Great, but not superb
Who ever said that looks aren't everything never saw this, son. The in-game graphics can be CGM's for any other ps2 game; there that good.
The sound and presentation are the game's high notes. The music is right, the in-game sounds never come up short, and the voice acting is the best in any game. The story is actually pretty interesting; Kratos, a spardin warrior is given from the greek gods a task to kill the god of war. Not to give anything away, he does have a personal vendetta with the god of war. Even with that, I never once felt sorry for Kratos. And honestly, I think he deserved worse than ashey skin.
With the gameplay, if you're really into ol' school beat 'em up's, you'd be heaven here. The button timing attacks are a nice touch, and there a load of action in the game. But by today's standrads, I really hate doing the same combo over and over again. Most of the magic sucks, and the diffrent move aren't even all that noticable. And I'm not fond of playing a mini game where the main character gets laid. I rather have my own piece of ass, good lord! Also, the game ends way too soon; about 5 hours on easy, 6 on normal.
In short, I can recommend God of War of you just want to play a game that has a top notch presentation. Just don't expect to play it again when you're done, good lord!