God of War (PAL PS2)
I played the first couple of levels of this game back when it came out, and didn't think much of it. It just seemed like a Devil May Cry clone, and I'm not really a fan of those games. But I revisited it over this past week and eventually played it to completion and have to admit it's actually a lot better than I originally thought.
Although the first level (the ships) does have a pretty cool boss (the hydra thing), I wasn't overly impressed with the gameplay itself, and, to be fair, that isn't the game's strongest point. There are a lot of extra moves to acquire as Kratos becomes stronger the further through the game you progress (you spend the "orbs" you get from defeating enemies on character upgrades), but you can really get through most of the adventure using a mere handful of these.
The thing that I really enjoyed, and the thing that made me keep playing the game, was the feeling of escapism it gives. This is due to the amount of effort the creators put into every aspect of the game... it was clearly a labour of love. Some of the scenery is absolutely stunning, reminding me of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus at times, but, unlike in Shadow of the Colossus particularly, the frame rate is steady and more than acceptable in God of War. Personal favourite part has to be the mountain chained to the back of the Titan who wanders around the desert. The sense of scale is awesome, one of the coolest things I've seen in a game for a long time. The bonus feature videos you can access once you complete the game reveal they actually considered making the journey up the mountain playable instead of just via a movie sequence, and it's a shame they didn't manage to implement that because it really would have been something special. There are numerous cool set-pieces like this in the game.
The level designs are reasonably clever, in particular Pandora's temple. The whole thing is one big puzzle, I'm a sucker for when things all fit together brilliantly like that.
It wasn't an especially long game, I finished it in around four days' play, investing around two or three hours each day, but it was the perfect length for that type of game to be honest. If it was any longer it would've felt drawn-out. I enjoyed the music, nothing special but it suited the game well.
If you haven't played it yet I'd recommend picking it up (I think it's on Platinum/Greatest Hits now, I got it for £12), especially if you're into the DMC series and similar games. DMC does have a more complex combat system, but the fighting wasn't really why I played God of War, it was just something different.
Although the first level (the ships) does have a pretty cool boss (the hydra thing), I wasn't overly impressed with the gameplay itself, and, to be fair, that isn't the game's strongest point. There are a lot of extra moves to acquire as Kratos becomes stronger the further through the game you progress (you spend the "orbs" you get from defeating enemies on character upgrades), but you can really get through most of the adventure using a mere handful of these.
The thing that I really enjoyed, and the thing that made me keep playing the game, was the feeling of escapism it gives. This is due to the amount of effort the creators put into every aspect of the game... it was clearly a labour of love. Some of the scenery is absolutely stunning, reminding me of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus at times, but, unlike in Shadow of the Colossus particularly, the frame rate is steady and more than acceptable in God of War. Personal favourite part has to be the mountain chained to the back of the Titan who wanders around the desert. The sense of scale is awesome, one of the coolest things I've seen in a game for a long time. The bonus feature videos you can access once you complete the game reveal they actually considered making the journey up the mountain playable instead of just via a movie sequence, and it's a shame they didn't manage to implement that because it really would have been something special. There are numerous cool set-pieces like this in the game.
The level designs are reasonably clever, in particular Pandora's temple. The whole thing is one big puzzle, I'm a sucker for when things all fit together brilliantly like that.
It wasn't an especially long game, I finished it in around four days' play, investing around two or three hours each day, but it was the perfect length for that type of game to be honest. If it was any longer it would've felt drawn-out. I enjoyed the music, nothing special but it suited the game well.
If you haven't played it yet I'd recommend picking it up (I think it's on Platinum/Greatest Hits now, I got it for £12), especially if you're into the DMC series and similar games. DMC does have a more complex combat system, but the fighting wasn't really why I played God of War, it was just something different.