An absolutely outstanding action game that anyone who owns a PS2 should check out.
User Rating: 9.4 | God of War (Greatest Hits) PS2
God of War is a new action-adventure game for the Playstation 2 developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment America. A game in the spirit of the Devil May Cry and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, God of War delivers an extremely engaging experience with deep combat, rich puzzles, a good story, and continually pushes the PS2 to its limits. God of War puts you in the role of Kratos, a fictional ex-Spartan warrior looking to save the city of Athens from the wrath of the God Ares, to avenge his brutal past and pay a final debt to the gods. More and more of Kratos’ past and motivations are revealed as the story progresses, and the game does a good job of fleshing out the character and moving the narrative along at a consistent pace. The voice acting in the game is strong as well, but the storytelling really shines in the beautiful and grandiose cinematic sequences in the game. The in-game graphics are on par with the absolute best that’s been seen on the Playstation 2 – all of the character models are extremely detailed and move with a rare fluidity and wide variety of motions for a video game. God of War features a wide variety of atmospheres, as you might find yourself fighting in a cramped, barren underground corridor one minute and a massive outdoor courtyard the next. The game sounds great too, combining an astounding symphonic/rhythmic/ethereal soundtrack (available as a free download for purchasers of the game) with raw real-worldly sounds to really immerse players in the world of the game. A game is nothing if it doesn’t play well, and luckily, God of War again does not disappoint. At first the game may seem like a fairly straightforward action game, as you progress forward defeating anything that comes across your path. God of War is absolutely relentless, however, and the game works hard to make each subsequent enemy encounter just a bit more challenging an overwhelming than the one just before it. Your main weapon in the game are the “Blades of Chaos,” a pair of long range blades attached to Kratos’ wrists, which strike out at enemies and return in a sort of boomerang-like fashion. Throughout the course of the game over 20 unique attack moves are gained for the Blades, and the incorporation of such a breadth of moves in combat helps keep each battle feeling different and fresh, as each enemy reacts very differently to different battle techniques. You are also given a sword to fight with, which is stronger than the Blades of Chaos, but has a shorter range and fewer battle techniques, as well as different magic spells which are often helpful in defeating enemies at a great distance, or enemies who approach in overwhelming numbers and sizes. God of War takes between 10-15 hours to complete on the standard difficulty setting, but offers quite a bit more to do once the game is over. 6 making-of video featurettes are unlocked after completing the game, as well as a challenging mini-game and a “God Mode” difficulty setting (upon which the completion of yields even more content). Overall, God of War is one of the best action games on any console this generation by any measure, and it would be worth the time of any PS2 owner with even a passing interest in the genre to check this game out.
