Well, this is one of the greatest console games I have ever played.
User Rating: 9.4 | God of War (Greatest Hits) PS2
God Ω War Graphics: The PS2 has come a long way; at the end of the road is God of War. First of all, there is no doubt that this is the best looking action-Adventure game on the PS2, and one of the best looking games in general on all the consoles. I have to start off with that water, well, I haven’t seen anything this good yet on a console before...It’s just mind-blowing, and it’s not just a texture like let's say in halo 2. The water moves and gets all deformed when you walk in it; I had no idea the PS2 was this powerful. The reflections on the environments in the Temple of Pandora’s Box are just spectacular. The number of polygons is just pushing the PS2 to its limits. The environments blew my away, the textures are all great, the statues are a beautiful, and the art in it is as good if not better than Prince of Persia. The animation is just superb, you get into these extremely cool looking animations when you’re doing these context sensitive actions. The character models could be a bit better (except some of the enemies, especially the Cyclops, they are some cool butt naked creatures! My favorite creatures!), but the camera never zooms in enough though for you to be worried about anything. Which brings me to a problem, I wish the camera was a little closer to Kratos, but it’s not that big of a complaint. Now there is lot's of blood in this game, but there is also nudity, which most of the time is unnecessary. But I do love the lighting; it doesn’t get any better on the PS2 for its genre. Another thing I like though, is that just like Jak 3(and even 2), it has no loading times, everyplace is connected to each other and there maybe loading a few times, but its only for like a second or two. Finally the cinematic’s, well the real time ones...are probably just average, but the pre-rendered movies are phenomenal! The animation is motion captured, and very well done. The fire effects are great, all the effects are great! The character designs are good for the most part, but the "God of War" Ares’, I mean he just looks a ***, its awful. But overall, the graphics are just SUPERB! Audio: Well, this is the best audio in any game in my opinion. It is very epic, just fitting for the time period. Once you start, you will be blown away with amazing orchestral scores, it’s just excellent! The music I think is interactive, so when you’re fighting enemies it start's to get more intense. It just adds so much to the gameplay, this game wouldn’t be the same without the great music. It’s just so dramatic, and Again, just phenomenal. The voice acting is great as well, although Kratos and sometimes, other lesser known characters get a bit cheesy. I love the narrator in this game, she's an old hag, but she knows how to get the job done. The sound effects are also great, all his weapons sound really tough, and you get the sense of crippling your enemies. So overall, the music is just like the graphics, a perfect 10! BTW, did I mention you can download the full God of War soundtrack? Yeah, it just doesn't stop! Gameplay: Let's get straight to it! Well, this game first of all, is basically Prince of Persia, and Devil may cry combined. It takes the great puzzle elements from Price of Persia and combines it with the fast action of Devil may cry. First let me say that this game is just so epic, almost every part of this game is memorable! So, first I would like to get to the main character named "Kratos." Well to start off, this guys a big bad ass! He just does what he wants, his so cool! So anyway, in the beginning of the game, you find Kratos trying to commit suicide, but right before he completely falls it just cuts off and you start the game on a ship. I would tell you more about the story but sense the story progresses very slow; it will basically spoil the game. But I can say this, you are really pissed at the God of War Ares, you want to murder that son of a *****! Secondly I want to talk about the puzzles. The puzzles in this game defiantly aren't impossible, but they are challenging, and you will need al the help you can get. The action though, which is the most fun, and satisfying part of the game, is done extremely well! It's incredibly fun, and never gets repetitive. The combo's you pull off are amazing, from 10 hits to 200, everything is just good old fun! The boss battles, even though there are 3, are great, but I felt a little disappointed at the end, when you obviously have to fight Ares. But that can be forgiven, because some of the regular enemies are basically small little boss fights, it's so amazing! The Cyclops in particular, is very fun to fight, and you can’t just block his moves, you have to "evade" them using the right analog stick. Another great thing about the action is that it is just so fluid, and looks totally bad ass. Ability is Magic powers and rage of the gods. The magic power's you get from the gods like Zeus's fury, or Poseidon’s rage are first of all, easy to pull off and really handy. I also love that the controls are very responsive, and you can block instantly after finishing off some bad ass combo, well MOST of the time anyway. So, most of the game, or a little more than half or so takes place in Pandora's temple, which has a great , mix of action, adventure, and puzzles. I also love that in this game you almost never have to really back track, which I know lots of people really hate. But I also love how this game is just not a hack and slash, usually with the combat; there are strategy and puzzle elements involved. The overall gameplay really is just epic, one moment your fighting a 70ft Hydra, one moment your taking down a Cyclops, one moment your fighting dead legionaries on cliffs and ropes, one moment your racing against time and solving some really hard puzzles also need to mention the context-sensitive button actions you will do throughout the game, it's very similar to RE4. The variety in how they set up this game for what it is just phenomenal. Its awesome how everything is set up and how the story is being told slowly as you progress into the game. The overall game though is only 10-15hrs on normal mode, but just that 10, 12 hrs is so fun, you will want to keep playing forever. After you beat single-player mode, you unlock a bunch of goodies, including GOD mode which is incredibly hard. There is also the "challenge of the gods" which is also hard, and will unlock goodies as well. So overall the gameplay is just simple, but yet so fun, and satisfying. This is just a remarkably fun game, and that's why we play games for. Value: Well, the length of the main quest in the game is a little disappointing, but the first time through is just so awesome, and fun that you can forgive it. The number of things you can unlock will keep you busy, and GOD mode and the challenge of the god can add 30 hours more to your enjoyment. You can also download the God of War soundtrack, so that's also cool. So overall, it's not the longest game ever, but it's a classic you will play over and over again. So go pick it up now, if you haven't already. Overall: Well, this is one of the greatest console games I have ever played, and the first time through is just a mind-blowing experience. If your not me, this game still will probably be one of your favorite games of all time. It's just a superb game, thank you David Jaffe! Thank you! 
