February 18th, 2007 by Spoondan
Going out with a...
There are two ways that a console can end its life cycle, with a bang, or with a fizzle. Sony and its Santa Monica Studios are hoping that God of War II will end PS2's life with not just a bang, but a bloody bang. For those of you that missed 2005, the original God of War was arguably the best game of that year and perhaps one of the best action games to come out in a decade. With its gritty and gory adventure set in a Greek Mythology storyline, the game delivered just about everything that makes people love video games. God of War II seems to not only be following in the original's footsteps nicely, but even adding a step or two of its own.
An Angry man
The game begins with everyone's favorite angry man Kratos, now the new God of War, watching from his throne the destruction his troops are doing to the ancient Greek city of Rhodes. From what has been seen so far, Kratos feels that his troops are not doing enough and comes down from his throne to take part in its destruction. For one reason or another, the other Gods are upset with Kratos and thus, while he is in the city doing his dirty work, he is instantly striped of his godly powers and returned to a mortal human. To make matters worse the colossus statue or Rhodes (one of the ancient wonders of the world for history buffs), comes to life and begins to attack our anti hero and thus, the adventure begins. This fight with the statue is nothing short of epic as it takes place throughout the entire first level, similar in effect to the Hydra battles from the first game, but by far more spectacular in its execution.
The story of the first God of War game was one that was a welcome burst of originality in a genre that usually tailors to the 'save the world/village/princess' storyline. In God of War, it was not a matter of saving anyone but Kratos from his own nightmares. What I loved about the first game was that Kratos was so very VERY angry. When you were fighting your opponents you could almost feel that Kratos was not only killing them, but killing them as painfully as he could. This anger that Kratos portrayed in the game actually made him seem like a more lifelike and personal character and every indication seems to point to Kratos being just as angry this time around.
Weapons & Combo's
Kratos is once again armed with his Blades of Athena, which will create the wonderfully smooth and satisfying combos that were found in the first God of War. Also similar to the first game, his arsenal will grow as you progress. Three additional weapons, each with their own combo attacks as well as several new magic powers are introduced in the game which will surely be devastating as they obliterate your opponents. One interesting new aspect is the ability Kratos will have of swaping his weapons in the middle of his combo attacks. This will allow the player to deal extra damage with the simple tap of a button.
Another aspect that made the first God of War so great was the amount of great unlockable content. Fans of the original will be pleased to know that extra content returns in spades for the second installment of this series. First off, the Challenge of the Gods returns but is tweaked in such a way that it provides very nice benefits for your progression through the main storyline. For example, you can save your characters skills and upgrades that you receive in the Challenge of the Gods mode and then when you return to your current position in the main game, your will be stronger and more powerful. This upgrade system will help players get around particularly difficult sections of the game. We are told that other unlockable content includes new outfits that Kratos can wear which is another addition that returns from the first game. God of War II will also ship with a bonus disk feature; there is no special/limited/gold edition, when you buy God of War II, you get the full package complete with the bonus material. It seems that the bonus DVD will include a 'making of' movie, developer interviews and tons of other content.
Lining up!
One thing to keep in mind about this game is that it will be for a mature crowd. It must be warned that the first game contained gruesome acts of violence to both living and undead creatures from Greek Mythology, as well as full frontal female nudity (in the North American versions). This is an important point if you are thinking of buying this game for your young son or daughter. Never-the-less, with the idea of a new God of War game improving on the first (a feat in itself), as well as the addition of neat and fun additional content, God of War II seems to be worth every penny when it is released on March 13th. If you are mature enough to handle it, I'll see you in line ups this March.
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