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God of War 
Release date: 15 Mar 2005
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Mygamer review
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An Epic Journey
God of War has raised the action/adventure bar well beyond anything that has been set before it. From this moment forth, every third-person action adventure game should be compared to PS2’s God of War.
Sony’s masterpiece of a game can easily be compared to Tecmo’s third-person action adventure, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure as it plays in a similar fashion. Previously, Rygar was one of the best games in this specific genre; however, God of War manages to surpass Rygar, as well as any other combat-driven action adventure game—and in every way. With one of the most fluid combat engines ever programmed, visuals that should be framed and hanging on gallery walls, and a creative blend of puzzle solving with a healthy mix of exploration allows God of War to send the player on a non-stop action roller coaster. Rygar may be legendary but God of War is epic.
This game has a “Mature” rating, and quite rightfully so. Copious amounts of swearing, spewed blood spilt by the gallon, and even nudity, make God of War a title that only older, yes “Mature”, gamers should play.
The game’s setting places it in ancient Greece during a time of Gods and monsters. Kratos, your playable character, is a mortal with a haunted past and he is bestowed with the unenviable task of slaying Ares, the God of War. The story is unraveled through incredibly detailed FMV movie sequences, which are sprinkled throughout the game. Each cut scene contains a 3D pop-up book artistic style. However, this is surely not to be confused with any type of children’s novel. The way the camera moves throughout these explanatory scenes gives depth to each frame while some images are static and others are animated. Mere words are not sufficient in this case; the only way to truly do this particular artistic style justice is to see it for yourself.
God of War takes place from preset camera angles in a third-person view, just like Rygar or even the classic Resident Evil. What makes God of War a non-stop fun fest is its buttery smooth combat engine. Fighting is easy to perform, yet also contains so much depth that the player will physically be able to feel Kratos’ rage as he confronts enemies. Kratos uses two axe-like swords that are forever chained to his wrists as his weapons of choice. These blades will swing, flip, slice, cut, penetrate, crush, smear, and chop through mounds of enemies. Because these weapons are so unique, they give the game that extra edge that you cannot find anywhere else, even in Rygar’s diskarmor.
The fighting is so smooth it must be pondered as to whether the programmers used wax on their source code. Kratos has the ability to take on single beasts, swarms of ground-based troops, or he can even battle a horde of hovering harpies. Combat is the biggest gameplay element in God of War but it will never grow boring. In fact, God of War has some of the best combat in any videogame. Performing combos is as easy as mindless button mashing, though more learned and experienced players can perfect the specific button combinations to execute a one-of-a-kind move. This pick-up-and-play attitude mixed with the more thought out approach works extremely well for any gamer.
The square button is used as a weaker, faster attack, while the triangle button is a more drawn out, yet stronger attack. These buttons can create combos simply by tapping them by themselves, or they can be mixed and matched with other buttons on the controller. In order to create a deep combat engine, the computer A.I. needs to challenge as well as educate the player. Fighting each type of enemy involves a different battle technique. For example, it is best to use Medusa’s head against gorgons to turn them to stone, followed by a triangle button smash move to crush the newly created statue. Distant archers can be wiped out by the use of Zeus’ Fury, a thrown lightning bolt. The circle button is used to grab and throw enemies. Also, when enemies have been weakened through normal attacks, it is possible to finish them off ‘fatality’ style by pressing random buttons that correspond with the appropriate on-screen icon. For some enemies, this is the only way to defeat them.
Blocking is also a big part of survival. Incorporating a heavily used block feature helps give depth to each battle as opposed to a simple hack-and-slack gameplay technique. Plus, weapons and special abilities can be powered up by killing more enemies. In other words, the more you kill, the stronger and more advanced Kratos becomes. Needless to say, the ever-evolving combat engine is never boring and the player will wait in anticipation to see what mythological creature he will be fighting next.
Combat even takes place while climbing walls and shimmying on ropes, as enemies will try to latch onto Kratos and drag him to his death. Luckily, Kratos can perform the same stunt by using the grab button (circle). It is extremely satisfying to watch Kratos grab an enemy’s head with his free hand, smash it against the wall a few times, then whip him straight down to his death. Plus, if there are other enemies below the one tossed of the mortal coil, they will also plummet to their deaths—very cool.
God of War also blends in a healthy dose of boss battles and puzzle solving to its gameplay. The creators of this game wanted the emphasis to lie within combat, therefore the game’s many puzzles are on the easier side when it comes to gray matter. But that’s not a criticism, as the difficulty of the game’s puzzles is right where it needs to be. Boss battles, however, are both enormous and challenging. This is where Kratos’ battle experience really comes into play. Since combat is the biggest part of the game, players will need to hone their skills when fighting bosses, especially the final battle against Ares.
Helping to battle these swarms of enemies, Kratos gains a few special powers. Medusa’s head turns enemies to stone. Poseidon’s rage takes out incoming swarms of enemies. Zeus’s thunderbolt picks off distant archers. And the power of Hades eliminates throngs of monsters in one fell swoop. All these powers, plus Kratos’ weapons, can be powered up to increase their strength.
God of War’s graphical qualities make it a definite contender for the best-looking PS2 game of all time, which is quite an achievement on its own. Environments, character models, motion capture animation, and the FMVs are all composed with intense and lavish detail. It’s an absolute wonder as to just how the programmers where able to create this game on the PS2’s (dated) hardware. All the visuals in the game are nothing short of mind-blowing. Plus, the game has no loading times. There will only be a couple of instances where the player will actually see the word ‘Loading’ on screen. However, the load is only about two seconds long, so the player might not even see this on-screen word as it disappears just as quickly as it pops up. Seriously, the amount of detail on show without the use of extended load times must be viewed as a programming miracle. And God of War is one of the few PS2 games to use Progressive Scan mode.
The audio and musical score has also been given the same amount of treatment as the gameplay and graphics. Orchestrated music sung by a professional choir will haunt gamers’ ears throughout the entire quest. The battle sound effects really bring the whole package together, though. When Kratos performs a massive crushing combo ending with the triangle button, the screen shakes, a boom of thunder cracks the earth, and a wave of blood will wash across the ground. The brutal sound effects compliment the fluid combat well; both working in tandem to achieve the highest quality possible.
God of War is fantastic, but there are few small complaints that might anger players. Firstly, toward the end of the game, the player must climb up a rotating set of pillars to reach a high cliff. However, these pillars are interspersed with rotating spikes. The collision detection seems to be slightly off here, as Kratos will fall to his death even if he only comes close to the spikes. There are other small instances such as this throughout the game, but they amount to a minimal distraction to the God of War’s overall fun factor.
Merely reading about God of War does not convey a true sense of how it actually plays. Gamers really must play it for themselves to garner the full range of its treasures. This is one action game that anyone can play, and will want to play through until completion. God of War is an original game that will most likely spawn some evolving sequels, but the developers took the time to get this game right first time round. Even if you’re not a huge fan of third-person action adventure games, you will still like God of War. If you have a PS2, you owe it to yourself to go out and buy a copy of this game. It boggles the mind to know that a truly epic story, brutal combat, gallery graphics, fully orchestrated music, and an unforgettable gameplay experience can all be squeezed onto a single PlayStation 2 disc.
God of War should be played by you and every other self-respecting games player on the planet. And if you don’t like God of War, then you do not like videogames. Plain and simple.
Review by Zachary Gasiorowski on 8 May 2005
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