God of War [PS2]
review by Bubble Man


Once in a great while, a game comes along that makes you realize why you play video games. Why you spend countless hours staring at your TV with a controller in your hand. Why you put off school, work, and your social life. There's is a reason that we do all these things, and to put it simply, it is because playing video games is fun. That's it. That's the reason behind it all. But sometimes, as a gamer, you find yourself playing a game that might not be as fun as it should be. Maybe you played it because you had nothing else to play, or perhaps because your friend told you it was good. Maybe you read a good review online, bought the game, and realized it was crap. But you still play it, because that's what you are. You play games and you can't change that.

Then their's God of War. A game that comes along and beats the shit out of you for playing those crappy games. That's because this game is fun. Extremely fun. It's so fun that you actually feel guitly for wasting your time playing other games when a game this good exists in the world. Remember the first time you played Super Mario Bros. 3, and how much fun you had flying around and traveling from level to level. Fuck that! If God of War and Mario 3 got into a fight, Mario 3 would be stabbed, sliced, ripped in half, and punched in the face. This is THAT game. The game that will make you forget your schoolwork, or forget that you can actually leave your house. Be warned, if you buy this game, you will not stop playing it until you beat it.

I felt that was a pretty good way to introduce this game. I wanted to get across just how fun the game actually is. But before I go on to explain everything else about this game, I think I should first discuss the violence. Now, I've never been one offended by any kind of violence in video games. If you ask me, the more blood and gore, the better the game. So obviously I had no problem with this one. But if you're the type of person who is put off by a man ripping someone in half with his bare hands, then maybe you should try a different game. I'm serious. The amount of violence (and sex/nudity, but we'll get to that later) in this game is immense. So be warned if that's not your thing, look elsewhere.

Now, onto the game. God of War puts you in the shoes (or sandles) of Kratos. A legendary warrior in ancient Greece. You ever see the movie Gladiator? Well Kratos is to Greece what Maximus was to Rome. Except Kratos is 100x stronger, 10x cooler, and 1000x more badass. The story, while it sounds pretty basic, is actually filled with a lot of twists and turns, and the suspense and pacing is top notch. Basically, the gods have granted Kratos with a mission, and that mission is to hunt down and kill the god of war, Ares. The only way to do that is to recover Pandora's Box and use its powers to aid you in defeating a god. Like I said, it's a pretty basic plot, but the game keeps in interesting, but giving you bits of information while you're on your journey, about Kratos' history, why he hates Ares, how he got his immense strength, and many other points that really flesh out the story and the chracters. So if story is important to you, you can relax, because this isn't just another dumb action game with no plot.

Speaking of action, God of War has lots, and lots, and lots of action. While you're on your quest to defeat Ares, you'll face many enemies, big and small, who must be defeated in the most gruesome way possible at all times. This is where the fun of God of War really comes into play. Take the simple skeleton warrior enemy for example. In a normal game, you would simply slash at the skeleton with your swords and he would fall to the ground and die after you slashed at him enough. Well in God of War you can do that, or you call kill him in a very brutalized fashion. You could:

a. Grab the skeleton, and rib his body in half with your bare hands, throwing the torn halves to the ground as blood shoots all over the place.
b. Grab the skeleton and knock him to the ground, then pounce on him and stab him in the chest about four times before picking him and throwing him across the room.
c. Stab the skeleton so that he is attached to your sword, than swing him around your head and throw him across the room, preferably into another enemy, killing both.

I hope I'm getting the point across that killing enemies is very fun. Every enemy in the game has at least one unique, and very gruesome way, to kill them. Another example would be the Medesuas. Instead of just slicing at them, you can knock them to the ground and rip their heads off. The methods of killing enemies is what makes combat so enjoyable. And since 90% of the game involves you fighting large groups of enemies, this in turn makes the entire game very fun.

Now, enough about the mass slaughter of mythological beasts, I want to tough briefly on the actual gameplay mechanics for a minute. This is an action game, and anyone familiar with Devil Mary Cry or Onimusha will know what's up. You'll control Kratos with the left analog stick, moving him around various locals while you kill. Attacking is simple, using only three different buttons. Square is for weak attacks, Triangle is for strong attacks, and Circle is for unique kills (like the body rip in half that I love so much). The combat system is very easy to pick up, but has suprising depth, as you level up your weapons you will gain more and more combos and moves that will help you. And you'll find yourself using all of them at all times. Fighting isn't very complex and frustrating like in Devil May Cry 3, this game is enjoyable and fun. Besides simply using melee weapons, you also gain a few different magic spells which will also aid you on your quest. These, like the combos, are all very helpful, and you'll find yourself switching from one spell to another as your fighting different enemies.

Now besides all the action, there is some mild platforming and puzzle solving, but nothing that will make you mad. Some reviews I read felt that the platforming was put in as an afterthough, but I don't feel that way at all. It doesn't destroy the gaming experience at all. I don't understand what some people's deal is with platforming. Maybe they just can't jump from one pillar to the next. But if that's the case they should probably give up playing video games. The puzzles are very well made on the other hand, and you actually feel rewarded when you figure them out. But like I said, none of them are too hard, and they don't really bring you out of the gaming experience.

I'm not going to put in too much about the graphics, because I have never been one to judge a game on its graphics alone. This game does have beutiful graphics. Motions are fluid, animations are great, and the framerate is impecible. But the real showstopper is the setting. Imagine running along a cliff 1000 feet in the air, while you're overlooking a small bay and a city in the distance. Imagine climbing up the side of a cliff, 2000 feet in the air, and as you look down the ground below you, you can actually distinguish things. The amount of detail that they put into the graphics is unbelievable. But like I said, the graphics shouldn't be the deciding factor of whether you buy the game or not.

The sound a music is also very good. The soundtrack is superb, and sounds as though it could fit into a Hollywood picture. Perfect orchestrated music that fits so well within the context of the game. The sound is equally impressive, every sword strike and limb chop sounds perfect. I don't think you could ask for anything more.

I realized I haven't gotten to the sex and nudity in the game, so I'll just stick it in here. This has been the cause of a lot of controversy surrounding this game, so I think I should mention it. This game has a sex scene in it. There's only one, and I won't give away the details, but you don't see anything, you just hear it going on. There is also a great amount of nudity in the game. Several characters are topless throughout the game, as well as several enemies (including the Harpies and Gorgons). I don't view any of this as detrimental, because as we all know, in ancient Greece is was not uncommon for women to be topless. I'll just throw this out here as a warning, for those of you who might now want your little brother walking in while you're having sex with two chicks at once. So now that we've gotten this out of the way, I feel I can move on.

If there is one bad thing about this game, it is that the game is much too short. Granted, it's hard to argue that when the game is this good, but it's true. You'll easily finish the game, on normal difficulty on your first playthrough, in under 10 hours. You'll finish the game and you'll want to play for another 10 hours, cause it's such a fun game. Fortunately, this doesn't hurt the replayabilty too much, as there are several difficulties you can tackle the game at. At first you can play on Easy, Normal, or Hard. But once you beat the game, God Mode is unlocked, and although I haven't played it, I've heard it gives Devil May Cry 3's Hard Mode a run for it's money. So if replaying on harder difficulties is your thing, you won't be dissapointed.

There are also several unlockables that you get for completing the game. This includes numerous features about the designing and production of the game. There's a feature about the evolution of Kratos during the design period, and another feature about levels that were deleted from the game because of budget and time. There are about ten of these features, and I won't give them all away. But needless to say they are all worth your time, if the production of video games interests you in the least bit. With all of these extra features, God of War almost feels like a special edition DVD with tons of bonus features.

So, there you have it. This is a game that no Playstation 2 owner should be without. It is everything that you would want in an action game, and is the perfect example of what a fun game should be. To put it bluntly, if you own a PS2, buy this game! If you don't, well I don't know if it warrent a purchase of the sytem, but if you've been contemplating buying the sytem, hopefully this game will put you over the edge.

Presentation: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Story: 8.5/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Lasting Value: 8.5/10

Overall: 9.3/10
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