"A total blast"

When I was a little kid, everyone loved Mortal Kombat. The ability to kill your opponent by ripping his head out after beating him to a bloody pulp was a huge appeal to many people, as well as most of my friends. However, I was a sheltered child, unable to rent or buy these games because it was "too violent" according to my parents.

Years later, I played the first God of War and was completely impressed by the combat system as well as the massive amounts of blood and crazy killings. So, I was totally hyped for God of War 2 and bought it 10 minutes or so after Best Buy had stocked it. I was not disappointed.

This is one of the most beautiful looking games out there for the last gen systems. There's a few clips here and there, but overall, everything looks amazing. The water has a look that gives it a water feel and the environments are extremely well detailed. There isn't much here that you'll look at and think "Man, they didn't put detail into that...". They made sure everything had detail to it.

Music and sound is your typical action adventure sounds. Through non-combat areas, you'll hear a sort of slow, cautious, oh-man-something-is-gonna-happen music. In battle and pressure situations, the music picks up to a dramatic intense theme. This transition is smooth, but surprising at times. They don't try to do anything fancy, but the music is still very well done, both in content and context.

The story takes place where the first game left off. Our uh...hero, Kratos, is the God of War after destroying Ares. Unfortunately, he's even more power hungry than Ares was, his armies conquering everything in sight in his name. This angers the gods on Olympus, especially Zeus. He tricks Kratos into giving up his godhood, then kills him. Saved by the titans, creatures that Zeus banished before taking over, Kratos sets out to find the Sisters of Fate, change his fate, and give Zeus a nice taste of payback. While nothing worthy of an Oscar, God of War 2 does offer an interesting take on Greek Mythology, with twists and turns throughout the game.

God of War 2's gameplay is essentially the same as the first game. You run through slashing up a ton of enemies, solve some puzzles, gather red orbs to upgrade weapons and magics, go through reaction commands to kill enemies in gory ways, and so on. However, God of War 2 fixes up many of the small issues that the first game had. Kratos can now cast magic while moving and has the ability to climb up ladders faster. You also gain three new weapons on your quest, but these don't have much of a use, as the blades are far superior. Normally, this is a problem, but with the fluidity that the control of the blades has, it's really not. Plus, the blades are fun to slash enemies with, so it's not a total loss. You also gain an amulet, which, when activated near a glowing green statue area, freezes time for a short time. This gives more variety to the many puzzles throughout the game.

The best thing that God of War 2 did is increase the amount of bosses that you fight. The first game only had 3 or 4 of them, the rest of the game was enemies and puzzles. God of War 2 gives you a whole ton of boss fights that are more than just slash with the swords until no blood comes out. You'll actually have to look around and think for a minute on some of them, looking for a switch or a lever to use. Of course, the game does have flat out fights with bosses, and those are fun in themselves.

Puzzles are much more plentiful in this game, some as simple as holding a switch down to finding a way to get a rock onto a ledge. The answers aren't always obvious, but the answers are there, and you don't have to do a lot of backtracking in order to solve a puzzle. They're difficult, but not impossible.

The combat fights the same as the first game for the most part, as in it is a total blast to destroy stuff. You slice up a large amount of enemies with your weapon, occasionally performing a reaction command mini-game to finish them off in gruesome ways. The control is still great, and the camera stands still, so you don't have to worry too much about losing enemies. Of course, for the tougher enemies, you can't just mash square all day, as you will die. You'll have to master rolling and blocking if you don't want to end up as a blood smear on the side of the wall. Enemies are about the same intelligence wise as in the first game, as in they have little. That doesn't make them any less fun to kill, and the simple nature of the controls that allow Kratos to do many impressive combos keeps it from being a chore. Furthermore, the pacing is perfect for this game between puzzles and combat. You won't feel as if you are doing too many puzzles and not enough fighting, or vice-versa.

God of War 2 has a few flaws that prevent it from getting a 10. The still camera may be great for combat, but for puzzle solving, it can be tough to see what you need to find. There's also not a ton of exploration; for the most part, you go from point A to point B, stopping only for a treasure chest along the way. They did add some stuff for you to collect, but it doesn't increase the length of the main game much. Finally, the game, while longer than the first game, is still very short. You'll probably finish it in about 15-20 hours.

Replay value is about the same as it was in the first game. There's more difficulty modes as well as a Challenge session which gives you missions to do. You can also play sort of a New Game+ mode, where you can retain all the collectibles that you've obtained. There's a lot to do after beating the game, so you won't be bored. There's no multiplayer, but in a game like this, that's not a problem.

RECAP

Pros:

-Beautiful presentation in audio, graphics, and story
-Fighting is fun with simple controls
-Small improvements on first game's issues like climbing ladders and casting magic
-More bosses with twists to them
-Puzzles can challenge without seeming impossible

Cons:

-Camera can hurt with puzzles
-Very linear and short

God of War 2 is the swan song for the Playstation 2. If you had a ton of fun playing the first game, this one will satisfy you even more. You may be able to beat this in a weekend, but the fighting mechanics are so much fun that you'll want to play it again. Definitely worth a purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/07