The art of ass kicking in video games has grown decidedly stale over the last few years. It’s almost as though designers don’t realize the worth of a good badass anymore. Every now and then we’re blessed with the occasional Ninja Gaiden or Halo 2 leading man, but the craft of kicking ass seems to belong to fuzzy critters or protagonists that would rather sneak around in the shadows than come out guns blazing.

Enter Kratos: the most badass mutha to come along in years. Morally ambiguous, unapologetic, and tougher than Master Chief, Ryu Hayabusa, and BJ Blazkowicz put together, Kratos is the hardest of core. Summoned by the Gods to slay Ares, Kratos is after one thing: revenge. And he’ll stop at nothing, slaying everyone who stands in his way, to get it.



Taking elements of Greek mythology and transforming them into a landscape for unholy violence and destruction, God of War indulges gamers’ most decadent bloodlust. The violence is over-the-top, yet somehow remains morbidly tasteful. God of War is a complete action game, stopping only for the most brief of moments for the occasional puzzle or plot interruption. Wave after wave of enemies add to the pile of bodies you’ll leave in your wake, and more than once you’ll find your mouth agape in awe at some multiple combo move or exaggerated takedown.

Ranging anywhere between twelve and twenty hours, God of War is – simply put – relentless. Using his “blades of chaos”, Kratos is a one-man killing machine. The twin blades can be used for close hand-to-hand combat, or swung around for attacking at greater distances. Or, he can shoot them out at an enemy and them reel him in for a bludgeoning. Upgradeable (by collecting red orbs), and able to master new moves over time, these weapons are fascinating pieces of equipment. And the enemies come in all shapes and sizes and each require different techniques to be taken down. Many of these techniques come in the form of quick-time events. Kratos will initiate contact with one of these enemies and you’ll need to press corresponding buttons as they pop up on the screen in order to pull off impressive finishing moves.

These types of nuances help keep the seemingly endless onslaught of enemies from getting dull. It doesn’t always work, however, as tedium comes in the form of respawning enemies, many of which can be dispatched by simple button mashing. But gamers who want to enjoy the combat rather than simply mashing their way through the game will be treated to all sorts of moments that’ll cause you to yell, “Holy crap! Did you see that?”

Other upgrades come in the form of magic, learned at various points in the game by the cast of Greek Gods. The Gods are kind enough to lend you their secrets like lightening bolts, the souls of Hades, and more. These more powerful attacks, powered by blue orbs, make defeating some of the larger enemies and bosses less of a chore.

While we’re on the topic, let’s discuss some of the more interesting enemies. The whole gang is here: minotaurs, medusas, giant cyclopses, ship-wrecking harpies, and more. The bosses are of an epic scale, as would be expected from a game with this subject matter, but unfortunately are few and far between. Despite this, the scale and utter “wow” factor of the enemies and environments in this game alone make it a must buy. While running through the outskirts of Athens you’ll see an epic battle taking place in the background and people running past you in terror as you progress. Climb gigantic cliffs overlooking an ocean, or run across the blade of a gigantic sword. These levels are nothing short of astonishing, and on par with the most graphically impressive games on the PS2. There is an incredible level of detail here. Each area is unique unto itself and you’ll never have the feeling of seeing repeated levels.



Matching these sets of grand proportions is the score. Going out on a limb, it may be stated that God of War has the single most impressive soundtrack of any PS2 game. Mixing the type of grand score you’d expect out of Gladiator or Ben Hur with pulse-pounding tribal rhythms, God of War shows that you don’t have to insert out-of-place guitar riffs in your game to make the music bad ass.

With all these positives, it has to be said that God of War is not for everyone. The most obvious of that bunch are children. There are adult themes, disturbing images, tons of violence, and breasts…tons and tons of naked breasts. There’s even a little threesome minigame you can participate in. There are places in the game where you are not only able to, but sometimes required to kill innocent characters. While most of these bits are used to enforce Kratos’ animalistic personality, it has to be noted that if you are a person who morally objects to any of these sorts of thing, God of War is not for you. It can be argued that this game is about as far as the envelope has been pushed in recent years without wearing it on the sleeve of the game.

With that said, however, God of War is very close to perfecting the action genre. The sets are huge, the combos and combat mechanics are engaging, the soundtrack is sweeping and epic, and Kratos is about as intriguing a character as you’re likely to find. Furthermore, unlockable content awaits those who finish the quest. Minor hitches in the framerate and a few moments of tedium keep it from perfection, but it’s as close as we’ve seen for some time.



Article By: John