God of War Review
Basically, God of War is what the Warrior Within TRIED to be. Ubisoft put so much work into the personality of the Prince and so much into the fighting, but it all kinda fell flat. The platforming was still great, and the Puzzles were nice, if obscure.
God of War is a lot more straightforward. The fighting is amazing. It doesn't get old. It's simple and straightforward, switching between two weapons (chainblades, heavy sword), and 4 spells.
Plus, just about each enemy has a special brutal way to kill them, especially the bosses. For example, when fighting a gorgon, you wear her down sufficiently, press a button, and then you have to rotate the analog stick in the right direction to rip her head off. Even though you don't have to kill them this way, it's a nice brutal touch, and it always yields blue orbs to fill up your meter. As the enemies get bigger, the sequences get more complex and more brutal.
Aside from that, the only significant way in which God of War differs from other action titles is art direction. It's unprecedentedly beautiful - the whole game is stunning and never lets down. Also, it has very little loading times. I'm talking maybe one minute of loading throughout the whole game (not counting saving/loading games). It all adds up to a very seamless, stunning experience that makes it hard to put the controller down.
A nice addition to the game is behind the scene extras that you can unlock as you beat the game. There're clips of deleted levels, concept art, even teasers as to a possible next game and a look into the backstory of Kratos. It's about 30 minutes of extra stuff that gives the game an even more cinematic feel.
I mentioned the fighting, but what about the other two elements? The platforming is decent, likely the weakest element of the game. Don't expect a lot of flips or pole swingning such as Dante or the Prince, but some of the best sequences are wall climbing spots where you have to battle a barrage of enemies. Platforming also makes up for the most annoying deaths ever, which is, of course, a flaw in every game.
The puzzles are nice, akin to Devil May Cry 3's. They're pretty straightforward, even if you don't always know that what you're doing is toward a puzzle. You just progress, and you find that you come across the solutions to puzzles automatically. They're nice and clever, but don't require a the huge amount of thinking of something like Onimusha (which the game is a good bit like, as well).
The best way to sum up what God of War does is that it's not overly innovative - and this is explained by David Jaffe (game's director) in the game's extras - but that it tries to take every element of action games and improve on it. Does it succeed? What God of War manages to do is take familiar elements of gameplay and make them into a brutal, violent, fresh, accessible package of fun. You don't care that you've been collecting red orbs, green orbs, and blue orbs since the PS2's inception - and why should you? It's as good as ever.
If you're a fan of action games you probably already have it. If somehow you don't, get it.
If you're not a fan, give it a try anyway. Find a friend who has it, or rent it somewhere. It's less frustrating than Persia, less cheap than DMC3, and less methodical than Onimusha - all the while preserving or improving on the elements of those games that make them worthwhile to play.
God of War is a lot more straightforward. The fighting is amazing. It doesn't get old. It's simple and straightforward, switching between two weapons (chainblades, heavy sword), and 4 spells.
Plus, just about each enemy has a special brutal way to kill them, especially the bosses. For example, when fighting a gorgon, you wear her down sufficiently, press a button, and then you have to rotate the analog stick in the right direction to rip her head off. Even though you don't have to kill them this way, it's a nice brutal touch, and it always yields blue orbs to fill up your meter. As the enemies get bigger, the sequences get more complex and more brutal.
Aside from that, the only significant way in which God of War differs from other action titles is art direction. It's unprecedentedly beautiful - the whole game is stunning and never lets down. Also, it has very little loading times. I'm talking maybe one minute of loading throughout the whole game (not counting saving/loading games). It all adds up to a very seamless, stunning experience that makes it hard to put the controller down.
A nice addition to the game is behind the scene extras that you can unlock as you beat the game. There're clips of deleted levels, concept art, even teasers as to a possible next game and a look into the backstory of Kratos. It's about 30 minutes of extra stuff that gives the game an even more cinematic feel.
I mentioned the fighting, but what about the other two elements? The platforming is decent, likely the weakest element of the game. Don't expect a lot of flips or pole swingning such as Dante or the Prince, but some of the best sequences are wall climbing spots where you have to battle a barrage of enemies. Platforming also makes up for the most annoying deaths ever, which is, of course, a flaw in every game.
The puzzles are nice, akin to Devil May Cry 3's. They're pretty straightforward, even if you don't always know that what you're doing is toward a puzzle. You just progress, and you find that you come across the solutions to puzzles automatically. They're nice and clever, but don't require a the huge amount of thinking of something like Onimusha (which the game is a good bit like, as well).
The best way to sum up what God of War does is that it's not overly innovative - and this is explained by David Jaffe (game's director) in the game's extras - but that it tries to take every element of action games and improve on it. Does it succeed? What God of War manages to do is take familiar elements of gameplay and make them into a brutal, violent, fresh, accessible package of fun. You don't care that you've been collecting red orbs, green orbs, and blue orbs since the PS2's inception - and why should you? It's as good as ever.
If you're a fan of action games you probably already have it. If somehow you don't, get it.
If you're not a fan, give it a try anyway. Find a friend who has it, or rent it somewhere. It's less frustrating than Persia, less cheap than DMC3, and less methodical than Onimusha - all the while preserving or improving on the elements of those games that make them worthwhile to play.