I AM THE GOD OF WAR! (God of War 2 (Special Edition) (PS2))

Member Name: Stunt 101

Product:	God of War 2 (Special Edition) (PS2)
Date:	25/03/08 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning visuals, violent combat is a blast, top notch voice work and music, good value.

Disadvantages: A bit too similar to the first game, cliff-hanger ending.

With God of War: Chains of Olympus coming out this week, I decided to finally get round to reviewing the game I completed nearly a year ago, a few weeks after release actually. Don't worry I've played through it again, but anyways onto the review...the PS2s life may be coming to an end. After having an illustrious history since 2000, with quality exclusives like Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid, the PS3 is here and now it seems PS2 is being pushed out of the limelight. Sure, it's still getting games like Rock Band and Mercenaries 2 on the system (at least for now) but to be honest, there isn't much promising coming out meaning it will soon be dead, like the Xbox and Gamecube. Nearly a year ago Sony released the sequel to one of my favourite games ever made-God of War II. God of War was a landmark game for the system, thanks to stunning visuals, an excellent plot, fantastic sound and gory action that made it a hit for the system. With God of War II, things feel familiar, but is that a bad thing?

-(The Story)-
The game takes place after the first game, where anti-hero becomes God of War for reasons I won't spoil if you haven't played number one. Unfortunately, Kratos is still unhappy and he orders his army of Sparta to basically tear up the world, which is obviously something the Gods aren't happy about. When Kratos goes down to help his army, he is betrayed by the gods and killed. As you are seemingly in hell, a titan called Gaia helps you escape and instructs you to a temple find the sisters of fate and change your past. The journey is epic, and you will always be engaged. The only real upset is that your are treated to your twelve hours of killing evil creatures and button mashing to a cliff-hanger ending, which is a real bummer considering the next instalment will be on the PS3 only.

-(The Controls)-
The controls remain near identical to the original, which is spot on. You move Kratos around with the left analog stick and can roll him in a direction with the right analog stick and you can also jump and double jump using the X button. Combat uses the Square and Triangle buttons, as you can perform light and heavy attacks. You can also do a grab with the circle button, which is helpful if there are lots of enemies onscreen. If you need to block attacks you can hold down the L1 button, so if you're low on health you know what to do. You can select your magic attack by pressing one of the directions on the D-pad and press R2 to perform it. The game uses a great tutorial to show you the controls, and they are responsive and simple. If you've played the original, you'll be able to jump in and kill, and it's easy to learn if you haven't.

-(The Gameplay)-
God of War II mostly plays like God of War I. You slash throw waves of Olympian enemies while doing the occasional jumping, puzzles and quicktime events. Yep, this epic adventure isn't much different from its predecessor, but when the previous game was so bloody fantastic, is that much of an issue? The game had no loading times during gameplay, with the exception being when you save, especially on your first save, but the game is completely seamless. You'll travel through a variety of Greek areas like lush green gardens, temples and more, killing a variety of bad guys like Minotaur, evil soldiers, zombies and a heck of a lot more. God of War II is epic, thanks to top music, sometimes massive boss fights and more.

The main meat of the game comes from the combat, which still rocks. You have light and heavy attacks. The light attacks are quick and best for combos while the heavy are slower but more powerful. You can combine the two to make an awesome and devastating combo. You can use a variety of weapons. There is the returning Blades of Athena though they were known as the Blades of Chaos in the first game. Seared into Kratos' arms, he can swing these back and forth to do damage to the evil beasts. There is also the Spear of Destiny which the name kind of gives away, a huge spear to kill with, and the Barbarian Hammer which is a giant hammer that packs power but is a little slow.

You can also use magic spells to kill with. You can use Cronus' Rage which is a powerful long-ranged electrical attack, Head of Euryale which is like the Head of Medusa from God of War where you can freeze enemies to stone and destroy them from there and more. You can use magic attacks by finding blue orbs. There are also green orbs to restore health and red orbs for experience. You can use orbs to power up your weapons, magic abilities and buy moves. A cool thing is that you can pay orbs to power up a move but not pay all the required orbs. So if you don't quite have enough orbs you can spend all your orbs and then get the rest of the required orbs to pay for it. You can also use the Rage of the Titans, where Kratos sets on fire and is invincible with immense power. It's helpful against big enemies, which come often.

There are also other elements of play aside from combat. The puzzles are quite improved as the previous game had a lot of crate pushing, whereas puzzles are much more diverse here. There are some puzzles that require you to actually pick up corpses to weigh down switches. Interesting...though at least it goes away from standard crate pushing. There are also lots of platforming sections, whether it's jumping other ledges or fending off enemies while hanging on a ledge for dear life. There are also sections where you ride on a Pegasus or other flying creature and fight off other enemies in the sky. These are really exciting, as jumping onto another flying creature, cutting off its wings and then jumping back is really cool. Speaking of which, there are the return of quicktime events. These are visually intense as it's usually to do something like stab a blade through a Minotaur's throat. There is the odd moment where you must mash on the circle button to open a door, which is boring, but these are rare.

There are boss fights in God of War II, and these stand out from the pack. While the bosses might not compare to the legendary fight against the Hydra in the first game, but these are still quality. You'll fight a giant barbarian on a horse, Zeus himself and a lot more. There are many more fights than they were in the first game, which means there are more epic fights to be had. They come in many shapes and sizes, as one moment you're fighting a guy the same size as Kratos and the next you're fighting a large guy on a horse. You mostly fight them by hammering on the buttons, but as you weaken them down the quicktime events will come into play and you perform an epic Mortal Kombat style finisher.

The game suffers from a big issue however-similarity. This game plays a lot like its predecessor. This means if you played the original to death a big feeling of Déjà vu will come into play. A couple of the weapons, magic attacks and enemies are mere remakes of the original, which means you'll feel as if this is God of War 1.5. But to be honest, the previous game was such a masterpiece this can be forgiven. It's just a shame some things weren't tweaked. The game is quite prone to button-mashing on the lower difficulties as sometimes the best solution is to simply keep using the light attacks. The harder difficulties will require you to use more brain, but only die-hard fans will be on those difficulties, meaning noobs won't be getting the most out of God of War II. But that's not to imply the game is easy, as the game constantly throws enemies at you and some incredible situations will come up.

The pacing in God of War II, however, has been significantly improved over the original, and the original wasn't half bad in terms of pacing. Just as you start to wear thin of combat, the game throws a puzzle or two at you. When you start to tire of small enemies, the large boss fights begin. And when you're bored of platforming, combat comes back into play. Every event that occurs is natural, and the game constantly is keeping the game fresh. Obviously, if you've played the original the Déjà vu will still be present, but if you are new to the series you won't find a better paced game, and fans of the previous game will still agree with that.

Though you will probably struggle to find the special edition now, I managed to get it on the day of release. The special edition includes a bonus DVD, and the game comes in a special box which folds out to show both discs. While that might not sound like much stuff, the bonus DVD is crammed to the brim with features. You'll get the making of God of War II, which comes in 5 chapters, interviews with the voice talent of God of War II as well as the composers of the music and the artists of the game. You also get trailers, a video showing you how to play the game, the developers enjoying the event known as Halloween and more. It's a jam packed disc, and it will keep you busy for hours and provide insight to the swan song of the PS2.

God of War II is rated 18+, whether you buy the special edition or standard edition. Getting the same rating as the previous game, yet this game is actually a little more violent than the previous game. There are some violent animations like Kratos stabbing the heck out of an enemy soldier and more. There's lots of blood and like God of War, there are quite a few sexual references in this game, like naked women. Yet the game has simple controls and kids will be able to button mash their way through the game. Yet, for the adult content, I'd say that this is suitable for people older than 15.

-(The Graphics)-
While the PS2 is a last-generation system, God of War II shows that the PS2 can be stunning still. This game looks fantastic, even with some minor screen-tearing and jaggies, though that's just the limitation of the system. The environments are breath-taking. The scale is massive, as when you look into the distance they look big, and when you actually enter them you'll be overwhelmed at the size. They have beautiful art direction, and are technically impressive for the system. The character models look fantastic, especially the monster designs. Despite a couple of them being mere colour changes from the previous game, a lot of the designs are new and beautiful. The animation is fantastic, as every slash from Kratos, every jerk back from the monster and every stab in the guy never hitches up. The camera is fixed, yet it always gets the best view for you so it doesn't matter. While it's on a limited system graphically, it doesn't matter as this game looks gorgeous.

-(The Sound)-
The sound in God of War II is fantastic. The soundtrack is the bright spot, which is again a mix of quick and blood pumping orchestral work with the really unnerving music playing when nothing is going on. Just as you're walking through a deserted corridor, with the unsettling music, a creature pops out and the music comes in like a sledgehammer to the head. The voice-work is excellent, though there are some real ear bleeding characters, like the wooden Atlas played by the actually talented Michael Clarke Duncan. You know the guy who grabs Tom Hank's crotch in The Green Mile? Anyways, most of the acting is fantastic, like Linda Hunt as Gaia/the narrator and Terrence Carson as Kratos. The effects are as good as ever, with the blood splattering and blade chinking top notch.

-(The Replay Value)-
Kratos' second adventure is a lengthy one. On the default setting you will finish this in about twelve hours, maybe more if you're a casual gamer. Once you've completed that, you can return to the game for unlockables like concept art, movies and more. Like the previous game, there is a set of tough as nails challenges to complete, which the casual gamer will probably give up on before they get past the second challenge. Also, there is all the bonus content with the special edition of the game to keep you busy as well, so this is an adventure well worth the now cheap price. It's slightly longer than the first game, and the game is so fun you'll just replay it again and again.

-(The Score)-
Controls=10
Gameplay=9
Graphics=9
Sound=9
Replay Value=8
Overall Score=9.0

-(The Ending Comments)-
Considering that the 360, PS3 and Wii are all overshadowing the consoles from the previous generation and very little is being released for consoles like the PS2, it's hard to ignore God of War II in favour of next-gen games like Gears of War and Resistance. But don't, as God of War II is a class act title. It's an almost perfect finish for the PS2, with stunning graphics, excellent combat, quality sound and a good amount of content. It's slightly let down by the cliff-hanger ending, the temptation to button mash and some other quirks, but every game has niggles. If you loved the first game, and for some reason haven't played this yet, go buy it now. If you're a fan of action adventure games like Prince of Persia, this is a must buy and if you're just looking for a reason to get out your PS2 again, this is it.

-(The Extra Info)-
This was published by Sony Europe and developed by Sony America.
This was released on April 27th, 2007 and is only on PS2.
This is available from Amazon for £13.48 (Platinum Version)

Summary: The swan song for Sony's dying console.