pm GMT

    why not a hd mgs remake? Nintendo already done half the job for them with twin snakes.

  • HonorOfGod

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 9:02 pm GMT

    ahh ment cheap..rrg typos!

  • HonorOfGod

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 9:02 pm GMT

    Hmm... im all for remasterd classics buuuuttt! has to be chap and nearly free.. most of us already have these games so yeah.. and its tuf going back to play old games with so much being tosst out there...$40? ....................................HAHA!!! no thank you... make it $5 and its a deal lmao.

  • Geostrike

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 8:06 pm GMT

    That's really cool!! I hope they give HD remakes for other titles too, like MGS, DMC and Resident Evil. It would be nice to have each one on a single disk and not look weird when I played on a HDTV.

  • mwmars

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 8:03 pm GMT

    wish they put chains of olympus in there

  • rayamoyito

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 6:59 pm GMT

    freaking sweeeeet!!!!

  • cjasko94

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 5:47 pm GMT

    @Jstation3
    Not a bad idea, but cmon those titles don't really need remakes! Ha! Don't really know why god of war 1 & 2 are but no clue! Metal Gear Solid 2 was my favorite and a remake... SURE!

  • cjasko94

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 5:43 pm GMT

    Alright cool, this is great for people like me who somehow haven't played these two titles! Course with backward compatibility...bla bla you know what I mean. Oh well hd graphics...nice!!! 40 bucks! !

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