And so comes to a close the other game on the PS3 God of War Collection I picked up, and I'm glad I did! This game is really everything a sequel should strive to be. It controls similarly but tighter. The puzzle and platforming has been tightened up a LOT. More bosses and better bosses. I honestly don't have THAT much to say about this given that I already have my God of War 1 review on here, but I'll give my thoughts on this nonetheless.
As previously stated, this is basically an improved version of the first game in every way. The level designed is really improved to make things better signposted (sometimes a bit TOO much and oddly sometimes not enough), with hidden items quite cleverly hidden. They're way more linear with less potential for confusing backtracking and levels that wrap around like the first game had. They flow much better, even if you're hunting for goodies. The puzzles are also a lot harder than in the first game. I never had to google a single thing for the first game, but there were like 4 or 5 puzzles I had to google the solution to (partly because they're relying on mechanics the game doesn't explain or doesn't explain well enough to apply, in my defense).
The combat is largely the same, but your sub-weapons have been changed up a bit. Two of the magic spells have been swapped out for new ones, and instead of the sub-weapon sword from last game, now you have a hammer and a spear (eventually), so combat can really get mixed up depending on how you want to focus things. This game has WAY more bosses in it, like 3 or 4 times more, as well as more enemy types. The combat has also been fine tuned a bit to just make it more fun, in particular dodging has been made easier to break other combos to do and quicker to recover from, and that just helps the pace of everything else SO much that it can't be ignored.
The presentation is also great. There's a lot more story in this compared to the first. Much more story, dialogue, and cinematics, as well as actually trying to add some kind of message to the story (although it's a fairly light one). Granted the first game's bar was basically touching the ground in regards to story, this game raises it more than it had to, and that's worth something I think. The music is also fantastic and especially the boss tracks really get the blood pumping. On top of that, perhaps it's just the PS3 up-res, but the polygon count on this game is incredible. This has to be one of the best looking games on PS2, bar none. Just the fact this game runs so well is an achievement on the hardware. If I were actually playing it on a PS2, I reckon smoke would be coming out of the back of it ;P
Verdict: Highly Recommended. The first God of War feels like a first try, but this sequel is exactly what a sequel should be. It is an all-around refinement of everything about the first game. Easily one of the best action/adventure games on the PS2, and something well worth checking out if you're into that kind of thing and can handle the (admittedly rather tame graphically by today's standards) violence involved in Kratos' enemy executions.
As previously stated, this is basically an improved version of the first game in every way. The level designed is really improved to make things better signposted (sometimes a bit TOO much and oddly sometimes not enough), with hidden items quite cleverly hidden. They're way more linear with less potential for confusing backtracking and levels that wrap around like the first game had. They flow much better, even if you're hunting for goodies. The puzzles are also a lot harder than in the first game. I never had to google a single thing for the first game, but there were like 4 or 5 puzzles I had to google the solution to (partly because they're relying on mechanics the game doesn't explain or doesn't explain well enough to apply, in my defense).
The combat is largely the same, but your sub-weapons have been changed up a bit. Two of the magic spells have been swapped out for new ones, and instead of the sub-weapon sword from last game, now you have a hammer and a spear (eventually), so combat can really get mixed up depending on how you want to focus things. This game has WAY more bosses in it, like 3 or 4 times more, as well as more enemy types. The combat has also been fine tuned a bit to just make it more fun, in particular dodging has been made easier to break other combos to do and quicker to recover from, and that just helps the pace of everything else SO much that it can't be ignored.
The presentation is also great. There's a lot more story in this compared to the first. Much more story, dialogue, and cinematics, as well as actually trying to add some kind of message to the story (although it's a fairly light one). Granted the first game's bar was basically touching the ground in regards to story, this game raises it more than it had to, and that's worth something I think. The music is also fantastic and especially the boss tracks really get the blood pumping. On top of that, perhaps it's just the PS3 up-res, but the polygon count on this game is incredible. This has to be one of the best looking games on PS2, bar none. Just the fact this game runs so well is an achievement on the hardware. If I were actually playing it on a PS2, I reckon smoke would be coming out of the back of it ;P
Verdict: Highly Recommended. The first God of War feels like a first try, but this sequel is exactly what a sequel should be. It is an all-around refinement of everything about the first game. Easily one of the best action/adventure games on the PS2, and something well worth checking out if you're into that kind of thing and can handle the (admittedly rather tame graphically by today's standards) violence involved in Kratos' enemy executions.