God of War for PlayStation 2

God of War has been critically acclaimed just about everywhere, it has been named the best game for the PS2 and many other mighty comments. I couldn't agree more, however, dull puzzles and a rather awful camera take away from what could of been a flawless action game.


God of War tells the story of Kratos, a former captain in the Spartan army, and his quest to rid himself of his nightmares and to ultimately take down Ares, the god of war. This however, is easier said than done, you'll be up against screen sized bosses and other unfriendly mythological creatures. There are only a few boss fights throughout the course of the game and Realistically, once you learn their attack patterns, don't pose much of a challenge, still, they are the most intense and fun parts of the game, one has to wonder why there are so few throughout. Bosses such as the hydra, when one head is cut off, it regrows... I won't give anymore away.


The graphics are some of the best the PS2 has to offer, The cut-scenes in particular offer stunning detail and textures. The facial animations never seem out of line or rediculous. The environments offer amazing architecture and greek buildings. Unfortunately, you can't pan around to appreciate the scenery due to the incapability of controlling the camera or, destroy any of it, essentially, you can only destroy the objects that the game wants you to destroy. You will, for the most part, be in Greece for the majority of the game but the environments are all varied and never get repetitive or bland.


My biggest complaint with the game, is the camera. Usually on the Playstation 2 controller one analog stick in used to control the character while the other is used for the camera. In God of War, one analog stick is used to control Kratos, while the other is used to evade attacks. It's a useful tool that you'll be using frequently to quickly dodge incoming attacks, but the sacrifice of the camera leaves much to be desired. All I want is a camera that shows what's infront of me, not behind, is that to much to ask? It ends up being one of those "I'm hitting something off screen, but I can't tell what or where it is" deals.


Another thing I disliked about God of War were the puzzles. The game is very heavy on action and at random points in the game, (usually to open a door) you'll be faced with a puzzle that may not be difficult, but is certainly frustrating, it stalls the fighting to a complete hault to get a door open, apparently, Kratos can rip wings off an enemies back with his bear hands but can't hack a door down with the two collosal swords he's got attached to his wrists, who would of known? It does offer some variety from the mindless killing for those of you who are patient enough to use your brains in a game such as this. There's also different types of puzzles as well from the straightforward "I know what I have to do I just need to find a way to do it" idea. Be prepared to get stuck quite often.

The voice-work is stellar and I'm happy to announce that Kratos isn't a "I'm going to totally rip you a new one dude!" or "Take that!" kind of guy. Sure it was set back in 480 BC but since when did that stop anyone? In other words, the dialogue never gets comical or bizarre.

The game plays out from a third-person perspective and is heavy on the violence. However, God of War is far beyond your average hack and slash game. Kratos, for most of the game will have two swords attached to his wrists that can be flung at your enemies. There's also a mini game type attack as well, when your enemy is stunned, a button appears above his head beginning the series of button mashes, think of it as a "Simon says" except you must push the button in a short amount of time. The end result is a brutal and extremely violent death-bringing. The weapons are varied as well, throughout the course of the game you'll be aided by different gods who share the wealth of their powers. Example; Zeus will give you a lightning attack, When you rip off Medusa's head you can turn your enemies into stone and therefor halting them in their tracks. Poseidon will give you another variation on a lighting attack. All your weapons can be upgraded through a fairly interesting fashion. When you defeat enemies, they leave orbs behind, (orbs are to Kratos as Coins are to Mario) the more orbs you have the more you can upgrade your weapons. Anything can be upgraded, your skills or weapons, the more orbs you use to upgrade will eventually lead to a level up in which your attack becomes increasingly stronger and more effective. Once you level up, you are introduced to a larger variety of attacks, and sooner or later you'll be killing your enemies a dozen times before they even hit the ground....extremely satisfying. There's also the standard chest opening. Some chests offer more health or magic, but in rare cases you get items such as "Gorgons eye" or "Phoenix feather" once you collect a set number of these, your rewarded with an extended health meter or magic.


God of war certainly isn't for the squeamish, it easily earns itself an "M" rating as Kratos isn't concerned about a "quick and painless" death. Wings, limbs and overall body parts are surgically removed, not to mention a sexually suggestive mini game..it's light on language though. For those of you expecting any sort of multiplayer will be sorely disappointed. There's no co-op featured in the campaign or even in any of the mini games.


One more issue I had with the game was the fact that there were no hints anytime. I don't meen hints as in a magical ray of light beaming on your next objective, infact, most of the time during the cinematics it will play out the path you must take in order to reach a certain goal, like swing from one rope to another to get to a ledge to get to another ledge. My problem is the constant bombardment of enemies. God of War sort of plays out like this; 'A wave of enemies, once they're defeated, you can move on to the next area' the only problem is that at random points in the game an unlimited supply of enemies will charge you and won't let up until you find out after half-an hour of killing that you had to move on because the game tells you by not telling you that the only way to move on is to defeat that particular wave of enemies, still with me?


There's only so much developers can do in the enemy aspect of a greek based game. Most of the gods and monsters will be familiar to anyone who knows a decent amount of Greek mythology. Medusa, Ares, Poseidon and an extremely small hand full of bosses. Still, innovation isn't lacking anywhere in God of War. The smaller weaker monsters are essentially humanoids, Spartan soldiers that are now skeleton like creatures. Later in the game you'll be facing larger and more powerful enemies. Usually, they like to mix things up, make you fight tougher monsters for some portions, then when they get easy, they throw in a few weaker enemies along with harder just to keep you on your toes, this is what keeps the game from being repetitive and falling down in the pit with other mediocre slashers.

For fans of Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden or Onamusha you'll all be in heaven, this is as violent, gory, and fun hack-and slash games come, this is a must buy for PS2 fans as well. It's honestly unfortunate that the camera was so brutal and the puzzles were extremely dull.