“If all those on Olympus would deny me my vengeance,” shouts Spartan warrior Kratos “then all of Olympus will die”.
And so heralds the arrival of the sequel to one of the Sony’s most popular and acclaimed games of all time. God of War set the benchmark for hack and slash action-adventures, but this lived up the series’ already legendary status and is surely a centrepiece of anyone’s PlayStation 2 collection.
Kratos Betrayed by Zeus sets up God of War II
The story follows directly on from the first game where after defeating Ares and getting revenge for the death of his family, Kratos was made the new god of war. But he soon fell foul of the other higher beings due to his lust for bloodshed. At the start of the game he is betrayed by Athena and eventually tricked out of his power by Zeus.
After being beaten and left for dead in the underworld he is rescued by Gaia, a Titan, who tells him about a mysterious power on a far away island that will enable him to go back in time and kill the King of the Gods once and for all.
God of War II has a Simple Learning Curve
God of War II immediately throws the player into a heated and multi-levelled battle against the enormous Colossus of Rhodes, which has been granted life by Athena in order to kill Kratos. Although you begin with all the powers from the previous game, it’s still quite a difficult opening especially for those who are new to the series.
The pace and setting feels very similar to the original and although there are new special abilities to master the gameplay hasn’t been altered too much and is quick to learn. By using a simple combat system, mainly the square (weak attack) and triangle (strong attack) buttons, it’s easy to pull off damaging and impressive looking combos.
But this also means that players can button bash and just alternate between the two forms of attack when surrounded by enemies. This takes away some of the challenge, especially in the early stages, but makes the game more accessible and, more importantly, fun.
Violent but Mentally Challenging
If anything this game is more violent than the original. The mature rating and 18 certificate are entirely justified as eye balls are torn out and heads are ripped off. Kratos is an anti-hero in every sense; what other game has the main character use the dead bodies of fallen comrades or smash priests' heads against religious tomes in order to solve a puzzle?
But that’s not to say violence rules over the game. The brain teasing puzzles take up a great portion of the playing time. They’re challenging but not to the point of frustration.
Good Boss Fights but Slowdown in some Parts of God of War II
This time the developers have added about four times as many boss battles than the original. It seems that after every 15 minutes of wading through a temple there’s another huge monster that needs to be chopped down to size. As ever it's about battling and dodging around, learning the routine and timing of the bosses’ attacks until the player can do enough damage to unleash a devastating blow in one of the many QTE moments.
But this game is not without its faults. Fights against legions of un-dead monsters usually resorts in a bit of slowdown and the occasional pauses for loading between sections do become annoying. It is also let down by the lack of manual camera control, meaning that the player can sometimes miss an attack coming from behind and occasionally puzzles are hard to solve because the camera angles. These are however minor niggles.
God of War II Review Summary
God of War II is probably the last great game to be released on the PS2 and one of those rare occurrences when a sequel manages to improve on the original. It’s certainly the perfect swan song for one of the most successful and longest running consoles of its generation. The ambiguous ending also sets up the hugely anticipated God of War III to be released late in 2009.
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