God of War II (Sony PlayStation 2, 2007)

After playing "God of War 1" (and loving that game as well), I decided to get "God of War 2". The second installment proved to be even more thrilling and just as fun to play as the original, if not more! The graphics and sound are outstanding! Not to mention the intense storyline to go with it. Gameplay is rather easy after you get used to the controls and combo-moves. After a short time, you find yourself pounding "baddies" with ease. Though, some of the enemies (and bosses) can prove to be quite tricky. Many of the battles are not easy, especially in the later stages of the game. The cool thing about the bosses is that there is often a "trick" to beating them. Instead of simply pounding them repeatedly and mashing buttons, you will need to solve some kind of puzzle to defeat them in the process. There are many objects and secrets to be revealed (if you can find them). One of the coolest things about the second "G.O.W." is that after you finish a game on a particular difficulty, you can start a new game (same difficulty level) from the beginning with the weapons, magic and stats the you amassed in your previous conquest. This obviously makes Kratos (main character) very powerful right from the get-go. During the game, there are four well-hidden "urns" that you can collect to give Kratos even more special powers on subsequent games after beating it the first time. Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes hack-n-slash action combined with elements of puzzle solving, and again, the great story-line.

ALERT ( I spoil a little bit of the story but not the key points in the game. Especially the ending. So you are free to read knowing i wont spoil the entire story to you.)

God of War 2 had a tall task. How could you carry on a story where the first one ended with Kratos becoming a god? How about going after the king of gods, Zeus. As i was playing the game i was doubting Kratos. I mean c'mon Ares was one thing but Zeus? You want to dethrone and kill this guy? I mean he has the reason to do so. Zeus strips Kratos of his godly powers and destroys all of Sparta. This is the perfect set-up for another classic game.....or is it?

The main reason i loved the first GoW is the story. The story is what made this game classic. If not for the great story line, GoW would be just another hack-and-slash game. This GoW too has a great story, but in my opinion, not quite as great as the first. There are some spots in the story i dont agree with. For one, I really don't believe Kratos could embark on a journey to control time and Zeus not notice. Yes, Zeus killed Kratos, but wouldn't Zeus, the King of Gods, make sure he was dead, carried into Hades and stayed there. I mean Kratos escaped Hades once (maybe with the help of Zeus but we dont know officially), shouldn't Zeus expect Kratos to at least attempt to escape again? I dunno, maybe it's me but a lot went on under Zeus' nose that i feel shouldn't have happen. I think the makers of this game made Zeus a little less powerful than he should've been.

Another thing was the puzzles in this game fail to compare to the first. I easily flew by the puzzles in this game. Puzzels are made to make me think but whenever a puzzel in Gow2 came along they gave me huge hints of how to solve them. C'mon let me solve this myself w/o having the game camera focus on specifically what i need to do. The game is rated 'M' which is for 17 and older, but the puzzels in the game were made for 12 and 13 yr olds.

And there is one more complaint i have for this game. ITS TOO SHORT!!! I see they did the Tomb Raider-thing and made it a ..to be continued ending, but just like Tomb Raider, they made this part one incredibly short. Seriously, i think the cut scenes lasted longer than the gameplay itself! We cough up $40-$50 on this game and they give us 10 hrs of gameplay. I really didn't expect GoW to pull this trick other games pull on me. I thought they were better than this.

I see everyone else rating of this game was "it's better than the first" so on and so on, but i dont see it. I think the first God of War spoiled me. It made me hold a higher standard for games that came after it, even the sequel. Don't get me wrong i did like the addditional weapons, the new moves, more bosses, and the bonus dvd. But like i said GoW1 spoiled me. Now compared to any other game, GoW2 would win hands down but the comparison is with Gow1. To me it was the perfect game and you cant surpass perfection. You can only match it. GoW2 tried but didnt quite make it. Better luck on GoW3.

If you played the first GOW, you know how the game is played, if not, i recommend to play the first GOW so you can at least learn the story line and follow along in this one. the graphics are very good and the game play is sweeter than the first one. similar controls but, better.

the main differences from the first one is the boss battles or mini boss battles, there are more than the first one... like 3-5 times more, which is great because you need to think more on how to defeat them other than just square, square square.

the next thing is the weapons/magic you obtain. there is the lightening from the first one carries to this game but instead of one AOE (area of effect) attack you start out with only targeting 3 enemies at once, then 5ish at level 2, then big AOE attack once maxed. in the first one you got the huge sword (man that was one sweet sword...), in GOW2, you obtain 3 new weapons other then your blades you get a hammer, a spear and a sword.

another sweet feature about this game is after you have beaten the game (took me 16:30 game hrs) are the bonus features. just like the first one...you get costumes which give you special abilities on the next game play. in GOW2 you get 2-3 costumes when beating the game, and you need to collect the cyclops eyes to obtain another costume and need to do other things to unlock all 7 of them. but you only get to use these in the "hardness" you beat it on and easier. (i.e. i beat it on normal and only able to use costumes and bonus stats on normal and easy). there are other items you can collect along the way like the magic urns which give you special bonus stats when re-playing the game (same deal with costumes).

there is so much stuff i can tell you about this game, but if you liked the first GOW, you will LOVE GOW2, hands down. more enemies, more weapons, more and different magic skills, and yes, there is a "girl" scene just like in the first one (but you have to find it, hint hint first level above the water). this game is one of the best games for PS2 and may be one of the last, i can't wait if/when they make a GOW3 for PS3.

the extra DVD is worth watching, a lot of behind the scenes and you get to meet the voice actors

GET THIS GAME!

I know it's behind the time of the release date (2007) of God Of War II, but I just got this game off of Ebay for my PS2 8 days (43 hours of gane play time) ago and just now finished the first level. This game is very addicting. I find myself so involved in the game that I do not want to put it down, even though I know I have more constructive things to be doing. The detailed , high resolution of the game is very captivating, even better when you put your game in High Resolution Mode by pressing L1, L2, L3, square, circle at the same time before the Sony Entertainment Studio appears on screen (cheat for High Definition Mode). I'll admit I had to go online to find a walkthrough for the game, there were 3-4 levels I could not figure out. http://guides.ign.com/guides/8​11719/page_3.html . I might add for those that are wanting to purchase this game, it has some Nude Female(Breast Only) images in the game, not for young viewers/players. But, for the most part, it's mostly Gore and Violence. Oh, well, I can go on and on about this game review but the best thing for you to do is to GET THE GAME, you will not be disappointed, that is, if you are into intense gaming and KICK ASS Action.
I paid $10.50 + $2.99 S&H for this game, WELL WORTH THE COST.
I usually do not pay that much for old PS2 games, but I'm glad I took a chance on this one. Oh yeah, it says to add why I decided to buy the game. I first bid on it at a low price of 3-4 bucks, but soon noticed that I was constantly getting out bid by quit a margin, so I soon realized after loosing 4-5 auctions that the game must be pretty good, because there were people bidding high that knew more about the game than I did, cause I knew nothing about it, I ran upon the game title in a eBay search on action games for PS2. I am glad I ran upon this one. To be truthful about it, the art work on the game caught my eye at first, just looked like a cool game to play, but soon realized after I started playing it it was way more than cool, it was AWESOME, VERY AWESOME.
GOD OF WAR II ( The End Begins :) . I know this may be weird to say, but I got so involved in this game, I downloaded a Kratos(God of War)High Res. image I got off the net for my wallpaper, very nice one too, I might add.
OK, now this is it, rambled on enough, Go Buy The Game, NOW...
Playing the game on a 46" LCD 1080 Progressive Scan HD Widescreen,Very Intense

This review is brought to you via Gnade Games: http://gnadegames.blogspot.com

God of War 2 is a superb adventure and probably one of the last great titles for PS2. For me, the appeal of God of War has always been the story and puzzles and I would say that both are superior in this sequel.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Pros: Combat is relatively unchanged from the first title, but the puzzles and locales are all the more fantastic. The new pegasus flying sequences are very good. Boss fights return and are as spectacular as ever.
Cons: I still think Combat is somewhat of a button masher...context stuff is great, but I found myself wanting to get to the next boss, puzzle, or story sequence over mowing down my 1,000th generic spartan looking soldier.

Graphics: 10/10
Pros: An exceptional looking Playstation Game. The different locales are amazing and seeing a graphical depiction and interpretation of mythical locales is a real treat.
Cons: It is a PS2 game and switching back from next gen makes you really notice a difference in quality.

Music/Sound: 10/10
Pros: Catchy theme, dramatic music and score, excellent weapon effects, perfect voice acting (and a lot of it at that) makes the audio of this game shine.
Cons: The blood curdling screams of the creatures you slay may haunt you at night.

Lasting Appeal: 9/10
Pros: The lengthy and intriguing quest will keep you playing till the resolution of the story. Multiple difficulties and bonuses to unlock.
Cons: For me, the lasting appeal of a story driven game is tough...once it's over there's no real need to play it again. However, it does deliver on an excellent story and adventure and that's what it is supposed to do. There's not that over and over again need to play, but it certainly delivers on an excellent adventure.

Average: 96.25%
Tilt: -0.25%

Just a slight detraction to make it an even 96% since it's not quite a 97% since it lacks some appeal during combat and replayability. This is a great game though and if you have a PS2, you absolutely have to play the game. Check out the last great adventure on PS2.

Verdict: 96%