"Could you ask for a better game?"

Introduction
I heard about the nudity in the first game, and I thought, “There is no way I'm going to be allowed to get this game.” I knew my parents wouldn't approve of it. Then, one birthday, I ripped the paper off a small case and found God of War 1. Of course, it was from my brother. After beating it, I was amazed. The game was incredible. When I heard of the second version, I knew I had to get it. That day was Easter. Now I'm here to tell you about this amazing piece of “hardware.”

Story
The first game had a pretty good story to it. A mortal, Spartan warrior gets betrayed by the God of War and goes on a request for revenge. It was good the first time. Too bad though. This time, it's basically the same thing.

This is how it's going down. After killing Ares, Kratos, the main character, becomes the new God of War. City after city he destroys, and with every one, the “wrath of Olympus grows.” As Kratos is heading down to help his troops in taking over Rhodes, Athena tries to stop him, but Kratos ignores her. As he gets down there, she sends down a magic eagle, which turns him back into a small, mortal. At the end of the battle, Zeus comes down and kills Kratos, saying to him that he will never be the ruler of Olympus. Kratos isn't going to let Zeus get away with this though. Escaping from Hades, he embarks on a quest to find the Sisters of Fate and go back in time to when Zeus killed him, and get his revenge on him. Same old story, only with a different victim.

Gameplay
God of War 2 has a ton of new features. New features are something everyone looks for in a new game, and this one excels in the category. Kratos still uses the Blades of Chaos like he did in the first game, but he gets to use new magic powers. The new powers are extremely cool, ranging from the Atlas Quake, where Kratos pounds the ground, causing rocks to come up and hit nearby opponents, and Typhon's Bane, which is a bow and arrow that replaces Zeus's Fury. Though you may be disappointed at first, these powers prove to be much more useful then the original ones.

Kratos also meets a lot of new characters on his journey, including some huge Titans and some of the other Gods of Mount Olympus. They either aid Kratos on his journey or try to stop him.

Kratos can also use sub-weapons, but he needs to obtain them first. These range from the Barbarian Hammer to the mighty Blade Of Olympus. Pressing R2 will have Kratos select the sub-weapon so he can use them. Along with all of these are the bonuses. Once you complete the game, you unlock a bunch of new things, including movies, costumes, and Bonus Play. Bonus Play is when you select a new game with the same difficulty that you used to beat the game previously. You get to start and play through the whole game with all of your abilities maxed out and all of your powers. You can also select a new costume for Kratos, some funny, some really cool.

Of course, there will be puzzles. There seems to be a lot less puzzles in this one then the first game. Don't worry though. They are pretty tough to figure out by yourself and can sometimes take a very long time to actually get what you're supposed to do. But these can help get your breath back after a huge battle. Unfortunately, some of the puzzles will place you in ridiculous situations, sometimes throwing a bunch of enemies at you while you're trying to figure it out. And speaking of enemies, there are a lot of new ones, including skeletons as well as other hideous things.

Finally, later in the game, you get to use the Amulet of the Fates. This mighty power allows you to slow down time while Kratos moves at normal speed. This can help you get passed certain puzzles, among other things. This power is actually pretty cool, but can only be used is there is an Amulet of the Fates statue nearby.

Graphics
God Of War 2 really pushed the Playstation 2 to the max. Most of the game takes place outdoors, so the graphics have to be good, and they are. Kratos looks a lot more detailed then in the first game, and the blood and creatures look very realistic. The environments obviously look awesome as well, and the cutscenes, especially the High-Resolution ones, are nothing short of spectacular.

Sound/Music
The sound in the game is top notch. All of the voice actors do a great job, all except the mighty Titan, Atlas. The director, Cory Barlog, made him read his lines terribly. He sounds as if he's really reading off a piece of paper and sounds, like someone said on the message boards, like “a 4 year-old.” The music is very well done and includes amazing orchestration by a bad and a chorus, which really makes the game and the whole concept of Greek mythology sound a whole lot better!

Conclusion
All in all, God Of War has changed the hack ‘n' slash genre of gaming. Now, hopefully, other companies will follow in the path of SCEA, the Gods Of Gaming. My final score is a loud 10/10. Now go buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/04/07