One of the greatest games on the PS2!
You act out the part of Kratos, an unstoppable Spartan warrior plagued with terrible nightmares. In a desperate attempt to find peace, Kratos makes a deal with the Gods of Olympus. They make just one simple request. In exchange for peace, he must kill the God of War. As impossible as that sounds, if anyone in all of history is capable of such a task it's Kratos. Armed with the Blades of Chaos and an appalling disregard for life, Kratos sets out to kill a god.
As cliché as this story may sound at first, it is delivered in a truly epic style that will leave you begging for more. The writing is fantastic, and it pulls you along like a surging river of blood. It's easy to lose the story sometimes with all the other distractions this game provides, but it is easily as dramatic and engrossing as any movie. As the game progresses, the secrets of Kratos' past are slowly revealed and his descent into a heartless killing machine is laid bare for you to watch. There are parts of the story that I just couldn't resist telling everybody and their brother about. They were just that incredible.
The graphics are phenomenal as well. The backgrounds are done in huge panoramic style, and they are far from the standard static background. There is always something going on. At one point you come around a corner to see Ares off in the distance rampaging through Athens. It's the little touches like this that make this such an incredible game.
The cut scenes are done in a unique, flowing style. The camera moves through the swirling melee, a brief moment of individual combat is picked out detailing a graphic assault, and then the camera moves on to the next combat. These scenes look almost like bas reliefs, the combatants look like statues until they spring to life and battle, trying desperately to send their opponent screaming to Hades. It's graphic violence like you've never even imagined. Heads are smashed open and people are gutted, and these are just the cut scenes. I haven't even mentioned the in-game graphics.
The combat is a fluid and graceful dance, filled with remorseless brutality. The Blades of Chaos are a pair of thick cleaver-like swords attached to chains that are bonded to Kratos' flesh. He takes these weapons and becomes a maelstrom of destruction. And the way he does it is awe-inspiring. Bodies are catapulted into the air, caught, and thrown back to the earth, only to be caught and assaulted again as they bounce back up. Kratos can tear his enemies in half with his bare hands, pin them to the ground and gut them with his blades, or fling them across the battlefield into their comrades. And all of these attacks are for just one type of basic enemy.
The combat system is one of the most well constructed I have ever seen. The moves and combos are varied enough to keep things interesting, but simplistic enough that any and all moves can be broken out at a moments notice. Never once did I find myself thinking "Wow. That's a really cool move. It's too bad that it's too complicated for me to ever actually use in a combat situation." Every move was easy to use, and contributed regularly to the two fisted death that Kratos so callously doles out.
All of this amazing combat pales in comparison though, to God of War's greatest triumph. There have been many great accomplishments throughout the history of mankind. The wheel, sliced bread, cable television. They all pale in comparison to this one thing. Leonardo Da Vinci, in all his genius, could not come up with it. And that one great triumph is this: the circle button. I know everyone has used the circle button before, but never before has it opened the doors to such a torrent of visceral, anatomical devastation. Bodies are impaled, limbs dismembered, and spines are shattered. The minions of Ares bear the full fury of a man betrayed by a god. And it is awesome. Every time the circle button appeared above an enemies head I was filled with a sense of sadistic glee completely at odds with my normally kind-hearted personality. Every new type of enemy brought on an overwhelming sense of anticipation as I waited to see what new form of execution Kratos would concoct for his foes. I was never disappointed. Pressing the circle button unlocks a brief mini-game consisting of timed button presses. Make a mistake and your enemy will break free forcing you to start over, but complete the sequence and you are rewarded with the utter annihilation of your enemy.
God of War is filled with an astounding number of extras, enough to rival any high quality DVD. They're even set up in a similar fashion. The makers of the game provide a voiceover describing what is going on as they show you various deleted levels. They show early versions of Kratos and the multitude of enemies he faces. It also has the standard video game extras: new difficulty levels, some mini-games, and a few other nice extras. There is even a brief hint at what could be the beginning of God of War.
But like any masterpiece, God of War is not without its flaws. My main complaint is that it was just too short. It took only about 10 hours of gameplay to beat it the first time through. It could just be because I'm used to RPGs, but I could have happily gone for twice that long. Every moment was better than the last and I just didn't want it to end. My only other complaint was with the static camera. There were a few times where I really wanted to move the camera just a little bit to get a better view on a puzzle, and I was frustrated by my inability to get a better look. These camera problems were a rare occurrence though, and detracted very little from the overall experience. These few flaws only served to illustrate just how excellent the rest of the game was.
God of War is truly deserving of its M rating. Violence, the occasional topless woman, and a truly mature story line about murder, vengeance, and damnation all add up to an amazing story that can be appreciated by the mature gamer. I would highly recommend God of War to anyone with a desire for bloodthirsty adventure. Just don't ask to borrow mine. This masterpiece is staying in a frame over my mantle.