God of War II: Divine Retribution

God of War 2 was launched only last year in 2007 with the first debuting in early 2006. With God of War 3 on the horizon I thought I would come back to one of the Play station 2's smash hits. God of War has been claimed to be one of Sony's flagships and the second game is no exception, dripping with blood and screaming in pain. But as we peer deep into the chasms of chain hit combos and boss battle action sequences we can find out how good of a game it is.



Fans of the series will undoubtedly know the ending of the first game but for those of you new to the series; God of War is based on Greek mythology and a certain individual named Kratos. Once a captain of the army of Sparta who owed his life to Ares the God of War and then after slaying Ares he became the God himself. Now that Kratos is a God he abuses his powers to carry out his own petty skirmishes upon the innocents of Greece but is told by his follow God,...

THE GOOD:
- Excellent storyline following on well from the first game
- Epic settings
- At least twice the length of the first game
- New weapons and magic which all come in useful
- Best graphics on PS2 (rivalling next-gen)
- Superb musical score
- Plenty of replayability
- More boss fights
- Blades Of Athena are even better than before

THE BAD:
- Punishing difficulty level
- Occasionally frustrating camera angles
- Large number of puzzles may not appeal to everyone

SUMMARY:
God Of War II had a lot to live up to. The first game came virtually out of nowhere, and blew everybody away with it's flawless combat, incredible graphics and engaging storyline. Unbelievably, God Of War II manages to live up to the giddy heights of the first game, and indeed betters many aspects of it.

The storyline is as epic as always. Kratos, despite being the new God Of War, doesn't exactly see...

THE GOOD:
The Good
--The story - No matter the cliffhanger ending, the story of Kratos as Hercules in Greek mythology is implemented very well.

--The scope - The environments are massive and you get to experience all of em firsthand

--The boss battles - The battle with Perseus is one i'll never forget. Every other one is perhaps just as memorable.

--Cinematics - The high res cinematics are impressive indeed, but i would have been much more impressed if they would be able to produce such things in real time. It is damn sure feasible.

--Gameplay - The very same tried and true formula from the original that worked so well. Minor tweaks here, but they are mostly visual. Most will enjoy it. Developers got complacent and didn't take risks at all.

--Quicktime sequences - Some of the best kills in the game come from these. They are well implemented and quite imaginative.

THE BAD:
First...

This epic journey starrs Kratos,who after defeating Ares, became the new God Of War. Too bad he eventually gets betrayed and killed by Zeus. On his way to hades, he gets a helping hand and gets a chance to change his fate.. The whole beginning serves like an intro to the real game, and when you start your pissed off mission, you'll get into quite possibly the most entertaining adventure ever.
The graphics are nothing but impressive, especially the beautiful mythical scenery and temples. The visuals in parts like the flight of the pegasus and in grappling or narrowing through edges sequences creates intensive feels unlike anything before. I like how the varieties of the enemies are straight out of greek mythology- from soldiers, to Gorgons, Cerberus, Sirens, Cyclops, minotaurs.....Not to mention the greek mortals you fight as well.
The soundtracks delivered by this game are so cinematic it'll compete with any hollywood action movie out there..They always made me play with...