Get Your Greek On
I haven't had much time to play videogames in a long time, except for the occasional Gameboy Advance title, but that hasn't stopped me from buying them almost every week as they come out. Recently, I sadly noticed my pile of unopened games was getting higher and higher, so decided to set aside a little time every weekend to get my gaming groove back on.The first game I tackled was a half-finished one I had set aside last April. I know this because that was the date of my last saved game on my memory card. Upon realizing this, I almost burst into tears. Anyway, it's named God of War, and how I set it aside, I'll never know, since it was such a joy to play.
First of all, it's a brutal, bloody game. One of the most
savage I've ever played, actually, so if the sight of spraying, spattering blood and severed heads makes you queasy, stay away from this one. However, while brutal, it is also very beautiful. It's full of pseudo-Roman architecture, amazing vistas and finely detailed gods and monsters. I was actually amazed this game was running on my PS2, since the graphics were pretty much XBOX or Gamecube in quality, and running on my Sony XBR, in progressive scan widescreen mode, made it that much more breathtaking. Every head being ripped off, every bone-snap or jaw break was in fine detail. I almost felt sorry for all the gorgons, cyclops and minotaurs I slaughtered.
God of War is about an ex-Spartan named Kratos, who sells his soul to Ares in order to win a battle in which he and his army are on the verge of being defeated. Ares accepts, turning Kratos into an unstoppable killing machine with the conceit that Kratos must become Ares's slave and carry out his orders. After much bloodshed, and as generally happens with this sort of deal, Kratos soon regrets the bargain, and, wanting revenge on Ares but finding no help from the other gods, jumps off a cliff to his seeming demise. This is where the game begins, and the rest of the experience is finding out what events led Kratos to the top of that cliff in such complete despair and why he wants revenge. The story is okay and the between-stages cutscenes are extremely well done. Some of these cutscenes have a hand-drawn, 2d look that is very stylish and just plain cool but the fully rendered, 3d scenes are equally amazing. Once you get to the end of the game, a movie viewer opens up as an option, so you can see all these beautiful cutscenes over and over again.The game isn't very long, which is fine with me. I'd rather have quality over quantity any day, and since I have a lot more games to get through, a short game is a blessing these days. You could probably get through the entire game in a weekend, if you were devoted. That is, if unlike me you didn't spend hours on a mini game where you control Kratos as he beds two topless ladies to win experience points. Okay, yes, I'm immature. This side game would probably make Jack Thompson's head spin, but this is a mature rated game, so parents shouldn't be letting their kids play this one anyway. Ahhh... virtual boobies.
The controls are tight, with a lot of different combos for each weapon. Unfortunately, once you power up your default weapons, the "Blades of Chaos" which have been seared to Kratos's arms, and learn a couple of moves which seem to work the best, there's no real need to learn or use all the combos, or even power up the other weapons you find throughout the game. Kratos animates nicely though, and eviscerating an enemy, then
pulling off its head, or tearing off its wings, or pushing your blades down its throat soon becomes second nature, if only a bit monotonous after a while. I could've used a little more variety in how to deal with the baddies.To wrap it up, I'd definitely recommend this game. The art direction is incredible, the action is great, and the story will keep you moving through the game, if only to see how it plays out in the next cutscene. I wish the fighting were a bit more refined (check out Ninja Gaiden for the XBOX if you want to see a game where the fighting is near-perfect), but this gets the job done. One of the best overall experiences I've had on the PS2.
3 Comments:
Wow. I've experienced a game in a way I never thought I could... and I haven't even played it.
I may have to borrow this from you..I promise to leave the plastic scratch strip on.
give me a day or two to draw up the necessary legal documents in case of dust, fingerprint smudging or (heaven forbid) scratching, before i loan it to you.
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