God of War 2 is the continuing story of Kratos. His powers of a God which he earned throughout the previous title are stripped from him, and he is now seeking vengeance.
The story overall is an interesting one, but I was particularly impressed with how they handled the first chapter, in which we see Kratos fall from his position of power. It always bothers me in sequels when they never explain, or explain very poorly, how a character lost all their abilities and talents they had at the end of the previous game. God of War 2 does this very well.
Accompanying the story is an array of memorable characters and enemies. They come in the form of gods, titans, warriors and monsters.
Those that speak are voice by talented actors that add to the already immersive soundtrack, and flawless use of well balanced sound effects.
Combining these elements with the extravagant and grand environments create a world not easy to want to turn away from. Although the path through this world is linear, you'll still feel in awe of the landscapes, which can at once be gorgeously lush and ominously stark, that envelope giant statues and buildings which ooze art and detail.
Thankfully the camera ensures none of this scenery gets in your way. It's a third person camera that rides on rails, and often shifts angles to ensure your getting the best view of the action, the most helpful view for the puzzles, or the most cinematic view for when you're just trying to make it from point A to B. It's not perfect, but considering you have no control over it, it's some of the best camera work available.
All these wonderful things add to the game, but I haven't even gotten to the best part yet. The intense action! This is also the hardest part to describe why it's so fun. It just is. You get a real sense of power as you mow down a wave of enemies or take down foes that are from two times to twenty times larger than you. It's both fast paced and easy to follow.
You're presented with a decent selection of basic attacks which you build on and grow as you progress. It doesn't take long before you're unleashing deadly combos allowing you to get in dozens of hits at once.
You're arsenal is completed with a few different weapons, and some magic attacks, which are all also upgradeable, and some are new to the series. Each weapons and magic attack have their specific advantages and tactical uses, which makes the combat even more fun, and lets you have some customization to your plan of attack.
The great control scheme makes it easy to do everything, and even though every button has a function, your fingers don't get stressed or end up in knots. It's a little complex, but also very smooth. This helps you to be focused on the action, which is plentiful and intense. It's some of the most satisfying and brutal action that you can have on the PS2, and it's loads of fun!
When you're not out spilling the blood of adversaries, you'll find yourself busy with engaging switch puzzles that are actually fun to figure out. I never felt hopeless with the puzzles; they're tough enough to keep you guessing just for a little bit, but never so obscure that you should find yourself turning away in frustration.
Of course all of this was available in the previous installment, but there are new elements that have been brought to the game, and they feel purposeful. They do not feel like they were added for the sake of adding them. They were executed well, and provide enough new experiences to keep you from feeling like you're just playing new maps for the first title. These things include the weapons and magic attacks mentioned earlier. New weapons include a slow but powerful giant hammer, and the long range spear of the destiny. The new magic attacks include an earthquake inducing ground-slamming, and a sort of stationary ball of lighting that strikes foes that come into range of it.
There's also new elements like the Pegasus stages, where you take control of the mythical flying horse and face flying foes amongst the clouds. It's enjoyable, and keeps true to the theme of the world you're playing in.
The game is so much fun that it's easy to forgive some of it's less appealing features, of which there are a couple.
Quick Time Events (QTEs) are abundant in this game. Although it's true that I think they're improved from the previous game, and they're some of the best handled QTEs around, there are so many that it does get a little tiring for me.
They are, however, not quite so overused in my opinion as the mashing of the O-button. I'm surprised the thing on my controller still works after this game. You need to pound quickly on the O-button to open gates, to open bigger gates, to kill some enemies, and to hold steady the heads of feeble old men during a couple cut scenes, which made no sense to me. The cut-scenes are so well done, that there's no need to try and add some sort of redundant interactivity to it like this; let's just watch the scene then move on to the fun stuff.
And the majority of the game is so much fun, that the parts like this are easily excused. Even the ending, which I was disappointed with, was forgivable.
Where these issues may have stood out more in lesser quality games, they are minor gripes in an otherwise remarkable gaming experience. An undeniable requirement for any action fans.
