God of War

God Of War is one of those games that has always rubbed me the wrong way. It does a fair amount of things right, but then it does a few things wrong, and those few things end up reducing the overall package's quality. It's also one of those games that felt like it was rushed right out of the door to make a deadline. That, or as an experiment to see if gamers like it so that in sequels, they know what to focus on.

Kratos is on a quest to defeat Ares, the God Of War, in hopes of redeeming himself after slaughtering his wife and kid. Basically what happened is that Kratos got his ass kicked in a war, but with his remaining strength, he prayed to Ares for some extra strength, and afterwards, he starts kicking ass. From there on, he ends up killing for the sake of killing. Then he kills the wrong people, and he wishes to no longer be Ares's minion. That pisses him off as he tries to destroy Greece, so Kratos and the rest of the gods want revenge. The idea is pretty...

God Of War is often lauded because... well, it exists. That's how I'm seeing it, anyway. Most people will tell you “holy shit it's so refined, brutal and epic”, and all I have to say is that the only thing that's even remotely epic in this game is the soundtrack. Other than that, this is nothing more than a basic hack and slash. Now, in my Dante's Inferno review, I've given some praise to God Of War, but looking back, I think I overestimated it, because playing it nowadays gives me a bad taste in my mouth. Why did everyone like it so much? It's competent, for sure, and it has some pretty high production values for a PS2 game, but what's competence without the fun?

The story is that Kratos is under the control of the gods because he sold his soul to Ares for enough strength to kill a giant group of barbarians during some war. Unfortunately, his thirst for blood hasn't been quenched, so he heads off to a village and kills everyone, including his wife and kid. He renounces...

THE GOOD:
+ Brilliant tale of Greek Mythology
+ Stunningly brutal battles
+ Mini-games in battles
+ Loads of awesomely divine weapons
+ Detailed story
+ Challenging Puzzles and mazes throughout
+ Use magic and might to defeat enemies
+ Amazing cut-scenes throughout story

THE BAD:
- Can become frustratingly difficult at times
- Not much variety of location- majority of game is spent in Pandora's Temple

SUMMARY:
The first thing that drew me to this game was that it was based around Greek Mythology and the tale of the Gods of Olympus. To my excitement, it stays true and accurate to the legends of ancient Greece, but adds it's own little spins. It tells the tale of a mortal attempting to kill a God. The story really engrosses you into Kratos' mindset and really empathises you with him. Involving many of the famous beasts and legends from tales, like Gorgons, harpies, Cyclopses...

THE GOOD:

Great story, well-thought

Very good graphics

Challenging challenges

Great gameplay, some strategy involved

THE BAD:

After a while, it gets boring

SUMMARY:
What a great game!

First of all I'll start with the story. The story is well-thought and is one of the main factors that kept me that interested in it. While you progress throughout the game you will get cutscenes about Kratos' past (the main character). I'll give the story 5/5

The graphics in this game are great, just great. It really makes you feel like you're in the game. Although in some cutscenes which involve war, it is just a picture, not moving at all, with LOTS of blood pouring out of a non-moving soldier. The blood looks unrealistic and how much blood pours out is exaggerated in the cutscenes. I thought it would have been better if it was at least animated. Not all cutscenes are like...

THE GOOD:
Great gameplay, Awesome Storyline, Character design and creation top of the line, Great landscape.

THE BAD:
Free roam wasn't available, Invisible walls.

SUMMARY:
In God of War you take control of Kratos, a Spartan General, and pawn of the God of War - Ares. As Kratos fights a large Barbarian horde the tides turn and Kratos' army is overwhelmed. The Barbarians are ruthless and slay all, when Kratos' life seemed to be at an end at the hands of the Barbarian King he takes a vow to serve Ares. Ares accepts this and kills the Barbarians and saves Kratos' life and honor. Along with a victorious battle Kratos recieves the Blades of Chaos, from Ares, two chained blades burned into his forearms. You now must do what none other has done, you must slay a God. Ares is the enemy, and so is all who stand in your way. Kratos kicks ass across Athens, saving Athena's glorious city and then into the Desert of...

THE GOOD:
Teh ruthlesness to it is unexpected and the gameplay although simple, is fun and stays fresh.

THE BAD:
The lack of bosses(only 3!?) and the lack of weapons(you get 2 and the other one doesnt get new moves you level it up, that sucks)plus its short.

SUMMARY:
The game of which got oh so much hype, 2nd best overall game of the year, 10's in magazines, hell gamespot gave it a 9.6 which is umbelieveable seeing as they are so tight assed.

Anyways this game is about Kratos, now Kratos is no ordinary guy, he was trained by the gods so he can take a beating. Kratos has two chained swords that are preety much melted on his arms for life. Now I wont say what he wants revenge on the god of war Aeris with but god damnit he aint letting Zeus himse;f get in the way of his vengece! This guy is mean, really mean like the "*bleep* YOU!" kind of attitude. The guy is jsut plain mad at the everything,...

THE GOOD:
+ Excellent orchestral score.

+ Decent graphics and high production value.

+ Flashy combat moves.

THE BAD:
- Shallow and derivative gameplay.

- Annoying enemies that constantly regenerate.

- Boring level design.

- Overly-complicated control scheme.

- Short.

SUMMARY:
With great hype comes great responsibility to fulfill expectations. Now, I have been let down by hype before (Halo). I was willing to give this game a chance since it's been acclaimed by so much of the gaming press. Unfortunately, God of War has more hype than tricks up its sleeve, leaving an unimpressive, short, frustrating, and sometimes downright boring pile of poor game design wrapped in a pretty package.

Furthering the decay of inventive and original game design, God of War attempts to mask the fact that it occasionally blatantly steals conventions from...

THE GOOD:
The combo system is wonderful, the attacks are strewn together flawlessly for endless enjoyment. The mini games are very satisfying every time you pull one off. There is no better sensation than watching Kratos rip someone in half with his bare hands, or even ripping a Gorgons head off. The graphics are great, even for a PS2 game.

THE BAD:
The camera can get annoying at times, the difficulty might be too much for some gamers, especially on God Mode (comparable to Legendary on Halo 2). The game is also very short, on my first play through I beat it in 8 hours.

SUMMARY:
This game is insanely satisfying as you play as Kratos. The combos are sure not to disappoint, which every gamer will have fun with. The game does show a few scenes of nudity, but nothing below the waist, some of it is more to be artistic. If you're into games like Devil May Cry in which this game is easily comparable to, you will have...

THE GOOD:
Lots of blood and some swearing.
Great exploring bits.
Graphics rock.

THE BAD:
Not very long (finished it in 7 days, thank God of Time I rented it).
Camera issues, major camera issues.

SUMMARY:
Difficulty: Semi-Easy.

In a time of power the god of war Ares has possessed an ex-Spartan soldier named Kratos. As Kratos you were once the most vicious warrior in all of Greece. Now you must go on your last quest and slay Ares by finding the mysterious Pandora's Box. Battle evil monsters with your double swords, deadly flails or magic attacks. Explore a unique and diverse environments ranging from mountain tops to sacred temples.

Now, when you explore, you go fairly slow, but I don't care. While exploring, you might find lots of treasure, or some monsters, in which case, you go and slash their ass off (not literally, of course). It's good because blood comes out of them. I also like the...

THE GOOD:
long story line, and very hard to complete on harder modes, many diffrent abilities, and attacks to choose from to defeat your enemies and an overall great RPG, the sound tracks made the games fighting scenes evanm more incrdibly great than it already was, awsome graghics for an awsome game

THE BAD:
somethings were almost to the impossible to see and no where your going, they didn't really show you the way, and not the greatest way to build a complicated environment, it should be filled with something thats in plain view but hard to figure out like some of the game had, but some parts had cracked walls that you could only see if you actually could change the camera angle to the way you wanted, which you could not

SUMMARY:
i would like the company to make more games like god of war, so gamers like myself will never get bored with easy games like prince of persia, or kingdom hearts