God of War (PS2)
Developed and Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment America

One of the main reasons for Sony’s dominance in the console wars over the last 2 generations is, without a doubt, their third party developer support. Some of the biggest games of the last few years have been Sony exclusives, but very few were developed in-house by Sony themselves. While Nintendo’s only saving grace has always been their first-party titles, Sony has traditionally focused on the hardware and let others come up with the software that will sell it.

But the winds of change are blowing, and as of late Sony has started getting serious about developing their own killer apps too. For the first time I can remember, I have actually taken notice of a Sony-developed Playstation 2 game. From Sony’s Santa Monica studio, developers of the futuristic racer Kinetica, comes “God Of War” an epic action/adventure game that provides a complete sensory overload like few other games ever have before. This game is getting rave reviews all across the board, and with good reason. It is an addictive and overwhelming game experience that brings video games to another level of enjoyment.

The name “God Of War” may sound somewhat generic and uninteresting, but the game is steeped in Greek mythology and the title refers to the ruthless war god Ares, son of Zeus and Hera. In the game you play Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior who once sold his soul to Ares in exchange for near god-like power. However, in return he ends up being a lackey to Ares, forced to do his bidding and in essence becoming little more than a brutal killing machine. He is plagued by nightmares and tortured by his debt to Ares, and so with the help of Athena and the other Greek gods he sets out to seek vengeance and end his servitude once and for all.

The first thing you will notice about this game is that it gives you a feeling of empowerment like nothing you’ve played before. You really do feel like you could go toe to toe with a god, and even from the very first moment of gameplay you can pull off insane attack moves and combos that are a hell of a lot of fun. Kratos’ main weapons are dual swords on chains that allow him to impale enemies and whip them around in the air, and you can string together series of moves with Tony Hawk-like flexibility for added bonuses.

The game runs at a blazing speed comparable to Ninja Gaiden, but with a much more manageable difficulty level as you mow down hordes of creatures at will. The boss fights are also massive in scale right from the get go, only to build even more epic as you progress. You are presented with your first boss fight after only a few minutes, and this also introduces you to the context-sensitive mini-games — an idea that may have been borrowed from Resident Evil 4 to incorporate more varied interactions into the game.

There is also a magic system in God Of War, which endows Kratos with special attacks and maneuvers that he gains by defeating major enemies along the way. Things like Meduza’s gaze and Poseidon’s lightning attack, for example. This adds some RPG-style choices as you must decide which special attacks you want to improve over time. The game is also more than just combat; there are many Prince of Persia-esque puzzle elements here too, making it a very balanced and enjoyable game.

Even from a technical level, this game is a true marvel. The stunning visuals and lack of load times are incredible, even moreso considering they managed to pull it off on the limited technology of the Playstation 2.

The other thing you can’t help but notice about God Of War is that the game just oozes testosterone. Kratos as a character is dark, cruel, selfish and unforgiving. In other words, he is exactly what all males aged 18 to 25 wish they could be. The game also duly earns its hard “M for Mature” rating. The extreme violence will assail your senses time and again, and there are also a lot of bare breasts to be seen (apparently all Greek goddesses wear clothing made strictly of sheer see-through fabric). There is even a sex mini-game, allowing Kratos to indulge his god-like lust. You don’t actually see the act, of course, but the accompanying sounds leave little to the imagination. To be honest, this part seemed a little bit juvenile to me; I don’t doubt that such a stupid little detail has helped generate additional hype around the game, but the thing is, God Of War is good enough to warrant people’s attention without resorting to such petty gimmicks.

The truly interesting thing though is that God Of War seems to be pulling in non-gamers just as easily as the hardcore game geeks. There is something universal about the appeal and overall production quality of this game. Although it’s been in the making for over 3 years, it seemed to come out of nowhere to quickly become one of the frontrunners for game of the year. In a few years’ time this may still be looked at as one of the defining games that truly propelled video games beyond movies in terms of immersiveness and pure entertainment. Basically it comes down to this: if you own a Playstation 2, you have to play this game. And if you don’t own a Playstation 2 or any game console at all, it’s time to think long and hard about why that is, because this is way too much fun to miss out on. — Sean

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