God of Gaming

Sometimes I want to give up on gaming, just throw in the towel. Sometimes I want to sell all my systems, and all my games, and pick up a hobby. Sometimes I just want to pick up a game and play. I don't want to level up, I don't want to follow a plot that's way too complex for a game, I don't care about cinematics...simply put, I just don't care. Sometimes I just have to bust some heads, so to speak. That's when a game like God of War comes in handy. While it does have a plot, and you can upgrade your weapons, and it does have some great cinematics, and a great plot to boot, all that's really just an excuse to maim, behead, impale, and rip from limb to limb. It's games like this that keep me playing.

In God of War, you play Kratos, a Spartan champion of the gods, and the ultimate anti hero. This guy is really mean. Take for example a point in the game where you leap into the belly of a Hydra to find a man who's just been swallowed. He's tell you he's so glad you came back for him, and then you inform him that you didn't come back for him, you steal the key from around his neck, then toss him back into the Hydra. This is definitely a guilty pleasure.

Anyway, Kratos has to the war god Ares, a pretty daunting task for a mere mortal. Luckily for Kratos, the other gods don't like Ares that much, and are willing to offer their help, and give you a sample of their powers, but of course it's a always a quid pro quo situation. You have to be tested. The tests usually consists of you killing a bunch of nasty monsters, and then getting your new power. Eventually you'll make your way to Ares, armed with the power of the gods, and...well, just play the game.

So the first thing I noticed about Kratos was that he didn't seem to be well armed. He's just got too short swords. But, those swords extend into long flaming whips which you can use to slice, dice, toss around, and basically abuse all sorts of mythological monsters. Minotaurs, Medusas, Hyrdas, you name it.

What keeps you coming back for more in this game is essentially the combat. All the new abilities and add ons you get really only serve one mean: to allow you a better way to kill your foes. The combos that you can rack up on just one enemy can get ridiculous, and soon you'll find yourself, like me, pounding enemies with twenty or more hits, laughing maniacally as you do so, then moving on to the next set. Of course, you can't always kill enemies with the moves at your disposal, that's why the developers put in what they call minigames. I call them contextual events. Basically, the bosses are just too big for you to finish off sometimes, and you'll be prompted to hit a button, or series of buttons, or a directional combination that gives you a sweet cinematic of Kratos doing all sorts of vile things to the villains that endanger Greece. These combos do serve a purpose, as the better your finishing move, the more orbs your prey give you, which allow you to buy more add ons quicker.

Another thing that thrilled me was that you fight everywhere. When scaling a wall, you'll be attacked. When you're making your way across a zipline, you'll be attacked. The game has given you moves for these situations, which consist of simply knocking the enemies off the rope, or whatever you're climbing, or grabbing them and slamming them against the wall you're scaling. It's great, because it means that the game almost never slows down.

Graphically, the game is great, as long as you remember that this is a PS2 game. It pushes the limits of the system in the first level, when you're jumping from ship to ship in the middle of a storm while being attacked by Hyrdas. Some of the backgrounds leave a bit to be desired, but others will thrill you, like when you're looking off a mountain at Ares and in his army in the distance. The environments are likewise great. I've never been to ancient Greece, as its time was a bit before mine, but I imagine playing through this game is the next best thing, from the great cities to the temples, to deserts, and so on and so forth, it all feels authentic.

The sound is a shining example of what good voice acting, and attention to the plot can do. The voices all seem like they're being played by real actors, and the sounds of monsters screeching, screaming, roaring, etc. are fantastic. The music is great too, adding even more adrenaline to a game that's already a big rush on a CD.

The controls are easily accessible, and executing all those combos is generally a breeze. I haven't run into a point that the controls have totally screwed me over. This is one of those games that an amateur can pick and play with only about a minute of tutorial. The only problems I found was when I was walking across narrow planks, tightrope style. While the game does give you an easy out if you fall off, sometimes your reflexes just aren't fast enough, and you'll fall to your doom. But the controls are touchy in these areas on purpose.

On a final note, this game will no doubt be compared to Devil May Cry, which was very similar in gameplay. The combos and the orbs being used to level up weapons were lifted straight from Devil May Cry. That being said, if I were trying to make a decision on what to buy, and I was holding a copy of any of the Devil May Cry games and God of War, I'd take God of War in a heartbeat. While Devil May Cry slows down for lame puzzles, God of War rarely slows down, and the puzzles in it actually kind of make sense. I get the feeling these puzzles were mostly put in so people wouldn't accuse this game of not having enough depth.

Here's the deal. If you want a game that's purely an adrenaline rush, than God of War is the way to go. With its great combat system, non stop action, and a dash of mythology, this is a definite winner, and now that it's a Greatest Hits game, and only twenty bucks, there's nothing not to like. Enjoy.

Parent's Note: God of War is rated M, and just proves the double standards of lobby groups and senators looking to be reelected. While they'll wail about games like Grand Theft Auto, they overlook games like this. I didn't realize it when I bought it, but this is quite a nasty game. Not only is it extremely gory, but it has frontal nudity, sexual content, a very grim storyline, and if you watch the little making of featurette in the unlockables, you'll hear some four letter words. This one is NOT for the kids.