With games this good, who cares if its last gen?
God of War 2 picks up shortly sometime after the end of the first game. Kratos is the new God of War after defeating Aries, but his time as a god doesn't last very long. He soon finds himself betrayed by Zeus and made mortal once again. From that point on, the story takes on an adventure fueled by vengeance, and full of twists turns. The story itself is rather good, and definitely adds greatly to the experience. It should be noted that although you don't need to play the first game in order to enjoy this one, it is recomended that you do in order get the total experience out of the storyline. Also, God of War was just a great game on its own.
Gameplay-wise, there isn't a whole lot different here from the the first game. You still do some of the same moves and a lot of the magic is similar as well. However, this isn't a bad thing. All this means is that those that were familiar with the first game will have an easy time picking up this one and hacking away. The enjoyment is still there, with a few new animations and a couple of flying modes that are a nice addition. Thankfully, there are more boss fights this time around as well, and they are all great.
The graphics look good for a PS2 game. The artistic style is top notch and the environments look vibrant. The sound in the game is also just as good, with some nice, epic music and an excellent voice cast. As with any action game that is considered great, you tend to look at the lenght of your play time and really want more by the time you finish it. I finished this game in just over 13 hours, and I felt like I was just getting started. To make matters worse, the ending can almost be placed right up there with the ending to Halo 2 as far clifhangers are concerned. But, the good thing is that this shows signs of a God of War 3 in the making, and so I look at the ending as a blessing more so than a curse. All in all, God of War 2 is a great game, and anyone with a PS2 should find a way to play it. Also, If you have a PS3 like I do, then this last gen game is worth more money and play time than any other current PS3 game currently on the market. Buy it if: You loved God of War 1 and action games in general.
Rent it if: You just don't have the money to buy it right now or don't usually play games again after you finish it.