Games

God of War Review

One of the most kick-ass games ever developed, this is a must for every PS2 owner.

God of War was created by SCEA Santa Monica (the dudes who made Twisted Metal 1, 2, and Black), so it's a PS2-exclusive game.

Well, let's get it on.

We'll start with the story. You begin the game as one of the the most bad-ass characters ever created, Kratos, a Spartan who wants to murder Ares, the God of War, for something that he did to Kratos 10 years ago. The game starts off with Kratos saying to himself 'Now there is no hope', then jumping off the highest mountain in Greece. The point of the game is to find out why he splattered himself all over the rocks, so it takes you back 3 weeks before his suicide, and so you need find out what happened.

Suffice it to say, it's a brilliant story, fully of twists and turns. A great twist on the classic Greek mythology.

Next on, are the graphics. Utterly brilliant. Most X-Box games don't even look this good. The game streams throughout, seemlessly cutting between gameplay, cutscenes, and FMVs without even a hint of slowdown. The character models are awesome, especially Kratos with his awesome Blades of Chaos (more on these fine items later). The FMVs are awesome, and carry the story greatly (bad grammar, no?). The monsters are also animated great. The look just like they should, creepy as hell.

Speaking of monsters, there's a doozy of them. And all of them are gathered from everywhere in Greek mythology. There's everything from Gorgons and Cyclops, to Centaurs and Minotaurs.

Let's talk audio. The voice acting and musical score is awesome. The score in particular rivals that of an Oscar Award Winner. Combining straight opera with some mid-eastern riffs, you'll love it. The voice acting's also really good. Kratos sounds just like he should, a total and complete bad-ass who doesn't give a shit about anybody and will do whatever it takes to complete his mission, to murder the God of War.

Gamplay. What can I say? It's incredibly fun. I mean the second you start the game, you are against a multitude of enemies. You'll love hacking the monsters to bits with your main weapons, the Blades of Chaos. The Blades of Chaos are two axe-like swords chained to Kratos' arms, and the allow him to do a multitude of attacks and combos. you'll probably be using these most of the game, and that ain't bad at all. You'll also be able to use powers that the gods give you, as well as another word you get later in the game. All your weapons and skill can be upgraded by collecting red orbs. The is upgrade system is very easy to use, so no problems here. Red orbs can be found in chests, or off of dead enemies. You can also get green orbs and blue ones (for health and more magic, respectively).

There's also a fair amount of puzzles here. Most of them aren't too bad and are easy to do, so they don't detract from the gameplay, but there's one or two that make you want to strangle yourself. I'm embellishing though.

Also, once you finish the game, you get a crap load of unlocked bonuses (freakin' sweet!) plus a new dificulty, God Mode, which upon completing will give you MORE bonuses. But a word to the wise. God Mode will make you beat your head into the wall. It is that difficult.

For the overprotective parents: God of War is extremely violent. There's lots of blood (freakin' sweet!), nudity (though CGI and pixelated breasts don't do it for me), and some 'themes'(Kratos' 'issues') that parents may find inappropriate. So don't let the little kids near this one. And if some parent comes and starts complaining about all of the stuff above, there's a reason the game is rated 'M' for mature.

Wrap up time, folks. So all in all, God of War is one of THE best games around. It's a beautiful and great-sounding game, wrapped up in a violent world of Greek mythology and brilliant story. If you have a PS2, get off your ass, and at least rent this sucker.