God of War II

Sony saved the best till last with this divine inspiration

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At the moment the PS2 has become a bit like David Beckham (how's that for an unexpected analogy) it knows it's coming to the end of its life at the top and it's resigned itself to finishing its career at a lower standard, but that's not to say it's giving up and while it awaits the onset of shovelware its going all out to wow gamers with a farewell burst of AAA titles now the pressure is off. The first quarter of 2007 has seen an embarrassment of riches on Sony's aging platform. Games like Okami and Final Fantasy XII have provided a fitting swansong and much like Beckham proving to a sceptical Real Madrid that just because he's soon to be leaving for the footballing backwater of the USA it doesn't mean he's washed up just yet, the PS2 has proven that for all the next gen fanfare that will eventually see it consigned to the bargain bin, it's not vanishing quietly and thoughts of it gathering dust are a more than a wee bit premature.

This brings us to the long awaited God of War II, a game that attempts to follow the astonishing success of the original while contending with a level of expectation that would crush many lesser titles. Taking its cue from the ending of the first game, GOWII kicks off with anti hero Kratos finding life as an Olympian God a little lacking in hands-on action. Watching his beloved Spartan warriors on the verge of yet another victory he's soon unable to resist the lure of battle choosing to re-enter the mortal world and deliver a spectacular finishing blow himself despite dire warnings from the goddess Athena. To give much more of the story away would be doing the game a disservice and risk removing some of the 'wow' moments the game delivers at regular intervals right from the word go. Suffice to say soon enough Kratos has been stripped of his divine powers by an angry Zeus who traps them within the Blade of Olympus leaving a weakened Kratos' only option to take the advice of the ancient Titan Gaia and embark upon a quest to find the Sisters Of Mercy who are able to turn back time to allow Kratos a chance to change things. As action games go GOWII certainly has one of the most elegantly plotted and skilfully woven stories ever, perfectly mining its mythological setting to deliver an experience full of all the delightful twists, awe inspiring set pieces and huge battles that you'd hoped for.

Of course it's not all plot, GOW games are all about action, and this sequel delivers in spades. Athena's Blades of Chaos (twin blades chained to Kratos' forearms) are back in all their glory with an added grappling functionality that comes in very handy at times and combat relies heavily upon their skilful wielding, there are also new weapons like the Spear of Destiny and a Barbarian Hammer available at certain points in the story and every weapon comes with its own set of moves and upgrades. It's this emphasis on combo based action that fans of the original GOW will be pleased to know remains as perfectly balanced as ever, if it 'aint broke don't fix is always a good maxim and it's one SCE Santa Monica have thankfully abided to. All the spectacle and story in the world would be for nothing if Kratos handled like a lumbering brute but there are no worries on that score and the intimacy and responsiveness of the controls are as perfect as you remember them.

One major new addition from the original is the winged horse Pegasus. At certain points Kratos climbs aboard his trusty stead and takes to the air for a spot of winged combat. The Blades of Chaos function just as well in the air and there's the added bonus that once an airborne foe's health has been suitably diminished it's possible to leap onto it from Pegasus and apply a spectacular finishing move to claim that little extra personal glory. All in all however these sections feel a little under worked compared to the finely honed nature of the rest of the game and perhaps are innovation for innovation's sake.

The puzzles that broke up combat nicely in the original return here too and if anything are a little more cunning than before although thankfully always remain the right side of the difficulty line so never feel unfair or devoid of logic. A feeling that flows throughout the whole game, not once do you feel that you're failing at any point for any reason other than your own lack of skill or brain power. It's damn hard in places, but at all times GOWII feels fair and that's something that's all too rare in games of this ilk these days. Helping that feeling along is the well thought out save game and checkpoint system. Save points come along regularly, and although I tend to prefer the save anywhere approach this is a very well paced example of using save points. The game also seems to have a knack of knowing which bits are going to take a few attempts meaning that more often than not when you die you realise the last checkpoint was just before where you perished. It's a simple thing, but such a well thought out structure really cuts down on the frustration of having to replay large portions of levels meaning you constantly feel like you're making progress.

Graphically there isn't much to say other than wow, GOWII is simply beautiful. No matter that this is last gen and it's not HD, the developers have somehow managed to find an extra couple of gears in the humble PS2 and produced something that you'd not have thought possible on aging hardware. Loading screens are largely banished and somehow the massive levels are travelled seamlessly with the engine flicking from gameplay to in-game cut scenes to CGI without batting an eyelid. The boss battles that so impressed in the original have also been improved upon and their number increased so you're never far away from yet another game defining spectacle. But what impresses most, almost without you noticing at first, is the attention to detail from the smallest dust mites slowly falling through shafts of sunlight to the awe inspiring grandeur of a towering colossus, everything works together to create a whole that immerses the player far more than many supposedly next gen titles do.

Considering the near flawlessness of the original it would have been tempting to produce nothing more than a new set of levels and call it a sequel, instead it seems like the developers listened to the few small criticisms of the original, fixed those while also using a general bigger is better policy to come up with a game that remarkably manages to outshine the original while retaining everything that made it so good. Epic is a word that tends to be thrown around a lot when it comes to games but in GOWII we have a game that deserves such an accolade far more than most, from its sweeping dramatic cinematography to the massive scale of its levels there's a real sense that the game's whole development has been a labour of love which has resulted in a game of outstanding quality. There isn't a reason I can think of for any PS2 owner not to rush out and buy God of War II at the first opportunity, Sony have saved the best for last and we should all be thankful.

97%

By Paul Newcombe