# 23 God of War

Game Info

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America

Developer: SCE Studios Santa Monica

Platform:  PS2

Genre(s): Third-Person Action, Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: March 22, 2005

Intro:
The intro to God of War is brief and confusing.  That's actually a good thing.  I didn't know why Kratos was mad at the gods or why he felt his life was no longer worth living, but I figured the story would unfold.  This set up a major reason I play any game...for the story.

Getting Going:
The in-game tutorial is easily understood and pretty unmissable.  It's also mandatory, which might make more experienced gamers or those who've played the game already very annoyed.  It was fine with me, at first.  While I struggled with one of the tasks, the tutorial repeatedly popped up like an irritating reminder that my attempts were still unsuccessful.  grr!  That is something that perhaps needed a little more thought.  All-in-all, though, the gameplay is immediately fun and players are treated to the buckets of blood God of War fans are now accustomed to.  There is also early decision-making in the form of weapon power-ups.  While players only start with the chaos blades, the locked weapons indicate that you will get other weapons to power up.  Power up now or wait for other weapons? 

Fun:
It's violent.  It's fun, sometimes.  Sometimes, it's very annoying.  For instance, when you have the aforementioned pop-ups of the tutorial.  Also, the game is often challenging just to be challenging.  For instance, in several places, Kratos must cross narrow, wet boards which he repeatedly slips off of.  In some cases, this will cause immediate death.  Death isn't punished by having to repeat a scene, but it's a pain nonetheless.  The only reason he crosses these?  To get to the other side.  I was determined to beat it, so it did get me somewhat emotionally involved.  If that's the definition of fun, the game is fun.  But really, this time through, I enjoyed the experience and will go back into the game for more.

Visuals:
It gives you "weenies", things that attract your eyes and entice you to things further on.  The buckets of blood, swinging blades on chains and the CG's for boss deaths are amazing and a very nice reward for gameplay. There are so many surfaces with fantastic movement animations, such as climbing nets and rigging, that make the game fun to play. Some things, however, are very frustrating because of the visuals.  Walking on narrow planks is complicated by the view that you are actually several feet in the air or appear to remain on the board while, in fact, falling off. 

Sound:
The sound effects in God of War are immensely helpful for gameplay.  For instance, when you battle the hydras, the sounds the main one makes clue you in to the coming attack.  Listening to the conversations of those around you gives you a clue to the method of task completion.  Additionally, the growls and voice of Kratos are very satisfying.

Intelligence:
As you move through the game, entering a melee battle, the minions keep spawning for a time.  This is nice in that you aren't fighting them all at once and yet you don't know when the battle will truly end.  I wished that I could talk to the people I'd apparently saved because, instead of going about their lives, they remained cowering behind crates.  This seemed senseless.  Either they should have served a purpose or moved on.  Also, in the beginning, I found myself wondering if I was killing innocents along with the  bad.  The game didn't seem to track that, but this might have been a nice moral touch.

Immersion:
Immersion is always a tough subject for me; one which has been presented as a question on LinkedIn.  It will soon become an article.  In the meantime, it takes a lot for a game to make me feel immersed anymore.  I think it used to be easier; I had lower expectations.  I'm interested in the story that is unfolding and I'd like to play some more.  But I define immersion as a game that lets my real world fall away.  God of War uses the on-screen tutorial too much for that.  Gameplay isn't really intuitive, so I'm constantly having to think about how to perform a task.  And yet, it seems like in the boss battles, there is only one way to do it, so the thinking is about game controls and not about problem solution and inner dialogue.

Cameras:
Non-existent.  I kept hitting the right control to look around and ended up dodging all over the place.  Fortunately, this is a useful skill and Kratos is so good at it.  Dodging is very smooth.  But, there is no looking around in this game without turning the whole character.  The camera angles change as you walk around the game sort of guiding your path.

Controls:
The controls are easy enough unless you are fighting a boss or something, such as a minotaur, which needs to be killed a certain way.  Then, they are frustrating.  First, as I said, they're not really intuitive.  The X, which I'm so used to using for certain moves, causes Kratos to jump, which I'm not used to.  R2 to lift, but L2 to use magic...it keeps you thinking about what you're doing all the time.  Second, are the mini-game controls used in boss battles.  It's not too bad when you have to do the sort of Simon Says-type movements.  When you have to tap the circle rapidly, however, it seems like you can never tap fast enough.  It is only when you perform it correctly somehow, because I was never sure how one time was different than another, that you see the results of what you are trying to do.  Otherwise, you're not really sure of the purpose of the move.  You must perform the move correctly and there is no other way to beat some enemies than to perform that move correctly.  Otherwise, all of your battling was for nothing and they regain health while you fight them some more.

Ideas:
I like the power-up orbs.  It makes you look around for things to hit and makes you want to take on every enemy you see.  It's a nice reward.  I like that death is without punishment overall.  You only lose any progress you made from the spawn point on, unless you quit the game.  But, doesn't this make death unnecessary?  Perhaps we still need to work on finding better options in punishment.  In this game that becomes particularly meaningful because the intro CG shows Kratos leaping to his death, or so he hopes.  Why would he care if he died in battle or crossing a plank?

Memory:
This is the second time I'm playing God of War.  The first time, I wanted to frisbee it and stopped playing after the hydra battle.  I was unsure of what to do in the battle and had to continually try the mini-game to no avail.  It wasn't until I looked it up online that I knew what I was trying to accomplish.  This didn't make the mini-game easier.  I still couldn't seem to tap that circle fast enough.  I finally beat it, then kept falling off the ledge trying to catch the rope down.  Frustration for the sake of it...I'd had enough.  I learned in this go-around that playing it on the PS2 was easier.  Previously, I'd played on the PS3 because I figured it would be prettier and I could sit on the couch with the wireless controller.  I don't know why it's easier on the PS2, but the game ran smoother and I had far less trouble finding my way through the mazes and across the ropes.  In addition, the rumble controller is more fun in battle, which I already knew, but, it was fun to notice again.  I'll play God of War through, probably.  It's my plan right now.  Before, it was on my trade-in list.  From now on, I'll play PS2 games on the PS2...