One of the best action games ever if you can forgive the "extreme Greek mythology."

User Rating: 8.5 | God of War (Greatest Hits) PS2
By Foehammer111 | Review Date:
I first played God of War when it launched last year. Despite it getting glowing reviews, I honestly didn’t like it. Mostly because I felt like it abandoned traditional Greek Mythology in favor of a more “Extreme Billy bad-a$$” theme. Now, almost a year after I first played it, I decided to give it another shot. And I discovered that once I got used to the non-traditional mythology theme, I found that there’s actually a lot to like.

The story centers on Kratos, a Greek warrior that was betrayed by the Gods of Olympus into doing some evil deeds. He then embarks on a journey of revenge, with plenty of twists along the way. Kratos makes for a great anti-hero, and you actually get attached to him.

GAMEPLAY
Again, I don’t care for the theme much, but there’s a lot to like about God of War if you can get past that. The combat is slick, but can get a little “button smash” happy and some of the moves require odd timing to pull off. The controls basically let you pull off your own custom combos, and the normal difficulty provides just the right blend of challenge without walking all over you.

GRAPHICS
In a word: stunning. This game alone proves the PS2 still has some tricks up its sleeve in the graphics department. Great character designs, but if blood or nudity offends you, don’t play this game. There are some graphical hiccups, bland background textures, and bad character animations, but overall it’s very well done. There’re some great visual moments early in the game showing you how impressive Ares (aka the God of War) really is.

SOUND
The sound track is good, and has some nice booming beats, but it’s not the most original soundtrack I’ve heard. The sound effects are very well done, though and add a lot of emersion to the game. Not the best voice acting, but its well done enough that it doesn’t get annoying.

VALUE
There’s a lot of hidden stuff to find and unlock, but the adventure isn’t too long. It will probably take most people 12-15 hours to beat; which is fairly standard for the genre. Perhaps the best thing about God of War is how much it pushes the edge. There’s buckets of blood and nudity, but it’s done is such a way that fits with the theme. It’s almost like you’re watching an action movie it flows so seamlessly. The only feature I found really lacking was some kind of co-op mode. A game like God of War screams for it.

Overall, God of War is a great action game in every sense of the phrase. Some elements of the “Greek Mythology” turned me off at first, but if you take it in stride you’ll find that behind the over-the-top story there’s plenty to like. God of War will likely be marked as a game that changed the industry. Sure, it could have been done a little better, but then again, even the best games could be better.

Other Helpful Reviews for God of War (Greatest Hits)

Load Comments (0)