An excellent sequel. It takes everything that works from the first game, tightens and improves it, while dropping a lot of the more painful elements. Combat is addictive and cathartic as ever. Traversal and set pieces have improved. Puzzles are less annoying.

The only area it falls behind slightly is the story. As a game campaign, it delivers more epic moments, more fun set pieces. But as a story it feels like connective tissue between 1 and 3, not without its highlights, but not as compelling as the exploration of Kratos' back story, or the showdown on Mount Olympus.

Still, overall I think this is a better game than its predecessor, and an enjoyable action game even today.