Everytime Someone Compares GoW to Devil May Cry, God Kills A Kitten.
Story:
The storyline begins an unknown amount of time after the end of God of War. This may come as a shock to some, but Kratos is now the God of War. If you didn't play the first one, then tough, the ending is ruined. Athena, Goddess of Knowledge had been his taskmaster for years and rewarded Kratos by giving him Ares's position on Olympus. However, it turns out this wasn't such a good idea: Kratos never wanted to replace Ares; he wanted to kill him and be rid of his memories. Therefore, he saw his divination as nothing more than an insult, and became far more brutal and power-hungry than Ares ever was. Kratos allowed the Spartan army to march across Greece, conquering more and more as they went, until the eve of the battle at Rhodes, where he would deliver the final blow himself.
All didn't go as planned though, and Kratos was drained of his power by Zeus himself. Zeus gives no reasons for his betrayal outside of a cryptic warning that Kratos will never rule Olympus and attempts to slay him. Kratos, however, survives with a little help from a mysterious benefactor, and heads out to find the only beings that can help change his fate and let him go back to when Zeus betrayed him: The Sisters of Fate.
The story rules, there's no denying it. SCEA has had to take a few liberties with Greek mythology and the way certain events happened, but for the most part they aren't mucking it up to much. Kratos is still an angry killing machine, and now his target is the mother of 'em all: Zeus. It's epic, it's moving, and you feel like a total beast ripping a swath across the game in search of the Sisters. If there's any problem with this story, it's that Kratos is painted in a far less sympathetic light than he was in the first one, as even though he's out for revenge, he's kind of unjustified this time around... it was his own actions that led him to getting dumped on in the first place. But then again, who cares if it's his fault?
Gameplay:
The gameplay is seriously what GoW is all about, and I must say that it hasn't missed a beat since the last game. To simplify things, I'm going to break it up into the three most important parts: the way Kratos plays, the way the game plays out, and the way the game looks.
First, anyone who played the first GoW would agree that Kratos is a blast to play as. Sure, he doesn't run up walls like that sissy demonslayer Dante, but one thing that sets Kratos apart from every other main character pretty much ever: the Chained Blades. Kratos sports a new pair in this game, but that doesn't mean they're any less awesome. Though at first glance it becomes obvious he's dropped a few moves from his library, Kratos is still an engine of destruction. In fact, I actually found myself thinking that dropping maneuvers was a good idea, as most of them were throwaways anyway. This new, more compact movelist is packed full of wonderful utility moves, defensive moves, counters, and combo-builders. Truly, Kratos handles like a dream and is animated well, right down to tiny foot movements he makes during certain moves. It's a nice touch, and he is an absolute BLAST to play as. All the magic spells are intact, Kratos uses his chains for more than just attacking now (Thank God) and he's even added a new gliding function to his arsenal (though you won't have it for awhile). Kratos's new Rage power is even cooler than it was before, as the meter is MUCH easier to fill this time around. He looks and acts cooler while transformed, and since the meter fills much quicker, you'll be using it quite a bit more than in the last game. Pretty much everything you about you is upgradeable too, so there's a bit of an RPG flavor to the game. Still, God of War is about ripping everything you see into tiny bloody pieces, and business is good.
The world of GoW is sort-of like the ancient world would be like, but on crack: demons, mystical creatures, Gods and wars are pretty much a constant part of everyday life, and apparently the Greeks were really big on platforming and puzzle solving. I'm actually okay with this, because I love the puzzles in the GoW series almost more than I love the combat. Though not quite as elaborate as some of the puzzles from the first, the mindbogglers of this game are still fun and well-though-out. Heck, there's even a large boss battle which is essentially nothing more than a big puzzle to solve. The combat rocks too, as I pointed out above. There's really not a whole lot to harp on in the gameplay.
The graphics are fantastic... I really can't recall a better looking PS2 game off the top of my head. Blood, sparks, water and all sorts of other special effects look great, and the environments are huge and amazingly detailed. One particular scene has Kratos battle his way on, then down into a temple, through the temple, underneath said temple, climb up and back onto the temple on the other side, then make his way down the cliffs while a gigantic horse statue is visible out in the ocean; shortly thereafter, Kratos reaches a gate which connects to the statue by a chain and makes his way down to the horses. While on your way there, you realize all the areas you just visited are visible and aren't merely "levels" like in some other game... you truly made your way through the island, which really makes you feel immersed in the game. It also doesn't hurt that this sequence feels incredible to complete.
Sound:
I can only say two things about the sound in this game: the voice acting is okay but not great, and the music may very well be the best I've ever heard. The soundtrack is literally a must buy, even if you aren't into classical music because it is extremely powerful. There's no way to describe it; you simply have to hear it to believe it.
Control:
What would awesome combat mean if the control sucked? That's a good point, and luckily it isn't the case because each button of the controller is linked to a specific command. Kratos's fighting style is well-thought out and convenient, and due to the simple controls it's easy to perform combos in the 50-60 hit range without so much as a thought. Certain buttons, such as the L! (or block) button modify your attacks to, unleashing new ones. There are tons of different options and they're all easy to perform. Kratos also controls like a dream on screen, so you never have to worry about cheap deaths because the controls (especially the jump) are sticky. In fact, I have only a single complaint: once you obtain the glide function, it seems to trigger practically every time you jump... this quickly got on my nerves. Still, I can forgive that.
Replay:
Oh good God are you kidding me? There's TONS to do in GoW 2, and you'll probably be busy with it for awhile. First off, completing the game nets you a host of goodies on pretty much any difficulty: you unlock costumes, bonus play (which is a New Game+), Titan Mode and the Challenge of the Fates, which is sort-of like the Challenge of the Gods from the first game, but less annoying to complete. Completing Challenge of the Fates nets you new costumes and goodies to play with, along with an Arena mode, where you can setup fights however you want.
The costumes also change gameplay quite a bit. Getting them all is a bit of a mini-game in and of itself, because completing one little task doesn't unlock them all for you. Some require collecting items, some require beating a certain difficulty, and some require other prerequisites. There are also Urns you can collect during gameplay which give you all sorts of awesome, totally unfair abilities in Bonus Play, such as a never ending Rage meter. The only downside: you can't use them 'till you beat the game.
Meanwhile, the new difficulty Titan will have you crying. Titan mode is EXCEEDINGLY difficult, even by the standards of the original game. Though some have pointed out that it's somewhat poorly designed in how the game was made more difficult, the point is that it's a heavy challenge to complete and is therefore extremely rewarding.
So yea, there's lots of replay.
Summary:
Buy this game. If you don't, Kratos will kill you. I mean it.