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With the current generation of games systems now coming of
age we are beginning to see the era of the “headline” titles
approach – those that shall be forever mentioned when the
industry bods discuss a console’s life. Resident
Evil 4 marked the entrance on the GameCube, while Conker:
Live & Reloaded is currently tipped to be an Xbox legend in
the same way the original title is already a Nintendo64 spectacle.
As the rivals have their hardcore aggressors, so does the
PlayStation2. God Of War is SONY’s bargaining tool in the
backlash of inferior hardware and the GameCube and Xbox’s
abilities to boast that garnered “gamer” following. With small
amounts of previews available, God Of War was very hotly
anticipated here at Electronic Theatre which, I’m sure to
many of you won’t come as a surprise.
The title acts within itself as a fighting and puzzle based
adventure. The action is paced superbly between areas of extreme
hack-n’-slash and thought-inducing puzzle elements. The game
progresses as continuous “episodes”. The player will progress
from start to finish without ever having to revert to a menu or
loading screen o utside of play (with the exception of Saving or
Levelling-Up). The story progresses slowly at the start of the
title, inviting you upon your quest with minimal knowledge of your
character – Kratos’ profile opens itself after you get used to
doing the dirty.
The title has an Ancient Greek setting and feel to it, with
Kratos dipping heavily into Greek Mythology – both as it stands
and the developers twisted ideals of fantasy. Playing as a Spartan
on a hell-bound warpath, vengeance is always at the top of your
list.
The
combat featured in the title is very reminiscent of the likes of
the Devil May Cry franchise, with the Square button for
light and  Triangle for heavy attacks, whilst Circle performs grab
moves and Cross executes jumps. Numerous attacks may be stringed
together in order to execute devastating combos which aren’t
easily countered. The variety of attacks and combinations available
is to the extreme that even after playing through the title the
abilities you have will continue to impress and astound. As besting
your enemies you may collect coloured blobs – green, blue or red
each representing additional health, magic and experience
respectively. Progression through the twisting corridors, traps,
puzzles and beasts will grant you with further weaponry (although
limited) and magical abilities. Each of your weapons or abilities
can be Levelled-Up by “spending” the experience points you have
collected.
The
enemies and arenas play takes place in are very well constructed
– Kratos travels from the ocean to Athens, to the desert and then
to Hell, whilst being stalked by all manner of creatures including
Skeletons and Harpies, Cyclops, Medusa and a huge iron-clad
Minotaur. Each of the enemies is instantly recognisable and has
distinct weaknesses, whilst the puzzles often correlate with the
surrounding environment and never seem out-of-place.
The puzzling sections of the game are often just that –
puzzling. For the most part, the hidden corridors and
timed-switches, although entertaining, provide little challenge and
are rarely taxing. But with some progression, towards the latter
areas the title begins to prove the ability of its design team
(previously having worked on the Twisted Metal series). One
area in particular sees you rotating the inner-circle of a corridor
to line-up the exit with the entrance to other rooms; each of which
lead you in a big circle back to the inner-corridor with only a
single new option. A few later puzzles certainly have the ability
to stump players for a small amount of time, before the difficulty
ramps-up and forces you to be not only quick of finger, but quick
of thought also.
The graphics sported by the title are clearly remarkable. 
Pushing the PlayStation2 with incredible textures and an amazing
amount of full-detail enemies on screen at any one time, God Of
War also manages to capitalise on one of the GameCube’s most
remarkable features – real-time lighting. The system isn’t
rated for its graphical capabilities when compared with the
competition; however God Of War would easily stand alongside
many GameCube or Xbox releases within the last six months. The
cut-scenes are beautifully rendered – even with a little
sloppiness at a couple of later intervals; with the inherent God
Of War stylings pushing the boundaries right back to the first
time you saw a Mega-CD title playing its fuzzy FMV intro – the
immense shock comes right back to haunt you.
The sound featured in the title isn’t exactly too shabby
either. When using a digital connection,  the PlayStation2 achieves
a standard similar to that available from the Xbox and GameCube and
so the eerie screeching from the harpies or that distant screaming
sounds just as good as you’d expect, while the soundtrack is
pleasing – never becoming an entity of it’s own yet perfectly
complementing the action.
God Of War represents the pinnacle of videogames.
Everything that was strived for during the founding days has now
been perfectly realised thanks to better technical specifications,
bigger budgets and the same amount of imagination. The developers
have created an entire world confined for you as a playground in a
way that very little else in this generation has been able to. God
Of War is undeniably a work of genius, and only time will tell
if it ranks as the biggest PlayStation2 title this year, or is cast
into its own fires of forgotten gaming and joins the league of
underrated gems.
 
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