Title God of War II Date 03.21.2006 Genre Action Platform PlayStation 2 Developer SCEA Publisher SCEA

The One Minute Review
After two long years, the wait is finally over. Put the kids to bed, bust out the testosterone and mash that triangle button, Kratos is back and better than ever. In this sequel to one of the best games of 2005 (and one of the finest action games ever to grace our controllers), Sony Santa Monica sticks with what works and doesn't reinvent the wheel, but also does the impossible by improving on the original in every conceivable way while continuing to tell an incredibly fleshed out and engaging story. While the combat system is largely the same as before, there are a few new moves and, unlike the first game, the secondary weapons you get are actually useful. The graphics are even better than the first game, featuring wonderfully detailed characters along with gorgeous animations, as well as absolutely massive and insanely detailed and varied set pieces. Sporting a large increase in the number of button pressing interactive cinematic scenes, God of War 2 ups the action considerably with the number of boss encounters going way up. Rounded out with another amazing symphonic soundtrack worthy of an action-packed Hollywood epic and sporting even more extras and unlockables than before, the PS2s swan song is an absolutely phenomenal romp through ancient Greece and simply must be experienced by anyone who considers themselves a fan of action games. God of War 2 may just be the finest action game ever made, and certainly the finest one in recent memory.

This is Sparta!
It seems oddly appropriate that this game should be released mere days after the opening of the movie 300, another graphic portrayal of the fighting prowess of the Spartan warriors. Continuing the fantastic story from the first game, God of War 2 picks up with everybody's favorite Spartan warrior turned god now occupying the throne of his former master in Olympus, but all is not well. He's been sending his Spartan army on a war of conquest across Greece, destroying cities along the way. Needless to say, the gods are not happy about this but hey, what do you expect when you string the guy along and then give him ultimate power? A little double crossing later and Kratos has lost his godly powers and become mortal once more. Still a very badass mortal, but mortal nonetheless.

Deciding that he's had enough of the gods, Kratos embarks on an epic quest of revenge to change his fate. This is accomplished by seeking out the Sisters of Fate who can help him do this. To give away more of the story would be a disservice, but know that the story is every bit as good as the first game, perhaps even better, and Kratos continues his reign as probably the single most badass character in video game history. The presentation remains top notch with incredible cut-scenes and fantastic voice acting performances all around by the entire cast. I haven't seen a game this truly cinematic since the original Metal Gear Solid.

If it ain't broke...
Anyone who has played the original God of War will feel right at home in the sequel. The combat system will be instantly familiar, and you'll be back ripping enemies limb from limb in no time. Now this isn't to say that there aren't any new tricks with the combat system. Kratos has a few new moves, and the overall flow of the combos has been tightened up a bit; but when it comes to the blades, it's pretty much a refined version of what was there in the first game. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. The combat was one thing the first game got nearly perfect, and it remains so here.

The biggest change in the combat system is the secondary weapons that you pick up along the way. In the first game, these were a mild diversion and didn't provide any real incentive to use over the Blades of Chaos. In God of War II however, the secondary weapons are actually useful and enjoyable to use. A big reason for this is the addition of the ability to swap between weapons in mid combo. For example; you can slash an enemy with the blades, launch them up into the air, switch to the hammer in midair and continue your combo, bounce them off the ground with the hammer and switch to the bow and continue firing at them. The other weapons aren't quite as fun to use overall as the blades, but the system is actually quite open for some seriously monstrous combos that would put even the first game to shame.

The bigger they are...
One of the best things about the first game was the sheer sense of scale. The set pieces were massive and unique, and God of War II continues this trend and takes it to the next level. Now you'll see even bigger set pieces, and you won't just see them off in the distance either. You'll actually be going to them. The set pieces themselves are incredibly varied, and before you even get tired of one scene you'll be rounding the corner into another. One of the best things about this game is that you're constantly doing something different. Whereas the first game had a tendency to be a constant slog through waves of enemies punctuated by a few large boss battles, the action in God of War II is incredibly varied.

Speaking of boss battles, the developers said that the number one complaint they received from the first game was “not enough bosses”. Well, I'm here to tell you they listened. If you've seen or played the demo, you'll know about the massive fight with the Colossus of Rhodes in the first level. The fight itself takes place over the entire span of the first level in multiple parts as you're thrown around the city by the colossus. This battle makes the Hydra from the original's first stage look like a quick minigame by comparison, and it doesn't stop there.

Like the original game, the sequel starts out with a bang. However, the first game suffered from the “first level syndrome” as I like to call it, where the first level is amazing but the rest of the game never reaches that same height. After the Hydra battle, you didn't see another real boss until 2/3 of the way through the game, and only the final boss after that. Not so in God of War II. While there are only 3 or 4 fights that have the same immense scale as the colossus battle, there are a large number of unique encounters in the game that are like mini-bosses, and these aren't simply generic attack-the-weak-spot type fights either. For example, the encounter with Icarus occurs as both of you are free falling off a cliff as you wrestle with him for control. It's very brief and isn't really a “boss” per se, but it's very unique and satisfying to be sure. The creativity of the encounters is extremely high, and one of the best things about God of War II is that they've really blurred the line between what is and isn't a boss fight by utilizing these unique encounters.

Kratos has ADD
You would think that upon playing God of War II all the way through. The sheer variety of action going on in this game is impressive. Aside from the multitude of unique boss encounters, the number of different set pieces keeps the pace constantly changing. You won't simply be hacking your way through tons of enemies either. God of War II has a noticeably increased focus on plat-forming and puzzle elements this time around to break up the action.

You'll also have to keep your eyes peeled at all times as the button pressing mini-games show up in full force in this sequel. Not just in performing brutal finishing moves against enemies, but even in getting around the environments. The things you saw in cinematics in the first game, you'll now actually be doing in gameplay and this is very cool. It may very well seem like the developers had ADD as practically every time you turn a corner, you're doing something new. And the best part of all of this? No Spinning Blades of Doom (tm) this time.

In addition, one of the main new sequences you may have already seen is the Pegasus flight sequence. There are a couple parts of the game where Kratos must use a Pegasus to get from one location to the other. This is solely to advance the story and the developers could have simply done a cut-scene for it, but they didn't. Instead, they created a whole new gameplay section devoted to these sequences. Playing similar to a Panzer Dragoon game (well, every one except Saga), you steer your trusty steed through the sky while constantly moving forward and being attacked from all sides by enemies. What could have been a simple cut-scene to advance the plot becomes a crucial gameplay section complete with some awesome action-packed button pressing cinematics.

Now I want to pause briefly and mention something important. It's decisions like these that push God of War II above and beyond the competition. This is a game that was so obviously made by people who loved what they were doing. When faced with an element that needed to be used in order to advance the plot, they didn't back out and rework the story or game to remove it. They didn't even just throw in a cut-scene of Kratos taking off and landing on his destination. No, they created an entirely new gameplay section to handle it; something that was completely different from the core gameplay and caused a lot of headaches to get right. Why? Because it's cool. That kind of dedication to the art and the craft is what makes this game so good. That, and the extras. Oh lord, the extras.

Would you like fries with that?
Firstly, like the first game, you get behind the scenes bonus videos for completing the game. There are also alternate costumes to unlock for clearing the game on certain difficulties. You also unlock the hardest difficulty, which is an absolute nightmare to play through. You also have the Challenge of the Titans, a series of seven challenges that will put your skills to the test. It's the same idea as the Challenge of the Gods from the first game, except this time you receive rankings in each challenge based on how well you faired, and you unlock additional goodies based on your rankings. Clearing this mode nets you the Arena of the Fates mode where you can select any creatures in the game to battle and keep the orbs you earn from defeating them for your main game.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the second disc yet. God of War II comes in a two-disc set, with the second disc being a standard DVD full of behind the scenes videos and footage of the game development, as well as interviews with the team, along with a development diary. You basically get to see the entire game go from concept to execution to finished product. It basically makes this the “2 Disc Collectors Edition” of God of War II. This is utilized to great effect in the film industry on DVDs and this is a big step in the same direction for video games. This is something I would absolutely love to see other developers do in the future and a big plus for God of War 2.

Beauty and Splendor in Ancient Greece
It's no secret that God of War was an extremely good looking game. The original game pushed the PS2 hard, and the sequel comes back for seconds. You've still got the same great looking characters, beautifully animated as before. Throw in bigger and more detailed environments and you've got hands down one of the best looking games to ever grace this system. The settings are massive in size and scope. Make no mistake, the first time you see the Colossus of Rhodes smash its giant foot through a ceiling trying to crush you, only to send it falling backwards across the city of Rhodes, your jaw will hit the floor.

If you thought the first game was big, you haven't seen anything yet. You'll be climbing huge cliffs and leaping across chasms that make the first game look small in comparison. All this is running rock solid at 60 FPS with almost no slowdown whatsoever. If the first game pushed the PS2 hard, God of War II absolutely brings it to its knees, as evident by the noticeable screen tearing that happens. Is it enough to hamper the otherwise brilliant experience? Absolutely not, but it is noticeable and it should be mentioned. It's quite understandable however, given that they're doing things nobody thought the PS2 was capable of in the first place. I think I can hear my PS2 whimpering in agony as I play this game.

The Spartans were actually quite musical...
Well, at least the ones who weren't fighting battles. The soundtrack in God of War II continues the fine tradition set by the first game. What we have here is an excellent and exciting orchestral soundtrack (and amazing alliteration!) befitting a Hollywood epic. The music gets intense when engaging groups of enemies and backs off nicely after the fight is over, but still maintains a tense atmosphere for the plat-forming and puzzle elements. You'll appreciate that air of tension when you're trying to avoid moving saw blades while hanging upside down.

The sound effects are as solid as ever as well. The hits have a nice meaty depth to them, and plunging your blades into the neck of a giant monster sounds great. I also like the crashing sound of Kratos plunging down to the ground and actually leaving a crater behind when he lands. To say nothing of the satisfying snap you get when literally breaking someone in two, or the crunch of repeatedly bashing their head against a stone pulpit. Ah, gratuitous violence...

The Final Word
In case you haven't noticed, I'm absolutely enthralled with God of War II. Yes, it suffers from the “more of the same” sequel curse that so many games do, but in this case that's actually a very good thing. The developers have basically taken all the complaints from the first game and pretty much completely ironed them out. The pacing in God of War II is near-perfect, without those long slogs through waves of enemies that sometimes marred the original. The game features far more variety in gameplay ideas and a larger number of boss encounters than before, and all of them are extremely satisfying. The button pressing mini-games are back in full force and are spaced liberally throughout the game, as well as being utilized to fantastic effect during the many unique encounters. Even the grab kills of generic enemies are over the top and entertaining.

The presentation is absolutely top notch in every way. The story is nicely fleshed out and very well told, with great performances from all the voice actors. This is enhanced by an excellent orchestral soundtrack that compliments the on-screen mayhem wonderfully. The visuals are even better than before, featuring some towering monstrosities of encounters as well as massive and varied set pieces for the action to take place. This game pushes the PS2 to the breaking point, no question.

And oh, the extras!
I've completely run out of positive adjectives to describe this game, so I'll leave you with this. You know the first thing I did when I finished God of War II? Well, first I watched the videos on the second disc. But the second thing? I played through the game again. Usually, I have a sigh of relief and accomplishment, accompanied by the urge to turn the system off when I finish a game. Not this one though. This is the first game in recent memory where my first urge upon completing it was to play through it again. Suffice it to say, if you like action games at all (or you enjoyed the first game), you absolutely must play this game.

I am now comfortable saying that this is, hands down, the finest action game I have ever played and the very definition of a great sequel. Anything less than an A is out of the question.

Game Score

A

Reviewed By: Contributed