God of War provides a very entertaining experience, both challenging, and visually stunning.
That said, the latter portions of the game provide more than enough challenge to sate even the most battle hardened of warriors. Although a lot of this is achieved with unfair combat disadvantages (being assaulted while trying to climb, or traverse a rope) these sections are more frustrating than a fair challenge. But some of the later enemies in the game provide enough of a fair combat challenge to make up for these unfair frustrating sections.
God of War’s story is not it’s high point, but then it isn’t trying to be either, the simple tale of a man betrayed by the gods so oft seen it might even be considered cliché. However, the simple story not only fits very well, but it provides a good enough background for the huge amounts of combat which take place in the game.
Visually, God of War is an absolute joy to behold. Coming from quite the graphical critic, this game is easily one of the best looking games ever to grace the playstation 2’s now humble hardware. The animations are superb, and given the huge number of animations within the game, they all fit together very well, and none of them seem out of place, and they very rarely glitch or cause problems. The stages themselves are very nicely detailed for a Ps2 game, again effects not too often seen on the Ps2, such as well done reflections, are seen throughout God of War.
The sound in God of War is very well done, with a fantastic musical score that always fit’s the epic theme and feel of the situation, combined with fantastic voice acting and sound effects give the game a good feel, and enhance the game a lot. The sound in God of War, especially the voice acting, remains constantly top notch all the way throughout. God of War’s main protaganist, the man betrayed by the gods, and on a mission of vengeance against the God of War, Ares, is a man named Kratos. Now, there is something to be said for Kratos, he is quite the warrior, strong willed and extremely capable in combat. Simply put, he is one of the ‘hardest’ characters to ever enter the video gaming world. An ancient Greek Duke Nukem if you will.
Featuring very tight responsive controls, the combat in God of War is, short of a better word, glorious. Enemies will swamp you occasionally, and sometimes you will encounter a new enemy, and die a few times trying to figure out the best way to defeat him, other times you will be faced with huge juggernauts either on their own, or in pairs, such as the cyclops, or the minotaurs. The bosses in God of War present a good deal of variety, and are also very creative and visually pleasing. Even if for the most part, the bosses are the easiest part of the game.
God of War provides a very entertaining experience, both challenging, and visually stunning, God of War will appeal to anyone who enjoys a lot of combat, and challenging gameplay. However, I urge people to play the game on the higher difficulty, because on the lower, the game is very easy.