God of War is a passionate Greek period piece, possessing passable premise and punch to portend a promising Part II.
+ Satisfying combat, with several viable approaches and well-integrated Quick-Time Events
+ Puzzles almost steal the show; extremely varied in design and scale (1 meta-puzzle spans several rooms and ties several lesser challenges together)
+ Automated camera is nearly seamless, and often follows Kratos smoothly
- Final boss fight is highly disappointing, fails to provide an exciting climax
GRAPHICS, 5/5
+ Athens looks great, Kratos is meticulously animated
+ More prerendered cutscenes than you would expect
SOUND, 4/5
+ Rousing, if sometimes repetitive, orchestral score
+ Generally great voice acting (especially Kratos and Ares)
- Narrator's voice acting sounds forced, and her dialogue can be overdone (at one point she says, "Kratos had done the impossible" twice in the same fight)
STORY, 5/5
+ God of War does a simple story, but it does it well
+ As the GoW nears its conclusion, Ares quickly develops into an impressive villain
BIGGEST GRIPES
When it comes to boss fights, God of War lives by the philosophy Quality > Quantity. Arguably, it takes this concept to the extreme (only 3 boss fights?), but that would still be forgivable if the quality was top-notch across the board.
Unfortunately a weak link does exist, and inexplicably (and inexcusably) this weak link is the FINAL boss fight of the game. That's right, the titular villain--Ares, God of War--is a terribly disappointing finale to an otherwise well-designed game.
After two solid stages, the final confrontation with the god deprives Kratos of his magic AND his signature weapons (you aren't completely unarmed, although I wouldn't want to ruin anything). What follows is a frustrating encounter in which you are reduced to little more than button-mashing with (for most players) an unfamiliar weapon, while Ares tends to spam unblockable attacks with little to no warning. How could such an important fight have been approved with such poor quality?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Although the finale of the game may leave a bad taste in the mouth, God of War earns its place among the must-plays of the PS2. I look forward to playing its sequels to see how well the team at Santa Monica is able to follow up the instant-classic puzzles, above average boss fights, and the intriguing ending (for now) of Kratos' story.