GOD OF WAR: Best game about Greece ever!

Oh my... Seriously, God of War is out of control. There hasn't been a piece of interactive entertainment with more swagger and balls-out action since Duke Nukem 3D, AND it does it with more style and better gameplay. It's as if every design decision in the entire game was checked by a pair of young college guys sitting on a couch, beer and cheeze doodles at the ready. If they said, "That rocks...", or "Woah..." it was good, if they said ANYTHING else it was passed back to the developer to make it more 'rockin'. You might think that I am bashing the game, and in a way I am, but this is just the truth. If gore and nudity aren't things you are usually seeking in your media than this is not the game for you. All that said, God of War is an important document on how to do the action genre right.

The game follows the adventures of a giant grey-skinned troll named Kratos. When I say 'troll' I mean he's ugly and he's mean. Usually the main characters in these action epics are handsome, or at least possess rugged good looks. Here we have an anti-hero who is more anti than the normal swordswingers. His past is filled with slaughter for it's own bloody sake, he is rude and unmerciful with out any of the normal boyish jocularity or smirking, and he is butt-ugly. There is mention that he is trying to make up for his past transgressions by working for the gods of Olympus, so there is some great sin (other than the bloody slaughter) that has yet to come out. He is plagued by nightmares so there is a little room to root him on but that is about it. Kratos is rage ridden monster and he seems perfect for the job.

The job is the killing of a certain god of war; Ares of Greek mythology. Ares is out to destroy Athens for some reason and Kratos is charged by Athena to stop him. Anytime I am charged by a goddess to do anything in a videogame I'm pretty content. Goddesses are usually A: super-hot and B: super powerful. What more could a guy want? So as a player I am committed to the task, but do my thumbs have the stamina?

Mashing the attack buttons is a good way to get things done in God of War. So long as the enemy isn't behind you, Kratos' "Blades of Chaos" will be pummeling someone and racking up crazy combos which are conveniently displayed on the right side of the screen. This tactic only works on 90% of the enemies however. There are larger or quicker baddies out there and trying to mash your way though them just isn't smart. There are two attack buttons, a light and a heavy attack, a grab button, block button and jump button. The combo system here feels a lot like Soul Calibur, with the moves elegantly following one another no matter what series of buttons you try. Naturally not all of them are good, and some get leaned on more than the others but it probably comes down to one's own style of play. As for these troublesome enemies, there isn't much you can do but get slammed for a little bit while you learn their combos and timing. Timing is very important in God of War as it seems that dealing with the game's gargantuan bosses often hinges on attacking at the right second.

I have a lot of the same feelings about this game that I had about another PS2 classic that I consider God of War's sister game, that is Capcom's Devil May Cry. Putting the two together it is easy to see the similarities, but where GoW really has it over DMC is in the story, graphics and level design departments. DMC was clearly grown from the roots of the Resident Evil series, and the level design shows many of the older riffs from RE and RE2 living happily alongside it's very different protagonist, Dante. The evolutionary change there was clearly in the combat and upgradeable weapons, how throwing down with enemies became a looked forward to event, rather than something you wanted to avoid. DMC's setting was great, but GoW locales are superior in every way. SCEA took what worked from DMC and built around it with the "Clash of the Titans" paintbrush and did it to great effect. The connection is further driven home with a legendary demon hunter often mentioned in the DMC world named "Sparda", and Kratos often called the "Ghost of Sparta" being a Spartan himself. Not coincidence.

As I mentioned above the Blades of Chaos can be upgraded. The way this occurs is that when an enemy is slain they will drop these glowing red orbs, which you collect and store like experience. Once safely housed in the start menu you can spend your orbs on upgrades. In addition to the blades Kratos eventually gets magic attacks granted to him by the various gods of Olympus. For example, there is an area lighting attack for gaining the trust of Poseidon and a stone turning gaze attack you get from Aphrodite. These as well can be upgraded to become stronger and more versatile. As you upgrade your weapons and magic your move list grows and you ostensibly become stronger. Aside from the damage increases although I am not sure what the true use of the upgrades are. Seeing a "no-upgrades" faq on Gamefaqs tells me that the game is beatable without them which I find a little irksome, after all if something isn't strictly necessary why include it? This however is a small complaint in a game so totally overflowing with awesome.

Right now I am about five hours into it and have no regrets. After the plodding and contemplative Nocturne, GoW is exactly what was needed clear out the cobwebs in my brain. It's like a bloody action breath mint for the mind. I also have a special amount of pride that I found this treasure at an NH pawn shop that looked like something from out of a Mad Max movie, mutants included, after a hour of sifting though copies of NHL 2003 and Barbie Horse Adventures. My cost? $8. I also got a copy of Wild Arms 3 out of the deal for the same money. The secret meaning here? To me it was like a great quest... traveling to a far away kingdom to brave strange chain-smoking monsters to come away with what was the BEST game out of the four or five thousand housed there in that decrepit temple. The fact that that game was God of War? Not coincidence.