God of War II (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita)

God of War II

Developer(s) – Santa Monica Studios

Publisher(s) – Sony Computer Entertainment

Director(s) – Cory Barlog & David Jaffe

Producer – Steve Caterson

PEGI – 18

Released back in 2007 when the seventh generation of gaming had just started out, and with many critics describing it as the swan song of the PlayStation 2 era, God of War II built on its predecessor continuing the story. And adding many new combat features and mechanics required to solve new and more puzzles to progress through the game. Most reviews I’ve read seem to point to this game being far superior to its predecessor. But in my opinion, it’s about on par with the original God of War for a multitude of reasons. 

Graphics – 8.5/10

In terms of the technical aspect of the visuals, there isn’t a great deal of difference between this and the first game. In my opinion, there are no real improvements in the quality of the graphics. Which in hindsight was to be expected to an extent, given the relatively short development cycle. That being said, however, in terms of conceptual design, there is a massive improvement. In terms of diversity in scenery and level design. Keeping the tableau of the series fresh and distinguishable from the first God of War. The second game takes Kratos across an even bigger range of different landscapes than the first. It is for the most part confined to only a few different locations. There’s also a mixture of old and new enemies to fight. This also adds to the mythology of the series in a big way. 

Gameplay – 8.5/10

The gameplay is so similar to that of the original God of War that it’s ostensibly an extension of the original game. It’s heavy on combat and puzzle-solving and has the additional elaborate boss fights to contend with. Arguably even more elaborate than those of the first game. There are a number of new weapons and spells to cast to keep things diversified, but overall, it still offers the same amount of satisfaction to be had in upgrading weapons and learning new abilities. And, of course, progressing through a new story. 

Controls – 10/10

With the seamless introduction of a few new mechanics, the game’s control scheme is identical to that of the first game. There are no issues, and combat is as fluent as what needs to be (especially on harder difficulties). And three are no needless complications to frustrate players. The context-sensitive sequences had been fractionally refined. But players will be able to go from the first game to the second without skipping a beat. 

Lifespan – 6/10

As with the first game, the second can take there around 6 to 7 hours to finish. Which again in hindsight may have been expected in light of the development time. But still wasn’t any kind of decisive improvement over the first game. The best of the God of War series would be yet to come. And this game is good for the time it lasts. But I think a little more time needed to be spent on this game for it to be considered better than the first in every respect, including lifespan. 

Storyline – 9.5/10

The most decisive improvement God of War II made over the first, however, was in its story. Having now fallen out of favor with the gods of Olympus, Kratos now seeks revenge. With the help of the banished titans from the Titanomachy. In order to defeat Zeus, he is instructed to find the Sisters of Fate, who are reputed to have the ability to grant great power to those deemed worthy. Playing out somewhat similar to Homer’s Odyssey, it doesn’t exactly play out like as much of a traditional Greek tragedy as the first game does. Contrarily, it does better to perpetuate a strong sense of hope for Kratos. And even to set a precedent for where the rest of the franchise goes from hereon.

Originality – 8/10

The concept of Greek Mythology in gaming was a relatively new idea at the time of the release of the second game anyway, but the developers managed to keep the whole God of War formula fresh with the introduction of a whole load of new elements in every respect, which is all the more impressive, given the fact that first game ended on a very strong note of finality. I was surprised when I first heard there was to be a sequel to the original God War after having played the first game back when it was released; I was also impressed by the fact that it didn’t fail to impress in and of itself a sequel that I had absolutely no idea of where it could’ve possibly gone. 

Happii

Overall, God of War II is every bit as great a game as its predecessor. The combat remains intense, the storyline has been kept fresh, and it paves the way nicely for the later games, which provided even further improvements that would later be made to this legendary franchise. 

Score

50.5/60

8/10 (Very Good)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *