absolutly fonominal
The Bad: Still a bit of a button masher; cliffhanger ending; small graphical glitches are slightly noticeable
God of War was a groundbreaking game. Awesome combat, graphics, voice acting...God of War was the whole shebang. Now, God of War II is here, Kratos needs more blood on his hands...and you're going to help him.
Kratos, the new God of War, somewhat bored with his new life of luxury and power, has commanded his Spartan armies to, basically, destroy everything in their path. With city after city falling to the Spartan army, the gods are getting worried. Kratos immediately goes down to Earth to aid his army in the battle, however, he is soon betrayed by Athena, who shrinks him down to human size to protect the city from further destruction. Zeus then tricks Kratos to drain all of his godly powers into the Blade of Olympus (The same blade that ended the war between the titans and the gods), then banishes him to the deepest pits of hell once he is powerless. But Kratos isn't going down without a fight. Gaia, a titan, tells him about the Sisters of Fate. With them, he'll be able to turn back the clock, and go back to the time when Zeus betrayed him to exact his revenge. After escaping Hades grasp, Kratos begins his journey toward the Sisters of Fate with new allies: the titans. It's a great story, and it's refreshing that it doesn't focus completely on Kratos, but rather past events of Zeus and the war against the titans.
The gameplay system is almost exactly like the last one, with a few new moves and abilities mixed in. The button layout is the same: Triangle for strong but slow attack, Square for weak but fast attack, X for jump, and O for grabs. The left analog stick makes Kratos move, the right makes him dodge and the left trigger is your useful block. Of course, these attacks and grabs can be mixed for incredibly cool and unique combos. There are also moves attached to the block button so that you can immediately whip out an awesome combo when you see an opening. Special moves also return. You won't get Zeus' thunderbolts or Poseidon's Rage, (Well, you get that move at the very beginning, but you lose it along with your godly powers) but you do get some interesting new ones that really change some of the ways you play. Almost every ability and weapon you have is upgradeable. They can be powered up by collecting red orbs that are hidden in treasure chests and fallen enemies. Finishes are also here as well. If you weaken some of your enemies enough, Kratos can grab them for a cool finishing blow. The small enemies can be easily taken down, but when finishing off a bigger enemies, you'll have to press the corresponding button on the screen to make Kratos finish his enemy off. Fail to press a button or press the wrong one, and Kratos will be thrown off. It's still an amazing part of the game. Besides the fighting, there's also a good amount of puzzles and platforming sections. The puzzles aren't too tough, but not that easy either. You'll find yourself taking a break, wondering how to solve that brain teaser that seems so obvious when that light bulb over your head kicks. God of War II also has sections that demand a good amount of timing. You'll be frantically running and rolling to a gate you just opened just to squeeze under it before it closes.
Now to the graphics. The animations are smooth and clean with only a few frame rate dips that are hardly noticeable. What is a tad bit noticeable, is some of the tiny graphical glitches. They rarely pop up, and you'll only see them if you're looking for them. Otherwise, God of War II looks just as amazing as its predecessor. Awesome special effects, and cool looking environments really give this an edge over most PS2 action adventure games.
When it comes to the music, you'll hear most of what you heard in the past game. That's not to say that it's bad. It actually holds up very well. The epic, godly like orchestrated music really brings out the rage felt within Kratos. There is some new music in there, but it's not too noticeable.
The voice acting is terrific. Every line spoken is delivered with enthusiasm and spirit. The titans sound larger than life, and Kratos sounds like a ticked of guy who will totally annihilate anything within reach.
Coming in at almost twice the length of the last game, God of War II covers a lot of ground. It feels like a perfect sized game to be honest. You'll come in and go out with a bang, and even after you've beaten it once, there's a ton of extra costumes that offer new things such as upgraded health or magic, and you can start with all of your weapons and abilities once you begin another game on equal or lower difficulty.
All in all, God of War II is the sequel fans have been craving for. Delivering over the top special effects, a satisfying story, and combat that just never seems to lose its spark, God of War is an amazing, gory adventure that should not be missed.