There's violence and then there's violence. Sometimes it's just not enough to hack enemies to death with a massive sword. Sometimes I want to add a dash of cruelty to the killing. I've just had the therapeutic pleasure of diving head first into a churning cauldron of stark brutality. Yep. I played God of War.
I'm going to say this right up front. This is important for you parents out there. God of War takes perverse pleasure in being extremely violent. Players wreak carnage in ways no other game has allowed. In my opinion, this surpasses the Grand Theft Auto games, which are notorious for their violent content. On the other hand, if you happen to subscribe to the "violence good, sex bad" mindset, I'll point out that there are also naked boobs in this game. Lots of naked boobs. One mini-game even allows Kratos to get...friendly....with a couple of bare-breasted mythological babes. Heaven forbid a ten year old see a little flesh mixed in with the wanton blood and gore, right? I digress. On to the review!
God of War takes place in ancient Greece and takes some liberties with mythology. The hero is Kratos, a mortal Spartan who swore a lifetime of service to Ares, the titular god of war. Kratos made this bargain in exchange for victory at the brink of defeat. Ares accepted the bargain, slew Kratos' enemies, and bound Kratos to his promise by the power of the Blades of Chaos. These massive dagger-like weapons are chained to Kratos' arms, allowing the Spartan to swing them in wide, deadly arcs.
Kratos kept his end of the bargain, spilling the blood of Ares' foes everywhere he went until it ran in rivers. Men, women, children, none were spared his brutality. This continued until the god led Kratos to commit an act too despicable for the mortal to bear. Kratos swore vengeance on Ares and, aided by the other gods of Olympus, set out on a quest to kill the god of war.
I'll say no more because I really don't want to ruin it. The visceral nature of the gameplay might lead one to believe it's just another hack & slash, but they'd be wrong. The story is meaty. I feared Kratos and I pitied him. I shared his passion for revenge. I understood the unbreakable determination with which he pursued his goal and I reveled in the gory sight of him unleashing the powers of the gods on the enemies that Ares set in his path.
In addition to the Blades of Chaos attached to his arms, Kratos gains other weapons and powers as he gains the favor of other gods. The first of these powers, and arguably most useful, is Poseidon's Rage - a ring of powerful lightning that blasts multiple nearby enemies simultaneously. This power is perfect for fights where Kratos is seriously outnumbered, a situation that occurs frequently. Listing the other gifts of the gods would give a lot of surprises away. Suffice it to say that Kratos' arsenal is impressive, much as it should be for a mortal bent on murdering a god.
Battle is a frantic series of combination moves with a heavy does of defensive blocking. Different weapons and powers present advantages over different enemies and I learned quickly not to be shy about using them. Being the disgruntled right hand of a god isn't easy. Battles are seriously intense and can go south in a heartbeat. There were at least a dozen scenes that I had to retry over and over before finally eking out a victory. Sure, this was frustrating at times, but it made it all-the-sweeter when the broken bodies of the enemies lay crumpled at my...I mean Kratos'...feet.
Kratos bashes, slashes, eviscerates, decapitates, dismembers and otherwise slaughters his foes with wild abandon. For me, the most viscerally satisfying moment was when I...I mean Kratos...grabbed one of those damned annoying harpies out of the air, put a heavy foot on its back and ripped its wings clean off. There's a special 'fatality' move for just about every enemy type and, while they usually aren't required, they're all deliciously brutal.
Gameplay changes a bit in the boss fights. There aren't a lot of them but they are very cool bosses. Each inevitably required a complicated button-mashing maneuver to deliver fatal blows. These were frustrating enough when the required input was simply pressing the triangle or circle buttons on cue. For one boss, though, I had to spin the left analog stick in a particular manner and the game was very picky about it. Performing that maneuver with thumbs as tired and sore as the rest of the game made them was challenging and aggravating. I don't think the game would have suffered at all if this "simon says" aspect was left out. Overall, though, I loved the bosses, especially the one that also happened to annoy me the most.
The god-slaying adventure takes Kratos from sailing the seas to battling his way through a besieged Athens to a lengthy journey to claim a powerful mythological artifact whose power stirs fear even in the gods. Kratos explores shipwrecks, battles his way across parched deserts and navigates trap-filled dungeons. All of it is absolutely gorgeous.
The musical score would rival anything produced for mega-budget Hollywood films; it's gripping, intense and fits the Greek mythological setting perfectly. Voice acting is universally superb. The story is narrated perfectly by Linda Hunt, who you might know as the short judge from TV's The Practice or as the voice of Management from HBO's Carnivale. T.C. Carson also does a bang-up job as the voice of Kratos.
To say Sony pushes the PS2 to its limits is an understatement. God of War blasts those limits into oblivion and makes the PS2 do more than it ever has...much more than I ever thought it could. From jaw-dropping character animations to massive and exquisitely-detailed environments to chaotic, frenzied combat with a dozen foes at once. The PS2 shows why it's still king of the hill in the ultra competitive console world.
God of War is a truly remarkable game for mature gamers. The moderately frustrating boss fight gimmicks and the game's disappointingly short duration keep it from perfection, but I say without reservation that it is among the absolute best console games I have ever had the privilege to play. If you have a PS2, fairly dexterous thumbs and a strong stomach (or affinity) for brutal, gory violence, do yourself a favor and play this game.
I'm a thirty-something computer programmer. I live in Delaware, but I grew up in Arkansas in a tiny town of 2500. We didn't have video arcades. Heck, it was nearly an hour's drive to anything as sophisticated as a Wal*Mart. Needless to say, my exposure to video games as a child was somewhat limited.
In the mid 80's, I cut my teeth on a used Atari 2600 bought at a flea market and a handful of games like Space Invaders and Pac Man. I was hooked in a blink. In the decades since, I've become a big fan of many genres of games. From first-person shooters to role-playing to strategy and everything in between. The only games that categorically don't interest me are sports games.
The easiest way for a game to win me over is to have a gripping story. I'll forgive a lot in a game that grabs me and keeps me interested. The inverse is true, too. If a game does not have a killer story, its gameplay had better be pretty darn compelling to make up for it. That doesn't happen very often
