"Time to clean house! With blood!"

One of the last good games for the system that dominated this generation has recently come out. God of War II, the appropriately named sequel to the first God of War, has taken the original winning formula of hacking through hordes of monsters and perfected it in every way possible. This sounds surprising, seeing as how well-crafted the original game was, but it just shows how good the guys at SCEA are at making games.

The original game, which most PS2 owners who have reached the legal age (or so) have played through at least once, placed players in the role of Kratos, a Spartan general who was forced into the employ of the gods and ended up being asked to slay Ares, the God of War. Upon doing this, as is shown at the very beginning of the game, Kratos took up the new position of God of War atop Mount Olympus. In God of War II, Kratos is seen making use of his new godlike abilities (some of which are, of course, usable in the beginning) to bring down some of the cities of Greece. Needless to say, the other gods aren't too crazy about that. The rest should be experienced in the game rather than told, because it would make it less epic to have it spoiled. It is great, though, to see how it's been implemented into the game.

The characters themselves are as epic as the story. Our hero Kratos is just as badass as ever, blowing up whole buildings and taking on legendary Greek heroes. We also get to see some of the inner workings of his mind, such as seeing the barbarian scene from the first game through his eyes. Other characters we get to know a lot better are the Gods of Olympus, who were only seen through statues and holograms earlier. Now, they get personality and do things to you. Although not all the gods were shown in as much light as others. There was no story whatsoever for Hermes or Poseidon, and there was some god who looked like he had a lot of knives stuck in him who I couldn't even recognize. Besides them, though, there are a few lesser characters who appear in some crazy light, such as Perseus, Theseus, and a few others with that name scheme. And don't be surprised to come across some familiar faces in the oddest places, which just adds to everything.

Then, of course, is the gameplay. Kratos still remembers how to kick ass and take names, so some of his moves should be familiar to you as well. He has gotten rid of some of them, but he has gained moves that make up for them. He had also gotten rid of most of the magic from the last game, and believe me, the loss of the overpowered Army of Hades can hurt. The new magic is a bit more varied than last time, and it is much more improved. Most notably is the Typhon's Bane, which replaces the Zeus' Fury that's been collecting dust since the last game. It has increased damage per second, a faster casting rate, and you can move while shooting! You also get a small variety of weapons to use during combat apart from the Blades of Athena. These will mostly be used in only a few situations, as you will either be fighting weak enemies where there's no point in a new weapon, or strong enemies who will kick your ass if you aren't experienced with your weapon. Oh, and you get a new Medusa head. *cricket chirp*

One notable aspect of this game is the Challenge of the Titans at the end. It is similar to the Challenge of the Gods from the previous game, only there are seven challenges, you can save between them, and they're even harder! Personally, I was able to beat the Challenge of the Gods in one day, but the last part took so long that the addition of a save option is a blessing. It is also possible to replay them in any order, and you can use the red orbs collected from normal play to power up your weapons. This is a godsend, because you'll be needing to power up that last weapon from the game. This is a good adaptation of a classic mode, and you'll have a lot of fun getting stoned and watching a translator get slowly roasted (no puns intended).

One of the biggest changes from the last game is the addition of a larger number of bosses. The increased number allows for differentiation between them, with some being human-sized, some being the size of a statue, and one switching from god-size to human-size repeatedly. Most of them live up to all the potential that the bosses in the last game had. For instance, one boss is fought retroactively across an entire stage, one has you fighting it on several tiers of a stage, and several take place in a larger number of rounds with very different fights in each. A few of them, however, just seem to be slapped on to increase the overall boss count. The most notable of these is the Sister of Fate Clotho. Rather than include her with the other sisters, she was made 30 feet tall, put into the centre of an inescapable loom, and made to whack you senselessly with her many arms. Luckily, these don't take away from the overall experience. It's just easy to make light of things when there's so much else.

Overall, this game is a must play, no matter what kind of gamer you are. As long as you can watch an enemy get impaled by their own sword and beat a monster who can precisely wield a staff and fight in a deadly dance-karate style, you need to play this. It's proof that there are still good games being made that can tailor to anyone.

Final Score:
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Story: 8/10 (it doesn't end as well as it should)
Gameplay: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Lifespan: 9/10

Final Score: 9.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/07