Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Ron Burke

I think back to E3 2004 to a little game that was tucked into a corner of the Sony booth, garnering little attention, including my own.  What a difference a year can make.  God of War was hailed in March of 2005 as a Game of the Year contender with a crushing sonic boom of high-scoring reviews, including our own.  It went on to win many overall Game of the Year awards, all but ensuring a well-backed sequel in short order.  Two weeks shy of two years later, we see the arrival of God of War II.  How could Sony’s Santa Monica Studio follow up such an incredible title in such short time?  Would God of War II spell a disastrous attempt to capitalize on the incredible success of the previous title, or would this title prove to be the capstone title for the long reign of the venerable Playstation 2?  We have been so lucky as to get our hands on the title a nearly a month before the title's retail release, and I’m glad to report that it is indeed everything we could have hoped for.

I’ll be approaching my review with careful pause to try to bring you as much information as I can without ruining the great storyline of this title.  Any specific spoilers that may be within the review are things you’ll know within the first hour or so of play.

God of War II picks up shortly after the conclusion of the first title.  Kratos has struck down the son of Zeus and Hera, Ares – the God of savage war and bloodlust, and has ascended to the throne as the God of War.  Kratos revels in the swath of carnage and destruction brought to bear by his Spartan brothers, much to the chagrin of the other Gods.  Ares' half-sister Athena warns Kratos of impending disaster as every razed city threatens to bring the wrath of Zeus on the head of the Ghost of Sparta.  Kratos, fearing neither man nor God, dismisses the warnings of Athena and descends to aid the Spartans in their siege of Rome.  Landing as a giant among the tiny mortals, Kratos begins to crush the city, only to be reduced to the size of a man by the falcon-avatar of Athena.  To ensure the destruction of Kratos, she animates a great statue with the will to destroy the Ghost of Sparta.  As the statue relentlessly pursues Kratos through the city, Zeus offers to assist Kratos in its destruction – the Sword of Olympus.  Kratos pours his Godly powers into the weapon to destroy the golem, but soon finds himself at the business end of this weapon.  Zeus and the Gods of Olympus have betrayed him, and with a master stroke of deception, Zeus slays the now-mortal God of War.  Banishing you to Hades, it seems that your reign as a God has come to a fiery end.  All is not lost however, son of Sparta, you have new allies who wish you to continue your trail of carnage. 

Descending into Hades, the titan Gaia rescues you and heals your mortal flesh.  Gaia, having raised Zeus, had a birds-eye view of his treachery when he rose to power in Olympus and banished the Titans to the Underworld.  Your Godly powers stripped and once again mortal, you must now rely on the power of the Titans to obtain your vengeance against Zeus, but do they have another agenda?  It is all but certain.  Only a master of the Fates can unravel the tangled skein of deceit being wrapped around the Ghost of Sparta.  It is here that our story truly begins. 

If I put God of War II in front of you and showed you a complete level, you wouldn’t believe me when I told you that it is running on 7 year old hardware.  God of War II has the whole visual package – a slightly updated version of the engine that powered last years blockbuster running at 480p, and some stunning cutscenes that rival powerhouses like Blizzard and SquareEnix. Yea, it’s that good.

There are a few areas where Kratos cuts his own toes off though – clipping, jagged edges, and the occasional framerate stutter.  During game-engine cutscenes, the scene can occasionally stutter giving some slight disruption to the scene.  Thankfully, the game engine doesn’t suffer from the same fate during gameplay.  There is some slight clipping and jagged edges to contend with however, and those can occasionally make for some odd animations.  These are unfortunately frequent in nature, but do not impact gameplay in any way, only immersion. 

Don’t take my previous statement to mean anything but to convey the slight issue with the game's visuals.  This is among the best looking titles on the Playstation 2 platform, pushing the system to the breaking point.  Simply put – this is the best that the PS2 has to offer.

Including the winner of the God of Noise contest (George Domain from Modesto, CA), God of War II features a fantastic rock/orchestral soundtrack.  The first title featured a dark soundtrack with low-end percussion and growling rock tracks, punctuated by melodic orchestral vox befitting a epic Grecian tale - the sequel is no different.  This is the type of soundtrack that would be worth buying separately – it’s that good. 

Even better than the soundtrack for God of War II is the voice acting.  It isn’t often that I get to rave about voice work in a videogame unless some big name actor is attached.  That isn’t to say that there aren’t big names in this title, in fact Zeus is played by Christopher Lee, and Linda Hunt reprises her role as narrator for Kratos’ tale. TC Carson also comes back to voice our anti-hero.  Every other voice actor turns in a professional caliber performance, making this one of the best voice-acted games I’ve played in recent memory. 

I simply can’t say enough good things about the sound and voice work in God of War II, so I’ll just give it 100% and call it a day.

The age old maxim applies to God of War II – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Rather than tinker with the excellent control mechanics of the previous title, Sony Santa Monica simply built on the previous foundation.  As before, the left analog handles movement, while the right analog allows Kratos to dive in the direction pressed.  L1 initiates your block movement with your current weapon, and L2 unleashes your selected magic.  The D-Pad toggles between your different magic powers. X is jump, O is grab, square is light attack, and triangle is heavy attack.  Essentially, it is the same setup as before – simple on the surface, but with increasing complexity as you unlock the various attack combinations.

Adding to your whirling-blades-of-death arsenal, Kratos can obtain a giant Barbarian Hammer as well as a long spear, thus changing the gameplay mechanic.  Now, choosing the right weapon for the job isn’t just about picking the right combinations.  Granted, most of the time you’ll be using the Blades of Athena that have been chained to your arms, but it is nice to be able to mix it up with these new weapons.  All of your weapons and powers can be upgraded with the orbs you collect from slain enemies, just as in the previous title. 

Many of the powers that you obtain from the Titans are similar in execution to the powers you obtained from the Gods in the previous game, so you’ll immediately feel pretty competent with them. 

One new game mechanic introduced in this title is the ability to use your blades on anchor points.  This will allow you to jump up and swing from various objects to open up new areas in the game.  Obviously, this also opens things up for some Indiana Jones-style near-death escape scenarios that will put a smile on your face. 

Another new element is the introduction of Pegasus.  Pegasus, the flying horse, allows Kratos to seek out the Sisters of Fate, stitching the otherwise disconnected locations into the storyline. These sequences (along with later sequences when Kratos is allowed to fly by *ahem* “other” means) are fairly straightforward.  Kratos sits astride the flying mount, speeding towards his intended destination as griffins and the like hurl bolts of energy in attempts to dismount him.  In true vicious fashion, if Kratos deals enough damage to a griffin and then closes the distance, he’ll be given the opportunity to shred the wings off of the beasts and then break their feathered neck. 

Just as before, the game uses a fixed camera to tell the story.  Throughout the entirety of the game I never ran into a single moment where I felt the camera was out of place.  A great deal of testing went into this, and it shows. 

Very few games really nail their control scheme the first time through, but God of War certainly did.  God of War II adds a few new elements to the mix, but essentially keeps the original formula intact, which is a good thing.

In all forms of media, whether we are talking about books, movies, music, or games, the sequel often falls short of the original. Storylines are watered down versions of the original formula, or are so disjointed as to not fit with its predecessor.  This is not the case with God of War II.  This sequel is on par, or dare I say, even better than the original God of War.  Its is almost as if the sequel was already written, and the voice actors simply grew further into their roles with a mature storyline already sitting in front of them.  It certainly excites me to think of what we may be presented for the inevitable God of War III for the Playstation 3. 

God of War II isn’t a pure action title, and frankly it would be fairly exhausting and perhaps tedious if it were.  The game strikes a fairly even balance of carnage with a good dash of puzzle elements.  Most of the puzzles are block pushing, lever pulling, timing, or an action puzzle like chained rope swings.  The game keeps you very busy – if you aren’t charging Minotaurs to jam your blades into their mouth, you are pushing statues to deflect light beams meant to open new areas.  If you have played any recent action titles, you’ll be fairly familiar with the puzzles you’ll encounter here. 

As was the case with the infamous Hydra battle in the first game, when you face the bosses in God of War II you’ll have to utilize carefully timed button sequences to defeat them.  This time around, you’ll have to fight several of the bosses in stages, often requiring several attempts to take them down.  There are also 20 Cyclops in the game that can be attacked with a series of button presses which yields their eye as a prize.  Collect all 20 and you’ll get a special collectable item.  All told there are several mini bosses and four incredibly large bosses.  If you thought the Hydra battle was a fantastic encounter it pales in comparison to the bosses in this game. 

God of War II is very similar to Shadow of the Colossus in that it is difficult to describe the sense of scale and pure enjoyment you’ll encounter in both games.  When you encounter the gargantuan structures in this game it is simply awe inspiring.  No game has given a sense of scale this large and done it this well.

Before we all weep tears of joy and begin bowing and scraping, the original God of War did have a section that was controller snapping difficult – Hades.  Unfortunately, or perhaps purposefully so, the latter parts of God of War II amps the difficulty to a nightmarish level, even on the second of the four difficulty levels. (the fourth being unlocked after game completion)  The creatures take an incredible amount of damage, and some of the timed puzzles require quite a few repeats to complete.  If you completed the first game (and have subsequently replaced your busted controller) you’ll know exactly what to expect here.

God of War II is a must-own title for those who enjoyed the first game.  It is not only one of the best action titles on the Playstation 2 platform, it is also one of the best action titles on any platform.  If you can handle the sex, intense violence, gore, and ultraviolent nature of the game, you will find one of the best storylines we’ve seen in a long time.

As I mentioned above, the game features four difficulty levels.  The first three difficulty levels are available right off the bat, but the fourth requires you to complete the game to unlock it.  All told, it takes roughly 10 to 12 hours to complete the game on the first or second difficulty level, with hard and Titan taking a bit longer due to the ramped difficulty level.  This added difficulty may dissuade some from playing through the game again on the second and third difficulty levels, but Ninja Gaiden veterans will be right at home.

There are a few bonus items in the game that you may be interested in.  There is an arena mode and a challenge mode that will keep you busy for a long while.  Urns that you collect throughout the single player game can be used in these bonus modes, and the orbs you collect in the bonus mode transfer to the single player game.  It reminds me of the challenge modes that I found in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. 

The full game will come with a bonus disc with videos, interviews, and behind the scenes documentaries. The version that I am reviewing didn’t ship with this bonus disc, but if it is anything similar to the goodies unlocked in the first game it’ll be well worth watching.

What amazed me most about God of War II is the fact that I wanted to immediately play through the game again directly after completing it.  I replay very few games due to my review schedule, but God of War II will be sitting near my PS2 for a long time.

God of War II is an incredible game. Not many games reach this level of polish and immersion. The brutal action, the fantastic sound and voice work, the incredible cutscenes, and the well-crafted storyline makes for a complete package that rivals any game you’ll find on the shelf. This game may not be the end of the line for PS2 games, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anything better.

Gaming Trend Score

94

1. Graphics: 95
2. Audio: 100
3. Controls: 95
4. Gameplay: 90
5. Value/Replay: 95
6. OVERALL:94