I have never played a game that so completely engrossed me. The best PS2 game of all time.
There is so much in this game that separates it from all the other platform/adventure games out there. I'll start with the story, which is not only great in and of itself, but is also brilliantly told. You start the game at the end of the story, but as the game progresses, the story begins to fill in. For the first few hours, you wonder why Kratos would want to murder Ares, but the farther you get, the more story you uncover and the more you understand his murderous plight. It's a fantastic story, but the way God of War draws you into the story is genius.
Along those same lines, you'll see some reviews that don't like the "hero" of the story, Kratos. To each his own, but I'm so glad Sony didn't pull any punches in developing the antihero. He is, for lack of a better term, completely bad-ass. Kratos has just one objective: to murder the God of War. Nothing else matters, and he will destroy anybody or anything that gets in his way. Whether it's rescuing a man, only to take his key and then kill him, or killing innocent bystanders to gain health, Kratos doesn't care. Imagine Jack Bauer without scruples and you have Kratos. Personally, I love it, and the way his character development is shown through the reverse story-telling just adds to Kratos' luster.
But hey, a story is only worth telling if there's some great action for you to play, and God of War over-delivers. The gameplay is just outstanding. The combos you can pull off with Kratos' Blades of Chaos are completely seamless and extremely inventive. So much of the attacking is context-sensitive; grabbing a soldier will allow you to sling him toward other enemies, while grabbing a harpy will let you snap its wings off. But it's the combos where the gameplay shines. You can link so many different attacks and come up with some wickedly devastating combos. My biggest combination attack was (true story) 217 hits! There are also some excellent finishing moves, which can give you extra health or magic.
Then of course there are the boss fights. These are simply epic. The immense satisfaction you will get out of beating the Hydra or the giant Minotaur is inexplainable. I remember the first time I beat the Hydra and actually taking in a huge breath afterwards. And each fight is unique, with special attacks that will take down each boss. The only problem with the boss fights is that there are only three, but those three are just extraordinary.
A key part of action/adventure games is the puzzle solving. God of War does a fine job with this. Whether it's navigating a maze or figuring out how to rescue the Oracle (and this took me much longer than it should have), all you puzzle lovers out there should be well placated.
All this, and I haven't even touched on the technical or artistic aspects of God of War. Let's start with graphics, which are far beyond any PS2 game I've seen. The GOW engine is fantastic, allowing for seamless movement and a stable framerate throughout. But at some point in the game, I know you're going to just stop and take it all in. It might be watching Ares destroy Athens, or it might be when you see Cronos with Pandora's Temple on his back. For me, I was just blown away by the Underworld. But at some point, you will be stunned by the unbelievable beauty that draws you in to Ancient Greece.
Such a gorgeous world deserves a similarly beautiful soundtrack, and God of War delivers yet again. The soundtrack could easily stand up to The Lord of the Rings, and the sound effects are true and precise. If you have surround sound, you're going to be blown away (and you'll probably jump a few times in some of the dungeon sequences). It's just an audio masterpiece.
Again, I was just completely bowled over by this game. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was because it's over way too soon. But four difficulty settings and about 15 hours of gameplay, I guarantee you won't get bored. God of War has achieved something that very few games ever have; seamless and addicting gameplay coupled with outstanding sound and graphics. God of War is easily the very best game out there for the PS2.