Console: PS3
Date Released: Nov 17, 2009
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2012
Reviewer: Reid
Pros
* Same controls as God of War I let you jump right into the game
* Story and worlds are even bigger
* Better boss fights…and way more of them
Cons
* Puzzles are easier than in God of War I
* Still have little to no control of the camera
Sometimes when you play a sequel to a game, you feel like you missed a lot of stuff in between, or the game has to go back and fill in some story to bridge the gap between the two. God of War II continues exactly where God of War I leaves off, and ties the two games together perfectly.
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
Bluepoint games continues to impress by remastering God of War II in the same great way they did God of War I. They made another blurry PS2 game look great, and I actually think God of War II looks slightly better. This is probably because the original material probably looked better on the second game, but I did notice that ALL of the cut-scenes had something done to them to make them fit in with the remastering, where as I did notice a few did not look so great on the first game.
Again the animation is cleaned up, and looks incredibly close to an early PS3 release title. As there are more animations than the first title, there is also more detail on the animations of the faces of the characters. Instead of just a mouth opening and closing, it works with the rest of the face to convey emotion. This is a great step in improving the series, and is remastered for the HD collection well.
The soundtrack is still done very well. I will say that I enjoyed the soundtrack on the first title more for some reason. This does not mean that the sound track is inferior in God of War II, I just think that it is implemented better in the first God of War. That being said, it’s still an amazing soundtrack and still gives the game an incredible bump.
The voice cast returns and does another incredible job. There is no cheese in the dialogue, and the voice actors portraying mythical gods don’t draw out their syllables, trying so sound important.
Single Player : A
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
God of War II deals with the control of fate, so controlling time is a huge theme in the game. You are given the ability to slow time, as it is required to solve many puzzles. Referencing a lot of instances from the first God of War, I found it particularly enjoyable to watch different time-lines and fates unfold, with it all ultimately leading to my end all goal of killing Zeus for betraying Kratos. (this plot unfolds right at the beginning of the game)
Jumping straight in to God of War II, I immediately fell right into my old combat routines. All the buttons are pretty much the same, except the action button, which changed from R2 to R1. This did bother me for a while, as I would struggle opening chests during combat because of pressing the wrong button, but I got used to it. The developers didn’t really change the game as much as they expanded on the major points of play, such as giving you more weapons to choose from, and giving the story, somehow, an even more epic feeling. I really thought it would be more of the same, but the more I delved into the game, the more epic it felt. The main reason I think it felt this way, is because a lot of game is outside, as opposed to mostly inside a giant temple like the first God of War. This open air feel was a great idea because it give the player the illusion of a grander scale.
The magic is better in this game, and is a lot more necessary to use to progress than the first title. Way more enemies attack at the same time, and there are a TON more bosses to fight. The Typhon’s Bane is a bow and arrow, comparable to Zesus’ lightning from the first game. The Head of Euryale is the brother of Medusa, and basically functions the same as her head from before. Crono’s Rage is comparable to Poseiden’s Rage, but the last magic ability, Atlus’s Quake, is quite different from The Army of Hades. With Atlus’s Quake you can stomp the ground and cause earthquakes, among other moves you can unlock for it, and I found this to be immensely useful in the game.
You are given more weapons to choose from aside from your Blades of Athena (Chaos). You also earn the Barbarian’s Hammer, and the Spear of Destiny. These can be leveled up as well, and while a few times in the game you can only use the Blade of Olympus, this definitely leads to a huge variety of ways to fight.
The puzzles in the game are on more of a grander scale, involving huge statues and large items needed to solve them. Though they were more creative, and aesthetically appealing, I did find them slightly easier that the first God of War. This leads to a slightly easier game, which made it slightly shorter overall. They did a better job of hiding bonus chests in the game, which made it more fun to look for them. They did however, add hidden Urn’s that contain special abilities. These are pretty well hidden and hard to find. When you do find them, you can go back and play through (after beating Challenge of the Titans) with these new abilities, such as your hits turning enemies to stone, and a 10:1 ratio of orb earning. Pretty cool stuff actually.
As before, easy is too easy, and normal is the most fun to play it on.
Titan mode is RIDICULOUS.
Multiplayer : –
Game mechanics / features / Online features
Still no multiplayer, unnecessary for the game.
Replay Value : B
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
Again, once you’ve solved the puzzles, they are nothing to get through the second time. I will say though, that with all the boss fights, you can surely find a huge challenge replaying the game on a harder setting, which does unlock a few extras, and bonus play will let you start a new game with all of your stats you had at the end of the game.
You do get a few costumes to unlock for a new play through, and like the first title, there are challenges to complete that unlock the abilities found in urn’s hidden throughout the game-play.
The Arena of Fates mode, is a rather interesting, as it allows you to choose your stats, type of enemy, and how many to battle. This is somewhat fun, though it is really only for practice.
The God of War HD collection comes with the special edition bonus disc for God of War II (accessed by going to the video section on the PS3 XMB. You can access in INCREDIBLE amount of behind the scenes bonus video for all things God of War II, my favorite again is the deleted levels section.
The God of War HD collection is a must-own for PS3 gamers. It’s two great games that hold up well, and look great since they have been remastered. The story lines are congruent and interesting, and it is one of the few games that make you feel like you truly can take on any challenge.
Overall : A
