Review: God of War 2 (PS2)

I have been under the shadow of the gods far too long. The time of the gods has come to an end…
- Kratos

As promised before Holy Week, I’d take legendary Spartan, Kratos, for a spin and play God of War 2 for the PS2. Well, I finally finished the game, logging in an approximate 14 hours in Normal mode since I only get to sneak in a few hours every night before sleeping. Also, I promised everyone a review of the game as soon as I complete it. Well, here it is. (caution: my review may have some SPOILERS, so those of you want to figure out everything for yourself, STOP READING NOW).

DEFIANCE

The story takes off from the original God of War where our protagonist, Kratos, Spartan uber-warrior, takes it upon himself to do the impossible – kill Ares, the God of War. Sure enough, after skull-splitting action scenes, epic combat and quests, Kratos does the impossible and takes on Ares’ old role and is now the God of War.

The fun only begins. As the new God of War, Kratos has been a bit “trigger happy” and takes on the role to the extreme. This enrages the gods and they send Athena to placate Kratos. But Kratos, ever defiant, does not heed their warning. This causes Zeus to take a personal stand on the issue by confronting the wayward new God of War. A cutscene later, Zeus kills Kratos with the Blade of Olympus and our story for God of War 2 begins…

I DID IT ONCE, I CAN DO IT AGAIN

After Hades takes Kratos to the underworld, the “Ghost of Sparta” is confronted by Gaia, leader of the Titans , and proposes a plot to exact vengeance on Zeus – find the Sisters of Fate, go back in time and kill Zeus. Intrigued, Kratos takes on yet another seemingly impossible quest to kill Zeus. Hey, he did it once, right?

Compared to the first God of War, the graphics are much better. Even the cutscenes have been done with more detail. You can see nuances of skin texture, shadows and lighting. Gameplay-wise, God of War 2 has some improvements over the original. Kratos, being a former god, now has access to more magic and abilities like lightning strikes, a cool bow and my favorite, the earthshaking Wrath of the Titans which produces AoE earthquake damage. Bash ‘em Cyclops to hamburger, damnit!

In GoW2, Kratos has more weapons in addition to the chained blades grafted to this arms (Athena Blades). Weapons such as a BFH (Big F&$*king Hammer), The Spear of Destiny and (later in the game) the Blade of Olympus, all have different additional attack-abilities and cool “finishing moves” – complete with all the blood and gore you can expect from a no-nonsense character like Kratos.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature of GoW2 over the first game are the amount of puzzles and the painstaking originality and attention to detail poured into them by the designers. GoW2 has more puzzles, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. The pacing is almost perfect – with the right mix of battles, boss fights and puzzles, God of War 2 takes you on an epic journey into Greek mythology. In short, there are elements borrowed loosely from other PS2 titles such as Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Colossus, FF12 and even Onimusha. But the flavor of a great title such as God of War is still retained and you’ll surely love every second of it.

Kratos also has access to a “bullet-time” ability by slowing down time. You’ll soon discover that this is seldom used in combat but is more connected to the various puzzles and quests that he has to overcome.

GOD OF WAR 3?

So, does Kratos kill Zeus?

I want you to figure that out for yourself by trying the game.

But I can say that he trashes the 3 Sisters of Fate (gawd… I never imagined them to be so sexy) and their octopi-like guardian (in one of the bloodiest boss fight finishes I’ve seen for the PS2 yet).

Suffice it to say that my jaw dropped on the last few cutscenes and my fight with Zeus lasted a good 30 minutes! (Blade of Olympus + Rage of the Titans = gorefest!). Surely, God of War 2 is the perfect prequel to one of the most anticipated titles for the PS3 – God of War 3. If there’s a game that will make me part with P30,000 to 40,000 for the console, it may well be that.

Finally, GoW2 is the perfect “last hurrah” for the PS2. My money was also on FF12 being one of those titles, but I’m sure you guys will debate which title is better.

I give it a 5 out of 5!