Review: God of War

God of War
SCEE

Street: 03.01.06
Action Action Action

The word epic gets abused quite a bit these days. However when I say that God of War is an epic game I believe the true meaning of the word is undiluted in this use. God of War (GoW) goes big from beginning to end without pause or regret. The violence is way over the top, the task at hand is enormous and the battles are … well … epic (not to mention the very tasteful use of computer generated boobies.) The settings are great and the point of view works extremely well as the camera follows Kratos through narrow hallways and then falls backwards and upwards when he reaches open areas. The boss battles are awesome and plentiful as this game will continue to offer new challenges throughout the story. This is the story of Kratos, a man tormented by his past and sent on a mission from the gods to free his tortured mind. Throughout the story, the Gods make promises in exchange for Kratos slaying some monster or another. He obeys and does a lot of dirty work for the Gods, who do honor their promises, but in the end Kratos is unable to escape his personal demons. Apparently slaughtering hundreds of hell-spawn isn’t as therapeutic as it may seem. From the opening of the game you are immersed in combat. Tips are given on the way but thankfully there’s no ‘training period’ to trudge through at the beginning of the game. Instead of relying on a single button to mash, GoW utilizes every button on the PS2 controller giving you more attack combinations than you can memorize. Puzzles are used very well throughout the game and break up the battles quit nicely. The controls are very responsive and the visuals are great, there’s really no weak spot in this game! If big, bloody, ultra violent action is what you need then very few titles will so completely fill your blood lust as well as GoW. -Jesse Kennedy