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 of all let me say that i'm a huge God of War fan, but this game was very much a let down for me; from the graphics, gameplay that didn't change a bit from the first GOW, useless secondary weapons, bad programming and testing, recycled enemies, and the mass amount of puzzling in this supposed to be action/adventure game. The story plays out well..as it's probably the reason why i finished the game, but if story is all Sony Santa Monica wished to focus on then they should have made a movie in lieu of a game. Complacency sickens me and it is all over this game. It's the very blueprint of it. Ok, yes i understand that it's Cory Barlog's first time in the director's chair and he didn't want to change too much given that so much was good about the original game, but this is a sequel and you have to up the ante.
Graphics
First of all this game is so pretty cause all we get to see is the game at so far a distance that we can't notice just how bad the graphics is. The set pieces of the stages are nice, but they are just that..set pieces, not real time. If you don't believe me then take a look at the 'real time' cinemas when Zeus appears and tell me how 'nice' they are. This is the real time footage that Sony was able to come up with after 2 yrs work on the game! And the use of CG to impress all the graphic whores out there is such a cop out. If you lot want to see great real time graphics and cinematics take a look at MGS2: SOL.
Gameplay
So Athena's blades are given to us at the end of the original game and we expect more killer moves for what is our primary weapon in the 2nd game only to be sadly disappointed. Not a single new move only visual tweaks to the already existing moves lol. We get a couple new animations for grab kills, but those things are not so practical in the context of the game. Let's not talk of the uselessness of the secondary weapons. From to the warhammer to the staff and everything in between, they all suck and is futile in real situations. The magic spells are decent, but you find yourself mainly using atlas quake or eurayle's head if your in a jam. The other 2 spells are worthless. The new aspects are somewhat fun, but we only get to do them for a little bit, then it's all over and done with.
Puzzles
Why are there so many freaking puzzles in an action game? Where in the 2 yrs of production did Sony think that throwing in a puzzle in every stage would enhance the God of War experience? It slows the game down considerably. Ok so maybe they thought that once we finish the game we can have a quick time with the puzzles the next play through on a harder difficulty possibly..we'll discuss this as well. The first game had just the right amount of puzzles and none of them was overly difficult. The main focus was on combat..combat Santa Monica studios!
Difficulty
Let me say that i started the game on Hard difficulty and it wasn't too bad. I felt like it was a good challenge, but i had a harder time with some of the puzzles than i did the actual enemies. After i completed hard i tried titan only to get frustrated and quit at the point where i have to protect the architect. The game is so unforgiving on this difficulty. Enemies are relentless to the point where u can't even get a chance to attack before you are hit by someone else. No, i'm not talking of the harder enemies either as these are some of the initial soldiers u encounter. The bosses, Theseus especially, is so insanely difficult that you'll find yourself breaking controllers and pulling out hair as a result. The game lacks balance. The people who beat this game on titan will say i'm not 'hardcore' enough to play this and so i quit. Well, to you i say, i've beaten Ninja Gaiden, Halo, Halo 2, Half Life 2, MGS2, MGS3, DMC, DMC3 all on the hardest difficulty so my skills are not a question here.
SUMMARY:
End
All in all, this is my opinion and while some of you will disagree, in the end it's just my take on the game after all the hype has died down. It's an honest take because i am a God of War fan, but i don't think this game deserves a 5 from ign for a sequel. I'd give it an 4 at best and perhaps that is even biased since i'm a fan and can't wait to see the rest of Kratos's story on PS3
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