Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Anime Fight. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
God of War II; A review
Topic Started: Jun 18 2007, 07:04 AM (319 Views)
<span style=Therren Cragan</span></span>
Member Avatar
Your Resident Homicidal Maniac

Now then, let me state that I'm not writing this to overshadow xialinriku's reviews or anything. Actually it was because of his review that I remembered to do this, seeing as how GoW II has been one of the most anticipated titles yet. Now then, onto a brief review.

For those of you who don't know or just don't get the concept of a game with the number 2 in the title, God of War II is the sequel to...well, God of War. Essentially picking up directly where the original left off, the story of Kratos is continued in this sequel title to the already legendary PS2 action game. Now for the sake of those who haven't played GoW 2, or the orignial for that matter, I wont go too deeply into the story so as not to spoil much.

Basically, the game follows Kratos on a new journey he must undertake to exact punishment upon those who betrayed him. After having defeated Ares and taking his place as the new God of War, Kratos was shunned by the other Olympian Gods, but found respite in his new family, the warriors of his mortal home of Sparta. Under the command of their God, the Spartains conquered city after city in the name of Kratos and Sparta. Eventually they came upon the city Rhodes, where Athena finally confronted Kratos about his actions. Appauled by his brutality and heinous acts, acts so extreme that they made Ares look tame in comparison, Athena commanded Kratos to stop his raids upon Greece. Ignoring Athena's words, Kratos decended to Rhodes to deliver the final blow to the city. Left with no other choice, Athena used her power to take back the strength she had gifted Kratos with, strength that allowed him to become a God. Upon draining his power, she brought to life a monstrous enemy for him to face, the Colossus of Rhodes. Forced to face the Colossus with only a fraction of his power, Kratos put up a valiant fight but was no match on his own for the monster.

In a shocking turn, Kratos recieved aid from an unlikely source, the King of the Gods himself, Zeus. Zeus granted Kratos use of the mightiest of Olympian weapons, the Blade of Olympus. By syphoning his godly power into the Blade, Kratos would be able to use it to absorb the life energy Athena granted to the Colossus. However, all was not as it seemed. Upon defeating the Colossus, Kratos' body was crushed beneath its falling arm. His power drained into the blade, he had become mortal again. Zeus had tricked him. In an effort to force Kratos to serve under him, Zeus commanded Kratos to pledge his loyalty in return for some of his former power. Kratos would not stand for it, and though he was on the brink of death he still fought with Zeus. Fought and failed. As Zeus thrust his blade into the heart of Kratos, the arms of Hades reached out to claim him. Kratos had given up hope, and it was then that the most ancient force known to the world took action. The Titan Gaia, ever present Mother of Earth, had called for Kratos to fight back. "Death is an escape Kratos, you are not meant to die here. You have a much greater purpose to fulfill." Gaia's words filled Kratos' mind and gave him new resolve. With the desire to exact punishment against the King of the Gods for his betrayal boiling within the soul of Kratos, he fought his way out of the abyss that tried to claim him.

Having played God of War 2 from start to finish, I'd have to say that in the way of action games it ranks up there as one of the best, if not the best to date. Graphically it looks absolutely phoenominal, matching or even exceeding some of the early Next Generation titles in terms of detail. God of War even includes animation features that were said to be impossible to attain on anything less then the Next Gen systems, namely that of extreme and highly recognizable facial expression, a feature that had broken new ground with the release of Call of Duty on Xbox 360 and was presumed to be impossible on the orignal Xbox and the Game Cube, which both exceed the PS2 in graphical capability. The environments are beautifully detailed, and nearly every feature of the characters is noticable even in the standard game engine. And with the standard game engine being able to produce something so extreme, it goes without saying that the Hi Resolution movies are anything less than phoenominal in apperance, matching the quality of recent CG Animated movies such as Happy Feet.

The graphics aren't the only boon this game has in its favor though. The combat is fast paced and very fun, taking some of the best elements from the original and enhancing them. The new spells Kratos gains from the Titans make it all the better, since while there are some similarities to spells granted in the original for the most part everything is brand new and to top that off Kratos now has an entirely new arsenal of special attacks specific to his Rage of the Titans ability, something that was not included for Rage of the Gods in the first game. On top of that there is a slew of minigames throughout the game to play, some reaching a pretty extreme point that causes the game to actually border on the line of a Mature and an Adults Only rating (I'll leave you all to find out what it is by playing it yourselves). But the best aspect of the God of War II combat system, and the aspect that made the franchise legendary for its sheer brutality, is the finishing kills.

While some of the kills from the first game still remain, Kratos' brutal grapple based and mini-game kills are extended to include even more brutal ways to bring down your enemies, and there's really nothing quite like it in any other game. The sheer brutality of his special kills is taken to a new level in the franchise's new title, including such attacks as ripping the arm off of an enemy to impale them with a blade attached to the sleeve of their armor or the one the magazines had a field day over, climbing onto a cyclopse's chest to rip out its eye. There are even new extremely brutal kills specific to the bosses, another aspect of the game which has been improved since the original game only had three to fight. But this highly detailed gore-fest is more then simply shredding your enemy to pieces, gutting them with your blades, or crushing their bones.

In terms of the story surrounding Kratos, GoW II is a fairly simple and straightforward vengeance tale. However, the story is not just about Kratos, at least not anymore. The Titans make a big impact on the story, and it is this aspect of the storyline that takes the story for GoW II to an almost grand level. But it isn't just the Titans that make a strong appearance in the game either, other famous characters and relics of Greecian myth make their appearance, including Icarus, Jason of the Argonauts, and the Three Sisters of Fate. Steeped even deeper in the mythology than the original, GoW II takes what is first thought of as a simple revenge tale and expands it into something much deeper. But story cannot be fueled without interesting characters, and GoW II provides well.

Now most of us already know about Kratos, Athena, and Ares and the impact they had upon one another in the first title. However, this story delves much deeper into other aspects of Greek mythology, giving an in depth look at the actions of Zeus and the cause of the Titan War. The mighty Titans Chronos, Atlas, and Gaia all have profound impact, although their character points are not heavily developed, and the Three Sisters of Fate are pivotal throughout. Many aspects of Greek legend appear in this game, including, as mentioned before, Icarus, Jason of the Argonauts, and even Prometheus, who granted humanity the Fire of the Gods.

All in all this game ranks as one of the best. Some issues due come up, as with any game, but for the most part they are minor. The biggest issue (one brought up to me by Chaos Lord long before I even bought the game) is the disk type. Having been printed on a DVD 9 disk, GoW II basically requres a PS2 that runs well or else it simply wont operate, a major downside to those who still have older PS2 systems. But if you can get your hands on a copy of the game (and if it works, which is usually the case) I would highly reccomend it.

Grading:
Graphics and Animation: 10/10. Graphically it matches or even surpasses some of the first releases for the Next Gen systems, and animation wise it has pushed the limits of the PS2 far beyond the scope of anybody's expectations.

Gameplay (Including Combat and Puzzles): 9.5/10. The combat system retains the feel of the original game, but adds in enough new aspects to make it fresh again. A very fun set up of dazzlingly brutal fighting combined with flashy, powerful, and extremely fun to use spells makes it great. In terms of the puzzles it was usually pretty easy to figure them out, a good aspect for a highly action oriented game, but occasionally some of them can get tedious and a bit drawn out, one of the minor downsides.

Characters and Character Development: 9/10. While there are many characters present in the game, it focuses mainly on Kratos, Gaia, and Zeus. The characters stay thoroughly interesting throughout, and there are some interesting points about their backgrounds that are learned throughout the game. However, some of the characters remain a bit shadowy in some aspects, especially Gaia who we never really get to know all that well, another minor downside.

Story: 9.5/10. While at the core it is a story of vengeance, the many background stories of the different characters and the in depth story surrounding the Titan War and Zeus' origins take this simple basis and make it pretty grand. There is a surprising ammount of story within the game as well, a definite boon for a game such as this. However, while the side stories are very interesting, it is still basically a revenge story and so doesn't quite hit the perfect mark.

Overall Score: 9.5/10. In terms of action titles, God of War II ranks as one of the best, with well deserved high marks in all the right places. It pushes the PS2 utterly to the brink of its capabilities, and the game is incredibly fun and it becomes very easy to lose yourself in hours of gameplay without realizing it (speaking from experience on that remark). If you're a fan of action games and havent played either of the equally great titles I say that you absolutely must, for the experience is simply phoenominal.
I can not tell, is it just me or do we all look just like
Adolph fucking Hitler with this swoopy emo-boy dreamy haircut dangling in our faces, making us all indescribably indistinguishable from each other; or maybe I'm just another megalomaniac?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
<span style=Chaos Lord</span></span>
Member Avatar
The Lord Of Chaos and The Perfect Chain.

Sheesh, althoug this review is nice, all it does is amplify my hatred for the design of the PS2 and for the company that made God of War 1 and 2...

For those that do not get what I'm driving at, allow me to explain...

The PS2 was essentially built purely for economy, therefore they used cheap quality parts and shoddy assembly tactics in building it for the first 2-3 so years.

The way the casing is built matters little, and the poor ventilation is only a minor problem, but what Sony did was skimp on the most important... The laser.

So essentially the laser would start losing power or stability (the laser will actually slip on the platform it is on, creating a constant clicking noise) It loses the power to play PS1 Games, CD's, DVD movies, and other disc related media through the infamous "Disc Read Error" before conking out entirely.

Now my PS2 is thankfully still able to play PS2 games (It's 3 and half-4 and half years old btw) But this brings me to my next point...

Even though God of War 1 and 2 are more than capable of being put on a standard PS2 disc, the imbecile creators decided to put it on a DVD-9 disc instead of a DVD-5 disc (The one about 90% of PS2 games use). A DVD-9 disc is essentially a double layered DVD-5 disc, which although provides greater storage space, is however much more difficult to properly read. Making most who play it either not even be able to make it to the title screen, or end up being stuck halfway through the game because the PS2 can't read a particular layer of the disc.

I have absolutely no idea why the hell I posted that, but at least it helped me vent a bit of pentup anger.
Don't tremble ma pêche, or else you will make me feel like a péché myself...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kiri_No_Haku
Senior Member
[ *  *  * ]
They did that to the Sims 2 on PS2 also. There's some games my PS2 won't play at all yet there's others that it will play all day and night. Hey ChaosLord can you tell me when PS2s came out. I got mine 1 month after they came out. So is mine like 6-7 years old? Even though I kinda took my sisters and switched them out but she got her's a year after I got mine.

God of War 11 I heard was a good game from a friend at school. I might rent it sometime.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Animegod
Member
[ * ]
It rocks just like the first one did.Nuff said.
I am the God of your Anime....FEAR ME!
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
<span style=Chaos Lord</span></span>
Member Avatar
The Lord Of Chaos and The Perfect Chain.

Kiri_No_Haku
Jun 18 2007, 06:23 AM
They did that to the Sims 2 on PS2 also. There's some games my PS2 won't play at all yet there's others that it will play all day and night. Hey ChaosLord can you tell me when PS2s came out. I got mine 1 month after they came out. So is mine like 6-7 years old? Even though I kinda took my sisters and switched them out but she got her's a year after I got mine.

God of War II I heard was a good game from a friend at school. I might rent it sometime.

And to Gran Turismo 4...

I got mine I believe in the Christmas of 2002... So it's about 4 and a half years old.

Yours is about 6 and half years old if you got the October 2000 version.

My PS2 can't even read most DVD movies (it doesn't even try, sometimes I get a Disc Read Error) Only plays PS1 games if they're in near mint condition (So far I believe Final Fantasy VII and Digimon World 3 work...) And plays regular PS2 games without any problems, although before I had to open and close the disc tray about 10-15 times, thankfully that was fixed when I used a can of compressed air on it...

What pisses me off more though is that I can't open up the PS2 and fix it (I've tried it twice so far and the second time I was only able to put in about half of the screws) because of the screws that hold the laser tray in place (I can't even get them off with a jewelers screwdriver...)
Don't tremble ma pêche, or else you will make me feel like a péché myself...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
S.cloud
Member Avatar
Leader of Clan WDS
[ *  * ]
My ps2 is about as old as haku's but i didnt have a sister or a brother to switch them out. So the clicking noise was a problem at some point. I knew how to fix it but it's way to dangerous(to my ps2 anyway) so i had to let the professionals handle it.

Back to the review.

Pretty good review. not as good as my review's mind you( :P ) but still pretty cool.
My friend says he might get me God of War 2 on either my birthday or christmas. So i'll play it eventually.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Kiri_No_Haku
Senior Member
[ *  *  * ]
Both of ours clicked. My sister never used hers so I switched mine out with hers. Her's still clicks but barely. Mine clicked so much that I counted how many times it clicked in a minute. 83.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
andystebar
Member
[ * ]
mines 6 years old and ive never had the clicky problem, the only thing that i have had wrong is the disk tray would make a sound when opening.

my xbox survived the red light failure! lol.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
<span style=Therren Cragan</span></span>
Member Avatar
Your Resident Homicidal Maniac

If you have the older models the I know what you mean by "clicking problem" because my first PS2 did it also. Its a problem that happens when the gears start to wear down and the lens starts to wear also. Only way to fix it is to contact Sony and send it to them or to get one of the new models which work quite a bit better.
I can not tell, is it just me or do we all look just like
Adolph fucking Hitler with this swoopy emo-boy dreamy haircut dangling in our faces, making us all indescribably indistinguishable from each other; or maybe I'm just another megalomaniac?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Off Topic Gaming · Next Topic »
Add Reply