Review of God of War 2

It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed a console game, enamored as I always am with World of Warcraft (my warlock hit 70 the other night ). However, at my wife’s request, I took a short break to return to my gaming roots with a title I’ve been meaning to check out for awhile: God of War 2.

Those who played the original game will be pleased that the sequel remains true to form while introducing plenty of new elements. Kratos is betrayed by Zeus and sent on a quest to regain his godhood and take his revenge. Along the way, he gets to pick up bad-ass moves and weapons to spread the carnage. I don’t want to give away the juicy bits, but some of the new game features include aerial combat on the back of a pegasus (more macho than it sounds), stopping time to complete puzzles, and a lot of swinging by your chains.

The content and storyline of the game are just as fulfilling as the gameplay itself. It’s not too complicated to choke a literary critic and not too simple to bore an average player. Long-term objectives mesh up nicely with immediate objectives, so you never lose sight of your ultimate goals. The game in general features a fairly even mix of puzzles and action, both challenging enough to keep you on your toes.

Perhaps the only criticism I have would apply to any game that features puzzles. I’m not a fan of getting stuck between the action, and some of the puzzles are hardly straightforward. You will either have to think your way through or have a walkthrough open for the tough spots. If you can figure it out on your own, more power to you; I prefer to enjoy what little time I can devote to playing, so I’ll usually give a puzzle several solo attempts and then hit the guide for the answer.

All in all, it’s an excellent installment to the genre. I can only hope the folks over at Sony keep producing sequels as excellent as this. Maybe then, God of War will become a household title like Final Fantasy.

Bear in mind that God of War 2 has just about as much replay value as its predecessor. That is, it’s got secret treasures and extra difficulty levels, but the game itself is pretty short, maybe 20 hours or so. Buy it if you’re into that sort of thing; if you prefer a good once-over like me, rent it.