God of War
by Sony Computer Entertainment
Average Customer Review: 
CD-ROM
(22 March, 2005)
-- our price: $44.95
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Features GOD OF WAR introduces a brutal slice of life set in the mythological Greek era. Players can live according to their own nature. Even if it is by brute force.Defining the next evolution in gaming, GOD OF WAR presents an explosive gameplay mix: raw melee combat fused with traps, stunts and story driven puzzles.Huge collection of moves: players can swing on ropes, scale mountain cliffs, swim through rivers, slide down zip lines.GOD OF WAR delivers an extensive combat system based on uniquely linking combos for a myriad of fighting moves. Take the combat in air, take out a number of enemies at once, and utilize "context sensitive moves" moves that in particular situations, allow you to grab, kick or throw an enemy.Kratos' main weapons are two blades one attached to each arm by a long chain that wraps around his arm. This allows for both short-range and long-range attacks.
Reviews (105)
"God of War" Indeed
"God of War," complete with its intense, action-packed gameplay, amazing visuals and production values, a fascinating anti-hero, and one of the best stories ever to grace a video game, is easily among the best titles you'll play this year on the Playstation 2 - if not ever. Indeed, if the Playstation 3 were to launch tomorrow, there would be no better send-off for its predecessor than this.
The game takes ancient Greece and its mythologies for an ingenious spin, transforming "Clash of the Titans" into a bleak, Robert E. Howard gloomfest complete with unrelenting violence and a mood that is downright oppressive. This is certainly not the Greek mythology you learned about back in grade school, and your guide through this austere world of scheming gods and defiant mortals is none other than Kratos, a shameless killer who delights in gushing red blood and being where battle is thickest. He certainly has a chip on his shoulder, and it may or may not have to do with his absent wife and child, and the god of war himself - Ares. The basic concept is revenge, a mortal in opposition to a deity and all the monsters you can shake a sword at, but the plotline that drives "God of War" is far more interesting than that, and is gradually unraveled in splendid fashion. Suffice it to say that both the setting and Kratos, the player character, are as imaginative as they come. This one, like a great movie, sucks you in and, once it has you, doesn't let go.
With such an interesting story and world already established, the developers of "God of War" could have churned out a half-baked action-adventure and still been a step ahead of many of their peers, but thankfully, not content to do this, they made "God of War" the absolute best game of its kind. It's an out and out ass-kicker, reminiscent of the recent "Prince of Persia" games (particularly "Warrior Within" and its Mature rating) and 2002's "Rygar" redux, but with action forefront and devious traps falling in behind. Comparisons aside, "God of War" is its own game through and through - a rewarding combination of reflex and gray matter, with an emphasis on the former.
Kratos takes on all comers with a set of short swords, each one lashed to a binding chain and seared into his tormented flesh. That is, at least, during the early portion of the game prior to the introduction of the Blade of Artemis (essentially a gigantic scimitar), but these weapons will, almost undoubtedly, be the ones with which you become most familiar, and given the lack of variety it's great that they prove to be so much fun. In conjunction with some very capable magical powers bestowed upon Kratos by the gods as the game proceeds, these default weapons are more than sufficient, with the aforementioned secondary sword stepping in as a mere bonus. Admittedly, combat in the game initially feels like something that will wear thin, but thanks to the game's upgrade options, which allow you to beef up your spells and weapons by conquering your enemies, new combos and deadlier effects can be attained and unleashed, keeping things fresh.
Unlike most action-adventures of this type, "God of War" seems all but immune to the usual monotonies of this genre, and not only because of the aforementioned combos, spells, and upgrades. The game's levels can take most of the blame, as they are very well-designed, complete with new challenges at virtually every turn. Aesthetically, each one is diverse, even down to its color scheme. And while some settings are clearly more polished than others, even at their worst these graphics rival anything available on the PS2. At their best, on the other hand, they're astounding, rising in artistry above virtually anything ever committed to a console. That all of this is done on the aging hardware of the Playstation 2 makes it that much more amazing.
The characters come off nearly as good as the environments. Kratos looks suitably imposing and mean, and the spin on Greek monsters and myths takes a decidedly horrific turn with the motley collection of centaurs, minotaurs, and harpies that stand in his way. Boss encounters are few and far between in the game, but of the three that exist each is memorable, challenging, and beautiful to look at. The same pervading sense of quality pretty much shines throughout "God of War."
But of course nothing is perfect, and the same is true here. One level, set in Hades, goes above and beyond in terms of frustration, temporarily emphasizing platforming in a game that, before, had little to do with such antics. Likewise, some of the reflex-testing minigames required to take down the game's boss monsters, usually optionally associated with gory finishing moves on lesser beasts, can be difficult to pull off in time, and make for some needless aggravation. As an elective edge in combat they would have fared better, instead of being necessary to prevail. On the other hand, this concept is a novel one, and when it works it works beautifully - but it has its downsides, especially during the final confrontation with Ares.
Some may find "God of War" to be too difficult, as it's certainly not a game that's easy to breeze through. I think, for the most part, however, that it strikes a fine balance. From beginning to end, "God of War" is truly epic in scope, like a big budget Hollywood adventure, complete with the finest production values available. The more you play, the harder it is to stop. This is action-adventure near its pinnacle, the game that was promised and finally delivered. "God of War" is a great game with a great main character in a great stylized setting. What more can be said of it?
Fantastic fun and nearly flawless
First thing's first - this game has very graphic, bloody violence, and Kratos, your character, is on a nice-guy mission but is not a nice guy.He's not above wasting a good guy to get at a bad guy.So keep your youngun's away. :o)
I had high hopes for this after reading the description, and boy, were they fullfilled.I hate to say *too* many good things about a game and come off sounding easily impressed, but God of War is very, very easy to say good things about.
First and formost - the fighting.You do a lot of it and the battle engine was all but flawless.No slowdowns or snags no matter how many enemies flooded the screen, except for one or two specific situations.Even then it wasn't jarring.Your weapons (you start with two swords-on-chains, then soon get a more powerful single sword, and can switch between them at will) and the attack combinations are great fun and the really useful ones are easy to remember.Enemies (playing in "normal" Hero mode) are tough enough to keep you working but not so hard as to wear you down.I'm also in love with the Greek beasties used, like minotaurs and Satyrs.One mistake God of War *didn't* make that so, so, so many games do - kill and enemy and they're gone.Move on a ways and come back, and they're still gone.I hate perpetually re-spawning enemies, especially when I want to backtrack.Thank you, thank you, makers of GOW for making the dead stay dead.
You also acquire various magic attacks which come in very handy at times, and they're upgradable along with your swords.Make sure you find the more obscure caches of red orbs to charge things up.
Puzzles you must solve along the way (there are plenty of breaks from the carnage where you have to think things through) are usually solvable without resorting to a walk-through.Just do the usual and look around carefully.
As others have mentioned, graphics are great and PS2 games have really improved here.There are lots of mechenizations that are nicely conceived and detailed, and the game keeps up with it all.
Cut scenes are good and not too long, so you don't waste a lot of time watching movies when you could be playing.
So what's bad?Well, I prefer camera control and the game uses it's own, so you often find yourself running at the camera without being able to see where you're going.But as fixed cameras go, this one is very good and almost never aggravates.
The ending is a little anticlimactic, once you've defeated the final foe, but very fitting for the storyline.
My biggest complaint is, once you finish the game, you unlock "God mode," the hardest setting.I don't know how anyone could possibly play this.I couldn't get past the very first fight (on a boat against a small hoard of swordsman), for crying out loud.Maybe I'm just lame, or there's something I don't know, but it was a disappointment.Oh well, the replay value on normal (I also did the easiest just for fun) is right up there.
If you have any doubts, don't listen to them and get this game.It really is excellent.
An action game of Herculean proportions
I've heard a lot of good things about God of War, so I made sure that I got a chance to play through it when I got my PS2 recently.After I finished this game, all I can say is...whoa.This is definitely one of the most brutal games that I have ever played through, and I say that in the most positive way possible.Quite simply, God of War is one of the best action games that I've played this year.
God of War is set in ancient Greece and puts you in the role of Kratos, a seemingly unstoppable, hulking warrior.The game starts off with Kratos on the verge of suicide, and then flashes back to a few weeks prior to his suicide, recounting his quest to kill the Greek god of war, Ares.Personally, I really liked the dark persona of Kratos.He's a breath of fresh air from the many upright, "always do the right thing" heroes that plague many of today's (and yesterday's) video games.Man, I thought the Terminator was unrelenting, but this guy...yeeesh.Kratos doesn't care who you are, and if you get in his way, may the gods help you.
The game itself is, in my opinion, similar to another PS2 game called Devil May Cry.However, God of War differentiates itself by setting the game in much larger environments, and having a much more refined fighting system.The gameplay in God of War is a whole lot of monster killing fun, thanks to the game's easy to learn combat.Kratos' primary weapon, a pair of very large knives attached to chains known as the "Blades of Chaos", allow you to perform cool "combo" moves and hit multiple enemies depending on the direction you push the analog stick.Also, depending on the situation and the enemy, when you bring a monster down to low life, you can pull off various "finishing" moves such as driving your blades through a Minotaur's throat.As the game progresses the Greek gods will grant you new powers, such as Medusa's stone gaze and Zeus' lightning, which you can upgrade to become even more powerful.God of War also contains some interesting puzzles as well, which is in contrast to how most of the game is like.In the end, God of War doesn't have the deepest gameplay in world, but it is fast, furious, and visceral fun that any action fan will like.
One of the most impressive aspects of God of War is its graphics.I was surprised that the PS2, a five year old machine, could still produce graphics as detailed as the one in this game.The high resolution textures and lighting effects in this game can put many other X-Box and PC games to shame.The character model used for Kratos looks great.It is actually a fairly simple design, but he looks like a total badass nonetheless.The monster designs for the game's many enemies are flat out cool.My personal favourite is the design for the giant Minotaur boss, which looks like a robotic, walking bull in power armor.Finally, the cutscenes for this game are very well animated, reflecting the game's dark tone, and are filled with copious amounts of blood, gratuitous violence, and scantily clad women.
On the sound front, I liked the selection of music that God of War provided, although admittedly it is a limited selection.The music is primarily orchestral in nature, and it does the job in conveying the game's mood.Also, I felt that the voice acting was, on the whole, pretty good.The actor who does Kratos' voice has a Vin Diesel-ish quality to him, which perfectly suits the character.
The one real downfall of God of War is that it is fairly short.It took me only around nine hours to complete it (including restarting the game from checkpoints multiple times).But the game is a blast while it lasts.The fact is I love deep and complex video games, but sometimes I just want to play a game that lets me mash buttons until my enemies are beaten into a bloody pulp.God of War is this game.As such, if you are a fan of action games, you must give God of War a try.Kudos to the developers for making such a fine gaming experience.
My ratings are:
Graphics = 10/10
Sound = 8/10
Gameplay = 8/10
Overall = 8.5/10
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Asin: B0002XL3BA
Sales Rank: 33
Subjects: 1. Video Games
2. PS2 (PSX2)
3. Sony Playstation (Play station) 2
4. Playstation2 (Play station2)
5. Action
6. Adventure
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$44.95
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More frustrating that fun.
