God of War II



Game Info

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America               

Developer: SCE Santa Monica               
Genre(s): Third-Person Action, Adventure
Platform:  PS2               
Players: 1               
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)               
Release Date: March 13, 2007

Intro:  
The intro is very brief, telling the backstory of Kratos, whose bitterness towards the gods of Olympus has grown.  Kratos, is himself, a god now and the Spartans fight for him.  But, Athena begs him to stop his wars on Earth, for he is angering the gods of Olympus, as well.  When he turns a deaf ear to her, Kratos is attacked and shrunk to human size.  He must now fight his way through human soldiers and battle against the Colossus that is attacking him and the city.

Getting Going:
Some of the controls have changed slightly since God of War, but the differences are not enough to cause difficulty.  Gates are now opened with the circle button instead of R2, for instance.  There appears to be less blood, but the blade graphics are infinitely more spectacular.  Athena’s Blades are already maxed out at Level 5 and Poseidon’s Rage, a lightning attack, is also maxed at Level 3.  Although the player has complete control of Kratos now, the entire first level is the tutorial phase of God of War II.  Pop-ups reminding players of how to perform certain moves and magic or what the orbs do can be turned off, but effectively teach the player to play while allowing them to play.

Fun:
SCE spent a lot more time on amazing graphics and mechanics and less time on purposely frustrating the player.  This is evident during play.  Since it is immediately noticeable and the game is so graphically amazing, it would be difficult not to be “wowed” by God of War II as you move through it.  The pacing is steady and action-packed.  There is a great balance of challenge and simple hordes.  God of War II immediately draws you in and makes you want to keep moving.

Visuals:
This is one of the places where God of War II really shines.  Athena’s Blades are glorious as they cut through the armies of enemies.  A shower of red orbs replaces the buckets of blood found in God of War and this is a little disappointing.  While games do attempt to appeal to a wider audience and game violence is always a concern, the amount of blood in God of War was actually part of the attraction for me.  The shower of red orbs was always present; it just seems to overtake the blood in this instance.  Also, the flaming arrows from the archers appear to be more like red lasers as they fly at Kratos, even appearing to be a laser as the archers aim.  This was an odd sight.  Overall, however, the graphics are absolutely stunning.  There are no odd asset placements to block Kratos’ passage.  Everything is well-themed, nicely lit, and wonderfully textured.  The fights are not limited to Earth and mortals, either.  The variety of enemies is wonderfully exciting, while animations are smooth and rewarding.

Sound:
God of War II has a lot of bass.  Like a heartbeat, the game draws you in and makes you a part of it. There were a few times when the gods were speaking to Kratos when I wished I had subtitles.  There is a lot of voice-acting here, but some, such as Zeus, are a little muffled.  The ambient sounds include the cries of humans in battle, grunts and catch-phrases, and battle sounds.  There wasn’t much in the way of movement sounds, however.  

Intelligence:
God of War II is rather linear even though, much of the time, this isn’t apparent.  Kratos often gets locked in rooms with enemies until they are gone.  Archers focus on Kratos with a vengeance and are extremely aware of his presence.  But, it seems as if Kratos is also able to get a jump on the archers, at times, without a single fired arrow.

Immersion:
God of War II is so well-paced that the game progresses without much notice.  There is a nice variety of action.  While trophies are present in the game, they pop up at appropriate times which keeps the player immersed in gameplay and rewards the player for a level well-fought.  Cinematics are brief and relevant to play.  

Rewards and Punishments:
Blue orbs fuel Kratos’ magic; green orbs fill his health and red orbs are the currency of God of War II, allowing Kratos to power up his weapons and magic.  Orbs can be obtained during battle  or by opening crates and breaking objects.  Special items, such as the Gorgon Eye, can be found in hidden crates in the environment.  The Gorgon Eye is a collectible that allows Kratos to gain more HP.  Some parts of gameplay will end up being both a reward and a punishment.  To gain an object that is a required part of gameplay, Kratos loses some stats, for instance.  Trophies (available in God of War Collection on PS3) are awarded at the end of a level, not in the midst of battle.  Death during gameplay finds Kratos back at his last checkpoint.  This is not overly punishing, since that checkpoint is usually the beginning of a battle or the most recent area Kratos was in rather than the last save point.

Cameras:
There is no map and no camera control.  This makes if very difficult to see hidden objects. The player must also pay careful attention to landmarks to find their way around since the inability to swing around and look can make it otherwise impossible to find your bearings.  Players must also be attentive to edges.  Sometimes the way is blocked by an invisible wall.  But, sometimes, Kratos simply plunges to his death.  

Controls:
The controls are similar to God of War, although there have been some changes.  Even so, the controls are relatively intuitive and easy to use.  They are also repeated often enough in play to provide some degree of muscle memory.  Most of the time, though,  it is easy to see where Kratos has to go and to get him there.  The physics are nearly perfect at every turn.

Ideas:
Although God of War II actually came in lower in ratings than God of War, it seems clear that SCE took what was great about the franchise and stepped it up a notch.  I played God of War II from the God of War Collection, on PS3.  The trophies were an addition and the graphics were improved in the PS3 version, but the core gameplay remained the same.  Core gameplay in PS2 games seemed to be more about challenging the player, whereas gameplay mechanics now focus more on decision-making and innovative physics.  God of War II makes great strides toward the more innovative physics and well-themed puzzles instead of challenging player skills.  This, of course, allows games to appeal to a wider audience.

Memory:
I always liked the look of the God of War franchise.  It’s a beat ‘em up with light puzzle-solving, a  great story and light decision-making.  God of War frustrated me to the point of quitting about half way through the game, however.  While I miss the buckets of blood in God of War II, it remains a game that will be added to my collection and played through because of the effort made in improving play mechanics over player challenge.