The PlayStation 3 HD re-release.
User Rating: 8 | God of War (Greatest Hits) PS2
Full disclosure: I am playing this game on the PlayStation 3, as part of the "God of War Collection" which includes both "God of War" and "God of War 2" upgraded to HD visuals. I'm writing the review here because they are two separate games and deserve their own analysis. Also, I am playing the game for the very first time, as I never owned a PS2. Fist off, I love the game. I absolutely love it. So why am I taking away two points and giving it an 8 instead of a 10? Well, a 10 is damn near unattainable. To get that score, a game would have to be as amazing as "God of War" is, but without some of its flaws. The first flaw is the camera. Players may not have had any issues with this at the time of the game's release, but they really should have. As your character, Kratos, moves throughout his environment, the camera is not static, but it is not dynamic either. It actually travels on rails, following Kratos around and often times delivering a very beautiful and cinematic angle from which to view the action. The problem is, that when battles ensue, (and ensue they do!) it is often impossible to see enemies on the periphery of the environment because the camera is too zoomed in, or positioned such that the player needs to lead the enemies to an area where they can get a good clean view of them. If you don't do this, you may get your ass kicked, even though you are fighting enemies you are otherwise fully capable of defeating easily. So how could the developers have dealt with this? Simple, there are plenty of games that zoom out when a battle takes place, and that is what should have happened here. I have no problem with the cinematic angles. In fact, I love them when they are not hindering the battle sequences. Its unfortunate that this is as big of a problem as it is and because of it I have to knock off a point. The second problem is the battle controls. That's right, the battle controls. How can I complain about everyone's favorite part of "God of War?" Well, I'm not actually complaining. I am actually pointing out something that is factual and non-objective; that the controls don't always work. They don't always work for a few reasons. One, I wish that the player had the ability to target a specific enemy, or "lock-on" to one of them, rather than just generally steer the left thumb-stick toward the desired target. In defense of the game, the defensive maneuver does seem to work regardless of which direction Kratos is being attacked from. This means that as long as the player is blocking, the enemy attack will be effectively blocked regardless of if the enemy attacks Kratos' front or back. I think the developer stayed away from the lock-on, probably because they were worried about it hindering the games combo system. Fair enough reason, but there are many games (Batman Arkham Asylum) which have great combo systems intact, even with a fantastic targeting system. This could have also been dealt with by allowing Kratos to score hits on enemies next to the ones he is targeting. Oh well, for whatever reason this was not to be. The second flaw in the controls is the often mentioned mini-games or quick-time events which serve to initiate finishing moves. After an enemy takes a certain amount of damage, a prompt appears on the screen letting the player know that that enemy is now vulnerable to a finishing move. The moves are usually extremely cool, elaborate, violent, and fun to do. The problem is that the game very often does not register that the player is hitting the prompt button, and the finishing move becomes impossible to initiate. Together, these control flaws are enough to warrant another point off for me. They make an otherwise superb game frustrating. Altogether, Kratos' first adventure is absolute stunner. Even with an 8 of 10 rating, the game remains a must play. It is stunning in its beauty even all these years after its original release. As far as a piece of art, it is perhaps a 9 or 9.5 out of 10, but due to some technical failures, the final is really no higher than an 8. Sorry Kratos, but that's as honest as a player can be.
