Heavenly Swords
Believe the hype, kids. God of War II is everything a sequel should be; bigger, badder and, yes, better than the original.
Published: March 15, 2007
I hate ever short-changing the sound on a game with some weak one paragraph response, but most of the time things are, frankly, only worth discussing in fifty or so words. The audio in War II, on the other hand, is something that begs dissection. Strong Pro Logic II separation does a great job of shoving the audio to the back channels should you have a surround system, and the effects, though instantly familiar to anyone who played the last game, still have pop. Monster screams, the "shink" of Kratos' chained blades lancing out to hit something, thick, viscous "shlurks" when weapons find their home, the various clunks and chunks and clanks of ancient mechanical gear works springing to life, these are the things that let your PS2 give your sound system a work out.
Oh, and then there are the voice actors. From returning narrator (and bigger player) Linda Hunt to T.C. Carson's eternally pissed Kratos to a surprisingly well-delivered (if scant) offering from Harry Hamlin reprising a role from his youth to even the most minor of characters (around here, Icarus is still our favorite mix of madness and comedy), the characters in the game -- even with few lines -- have the sense of being...well, characters.
I really wanted to spend time talking about the production in the game, and when it comes to graphics, it's hard not to call out specific parts without spoiling, so forgive me if I was a little lax on things there. All you need do is check out our screens or videos and you'll know I'm talking about there (and hopefully won't have anything major spoiled when you do).
God of War II is one of the most lavishly polished games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. At no point did I feel I was experiencing something that the folks making the game didn't want me to see, and that's actually a rather singing endorsement coming from me, since I rarely care about what happens in early code on a game, but I love seeing it all come together in a way that just feels complete.
All of the mini-games, the different modes (the Pegasus bits were fleeting, but absolutely killer), the different feel of each of the sub-weapons, the puzzles (for the most part), the combat and above all else, the absolutely incredible boss battles helped push this right to the top of the list of games I've played. Not games on the PlayStation 2, not games on a Sony platform, not games in the current generation; God of War II is one of the best, most polished, most intensely satisfying games I've ever played. Doing this job, one tends to play a lot of games, so I hope that actually says something. If you own a PS2 and you're above that M rating age limit, you need to own this game.
In fact, just for the sheer amount of bonus content that was shot for the second disc of the game, the thing is worth owning if you liked the original. There's a ton of insight into the development process, you'll see some stuff that didn't actually make it into the game, and it feels in every way like a Hollywood-level production. That may not be something every game needs, but for this one, it was absolutely the right way to go. Seeing the actual faces of the people that worked on the game (and, yes, seeing mine in some of the bonus stuff), actually helps endear the whole thing to you even more, and it's something I hope the development team never abandons with future projects.
Congrats, guys, you've managed to create the defining experience on the PlayStation 2. This is, hands-down, the most impressive game you'll see on Sony's loveable black box, and seeing as it's been arguably the most impressive console in the history of games, that's a serious accolade. Now, get to work on that God of War PS3 game we're all clamoring for. It's your fault for ending the game on such a cliffhanger.
