God of War
- God of War (2018 on PlayStation 4, 2021 on PlayStation Now, 2022 on Windows)
Description official descriptions
God of War is set in the age of ancient Greek myths. The hero of the game is a mortal warrior Kratos. Long time ago, Kratos was the leader of Spartans, a fearless and brutal general who waged wars for the glory of his city. Today, he is known as the Ghost of Sparta. For the past ten years, he is tormented with terrible nightmares, unable to forget the tragedy that happened in his past. He has to serve the gods of Olympus, who promised to forgive his sins if he becomes their champion. Finally, the goddess Athene tells Kratos that redemption will be granted to him if he defeats her brother, the god of war Ares, who was the very reason for the tragic event of his past...
God of War is a 3D action game with platforming and puzzle-solving elements. Kratos has two default swords that he will always carry with him, called the Blades of Chaos. They allow the player to perform combos, which will constantly climb until the fight is over or until it takes too long to register another hit. The higher the combo total, the more red orbs Kratos receives from defeated enemies.
Similar to Devil May Cry, the red orbs collected from fallen enemies can be used to purchase upgrades. It is possible to upgrade the default weapons, learning new moves and striking faster, or put the orbs into different weapons acquired throughout the game, such as Blade of Artemis. Kratos will, over time, also have access to a selection of magic spells. At specific points in the game, he will be able to generate an arc of electricity, courtesy of Zeus, or use the decapitated head of a Gorgon to turn enemies into stone with Meduza's Gaze.
The game features several unlockable extras, which are only acquired when the player has beaten the game on different difficulty modes. Most of the features are a behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of the game, such as creating the world, modeling Kratos, and a look at deleted levels that didn't make the final cut of the game.
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- æç„ - Chinese spelling (simplified)
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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 93% (based on 104 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 166 ratings with 11 reviews)
A perfect example about what gaming is all about.
The Good
Sometimes you pick up a game and try it. You play with it for a few minutes and then you say, "I'll definitely play it some time". God of War is not one of those games. GoW is a game that you start and don't leave until the very end. In just a few seconds you feel complete control over Kratos, the charismatic main character of the game. You feel the strength, the power, you sense you are about to enter a journey of epic proportions and you are just about right. This is a unique experience, with a feel of its own. From the very first moment of the game to the end, it's perfectly consistent with its concept and purposes. The story unfolds at the right pace, the difficulty level increases progressively, as you obtain new weapons, as you gain more power. It's challenging enough to give a sense of achievement as you progress, yet it is never hard to the brink of desperation. It's just perfect, there's no challenge in the game that you cannot overcome in a few attempts.
The Bad
There was nothing I disliked in this game. One can argue there's no true freedom of movements, that you cannot interact with most of the scenario, that the game relies too much on its own concepts and merits, not going beyond that setting. But, to be honest, I couldn't care less. If you tried to include any of these characteristics in the game, it just wouldn't be GoW, they just don't fit in the concept.
The Bottom Line
Many good games, technically well made, lack a certain charisma, a feel of completeness that ends up compromising the quality of the game. What's the point of playing a game if it doesn't entertain you, it doesn't give you any kind of satisfaction? A game is an experience. It doesn't always have to be realistic, you don't have to always be able to wander around an endless open world and destroy every particle of it. It doesn't have to last for 100 hours, with neverending sidequests or mini-games. I played God of War and I loved it. It was a great 10-hour gaming experience, immersive fun and whole.
PlayStation 2 · by Little God (2) · 2008
The Good
I admit that I was approaching this game with a small bucket of skepticism. Actually it was a huge tank car of skepticism, to be exact. âThe Best Game For PS2â (as labeled by some professional critics) while observing from the bird-view perspective of a hardcore PC gamer, seemed to be nothing more than an mindless teenager slasher-fantasy full of inappropriate tits and gore. When I had actually completed it, the game turned out to be exactly that, with a small exception. Itâs an extremely bloody fantastic mindless teenager slasher-fantasy full of inappropriate tits and gore.
During the course of the game I tried very hard to suppress all the good feelings I felt towards this game. I guessed that is what every sane and mature person would do. The game has surprisingly little to lure you in from the start. The bastardized version of ancient Greek mythology, square-jawed protagonist who speaks more akin to a US marine than to a champion of gods and to finish it all lots of QTE sequences taken straight from Shenmue and elevated to height of Olympus itself. So, tell me, who would actually buy into that sort of crap? As it turned out, I would. The explanation for this paradox can be summarized in three words: premise, design and variety. These are three whales upon which the genius of this game rests. In the good section of this review I try to explain each of those in detail. Follow me.
The premise of God Of War is deceivingly simple. You are Kratos, son of Sparta and the champion of the Gods. Athena, your only contact with the Olympus asks you of last favor, after which all the nightmares and horrors of your past would be erased and you will be released from the servitude to the Gods. The task is daunting: kill Ares, the God of War. Whatâs brilliant is that it unwillingly copycats (or maybe devoutly follows) one of the most popular story in the ancient Greek mythos. Not a particular one, but a general idea. The idea of a mortal opposing the gods themselves. Kratos is a powerful character; he doesnât undergo a series of dramatic changes or offer any psychological insight into the human nature. Instead he is son of anarchy, the mortal who defies fate, and is up to challenge the god of Olympus himself.
The Gods VS Man theme is evident throughout the whole game and is retained in sequel, God Of War II, and I presume will be concluded in the final installment of the series on PS3. This is a effective albeit a very simple theme. It gives the game an initial charge that provides player with enough amount of motivation to complete the game no matter what. The first time you see Ares, a true god of Olympus, you wander âHow on Earth would I be able to defeat such a creature?â (a feeling not so unlike the one experienced in Shadow Of Colossus), and only the determined look on Kratos face reassure you, that this man is certainly up to the task. The idea of initial thrust is actually a saving grace of many action-oriented games. Many of the not-so-bad shooters have fallen a victim to their extremely mediocre starting levels with no personal connection to the protagonist: Black, Chaser, Far Cry, Doom 3, Cybermage and lots of others. The player ought to be given some motivation in order to cope with the limited interaction possibilities an action game offers. The good examples of that are Max Payne and Outlaws, utilizing the ever-green plot of revenge. God Of War stands besides those titles offering us an amazingly determined protagonist, Kratos, who in his hatred and despair challenge the Gods.
But the premise and cool character alone is not enough for any game to succeed. People need meat! The minute to minute process of the gameplay, so to speak. While being a slasher in its core God Of War still carries with itself a huge bag of additional goodies. Youâll get puzzles to solve, huge areas to explore and items to collect. Everything here is governed by Variety. I deliberately spell variety from the capital letter, since it appears a capital design idea behind the game. No matter what, the Santa Monica studios gently caters each of the playerâs wishes. As if afraid that he might lose interest in the midgame. Tired of town ruins? Hereâs a change in scenery. Tired of puzzles? Hereâs a nasty monster. Want some jumping? Here you go. The amazing fact is that those sequences are timed just right. Never had I encounter a group of monsters with a thought âNot again!â in my mind.
Another side of the entire âkeeping things freshâ agenda manifests itself in game constantly feeding you new abilities. It doesnât give all the powers at once, but give them out gradually through the course of the game. You wonât feel that things have become stale not once. Alright, partly that is due to the game being rather short, but mostly thanks to diversity God Of War boasts. Even the Quick Time Events, which has already earned an infamous status, are brilliantly executed. You donât press the buttons because developers felt limited in providing real gameplay. You do just for delivering a final blow to the weakened enemy, which if done with traditional cut-scenes would have felt anticlimactic. Perfect implementation of the not-so perfect element. As much as I like Fahrenheit, God Of War presents a completely different and at the same time utterly correct use of QTE ever imaginable. Look closer, Quantic Dream (developer of Fahrenheit) this is what QTE are for.
Iâve mentioned puzzles a bit earlier in the review. I think those require a few more bytes of this HTML page. Puzzles in God Of War are not particularly challenging, however they are extremely entertaining. Once again an amazing âno thing repeats itselfâ formula takes its effect. Various contraptions, combinations, traps provide the most interesting tomb raiding experience reminiscent of ⊠well, Tomb Raider series, I guess. While in search for the Pandora Box in the huge temple complex, Kratos has to partake in a series of challenges associated with each God of Olympus. That bit of the game was clearly influenced by original Tomb Raider. A very good choice of inspiration, I might add.
And to finish it all, the game wraps its already attractive nature into eye-popping visuals. I wonât grow tired of repeating that the graphics must solely lie on the shoulders of artists, not programmers. Artist draw, programmers fit into a gameâs engine. God Of War is a prefect visualization to that design idea. It neatly combines the Greek approach to design with an overall fantasy flavor and spice it up with extreme love to gigantism. Everything is big and awe-inspiring in this game. Titans, gods, temples â everything visually speaks for itself. In its graphical department GoW easily beats every other game of its genre. Even Prince Of Persia series, while trying to do something similar with Arabian Nights setting doesnât quite reach the Olympic production values of God Of War.
All in all, GoW is one fantastic game. Keep that in mind while reading the bad section, and donât you forget, that I am trying really hard to find something wrong with it.
The Bad
The first problem that bugs me is too connected with the gameâs style and presentation. Much of its goodness relies upon on a camera angle and superior lighting techniques. Add to this an extreme linearity of God Of War levels, and you will see that the gameâs illustrious locations are nothing more than a cardboard set of Hollywood decorations and there is no world to speak of behind them. Mind you, those are very well crafted decorations. However, in order not to reveal their other ugly cardboard side, the developers p have ceased a camera control away from the player, so you wonât be able to look where developers donât want you to. That in its turn provides an opportunity for some very juicy angles and camera work. It doesnât make the technique any less cheaper and fake though.
As I said, thatâs not just a problem of camera. The whole approach to visual design consists of load upon loads of tricks and limitations according to what gets on camera and what doesnât. You canât depict a convincing virtual world based on such trickery. Shadow Of Colossus is a perfect combination of cinematic action and unrestricted freedom of movement and camera.
Another gripe I have with the game is its plot. I donât mean premise or story, which being not exactly great serve their function well. What I have in mind is the changing objectives and unfolding narrative. This game has none of that. In the beginning you are told to retrieve the Pandora Box, (developers should really have chosen another name for it, since itâs nothing like a Pandora Box from the Greek mythos) the only weapon capable of defeating Ares. Little did I know, that the whole game will consists of that important but ultimately not that inspiring an objective. The road to Pandoraâs Box is interesting enough, but I would definitely preferred a larger number of milestones. As it is, the pace of the game feels extremely uneven. Something Max Payne, for example, which also had a very simple story, avoided altogether by introducing a lot of interesting side villains and constantly changing the current objective of protagonist consequently keeping the pace strong.
And last and the most least is that gore and sex haves a very juvenile portrayal in this game. Sex doesnât go beyond showing tits with blurry textures on them and gore just stays in the middle with disjointed limbs without venturing to do some really nasty stuff. Not that it bothers me so much. In fact, it rather saddens me that people concentrate their attention on such stuff instead of parts where the game really shines. If so I could've appreciated it much earlier.
The Bottom Line
Letâs sum it up!
Talent: 4/5
As far as camera changing, locations and music go this game was a dream-like experience. Itâs hard to believe that the only game the studio has outputted before this one is a distasteful Twisted Metal racing game. Great job!
Ambition: 4/5
Clearly, the game screams to you: âI am something you have never seen before!â. Canât say I agree. But the ambition of developers is very hard to ignore. They really wished the game to be âthe mostâ in pretty much every area. And they did succeed. The Titan Kronos wandering in his eternal torment through the sands of damned desert is a good illustration to Santa Monicaâs titanic ambition.
Pteity (Pushing The Envelope - ity): 2/5
Weâve seen it all before. The amazing level design and thrilling action together with the exploration of the ancient Greek setting and QTE sequences werenât invented by this game. In fact taking into account that the game takes a freelook camera view away from the player may be considered as a step backwards to the days of 2D platformers. And that is not a good thing.
Effort: 5/5
No problem, here. The game goes to great lengths to be constantly entertaining to a player. That results in a zero amount of filler material. Everything is unique and well timed.
Adequacy: 4/5
I say that even if the Greek setting isn't portrayed exactly as Homer and Co envisioned it, the overall theme and story the game takes is pretty much consistent with the Greek mythology. A single mortal defies the rule of Gods upon him and defeats the God Of War. Will do.
Total: 3.8/5
God Of War is an action game. And everything which is required from an action game it does well. It has plenty of variety in it to keep you coming back for more, or as in my case, spend a whole night through playing it unable to stop at all.
The amazing design of locations is enough for everyone even in 2007 not to regret the lack of next-generation console at home. The music is a perfect fit for the game. I canât even find the words to describe it properly. I guess it can be called a classical music with an attitude of Trash Metal band. Great!
And a nicely presented story keeps you from wondering, why you are playing this stupid slasher game when there is a serious Role-Playing experience awaiting you in other room.
Thatâs all, folks! See you back in God Of War II.
PlayStation 2 · by St. Martyne (3648) · 2007
An excellent fighting adventure, marred only slightly by a heavy overdose of pointless gore
The Good
God of War is one of the better action / adventure games to come out in some time. It incorporates a Greek mythological theme, a solid & intuitive fighting game engine, mild platforming action sequences, intriguing puzzle sections and top-notch graphics in a successful blend.
One of the elements that I found refreshing were the mini-challenges required to dispatch different foes with. In some cases, one must enter a button sequence quickly to finish off an enemy (such as a hydra), or in others, one must button-mash quickly to defeat a Minotaur.
I very much enjoyed the puzzle elements. God of War is not by far a puzzle game, but the puzzles / riddles included in the game are just enough to separate the many fighting action sequences. As well, they're challenging without being too difficult. Some particularly rewarding puzzles involve moving stone blocks in such a sequence that you can hop up to reach a special weapon or health bonus, choosing the right path on some girders so that there are fewer enemies to fight, and resting statues on top of switches that allow you to pass though gates.
The best accomplishment of the game, however, I think would be the fighting engine. It's difficult to make a "brawler" of this kind without it become boring and repetitive. God of War manages enough in the way of weapon and enemy selection and combos available that it never truly becomes tedious. There are a huge variety of ways to attack opponents, including multiple throws, jump attacks, jumping throws, throw-combos and all kinds of crazy nonsense. In a few sequences your character is climbing on a horizontal rope and you must basically fight other climbing enemies on the same rope with your feet. I took especially devilish pleasure in catching foes in a head-scissor and then hurling them into the dark chasm beneath.
The Bad
While God of War makes no secret that its theme is dark and not for the feint of heart, it goes too far in the way of over-the-top blood and nasty stuff. I'm not offended by it by any means, but it's clear that the makers spent just a little too much time catering to the fourteen-year-old boy crowd who will surely coo and yelp with delight over how gross their new bloody game is. You spend time cracking harpies' spines, jamming a dagger into the pried-open mouth of a Minotaur, ripping foes ribcages apart with chains and all kinds of fairly unnecessarily rough stuff. The end effect of all these things on me was a general feeling of slight disgust and distaste, which unfortunately discolor my enjoyment of the game significantly. And no, I wasn't expecting Super Mario Sunshine or anything along those lines. But this game is many, many levels dirtier and more gory than any Mortal Kombat or similar title, and I didn't see why it needed to be. On a related note, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is a pretty "gross" game that never really seemed to overdo it in a way that turned me off like God of War did.
The Bottom Line
God of War is a really great game in terms of almost every level of design. It's a superbly put together product that is only slighted by me for being pointlessly dark, bloody and full of gory grime at almost every turn. The action, graphics, puzzles, control and nearly everything else that really affects gameplay are all top notch. It would easily be one of my favorite games if it didn't take on the personality of a teenage boy trying to impress girls with boogers and dead frogs. "Hey everyone, look at how gross I can be!" is a pick up line that just simply doesn't work for me at all.
PlayStation 2 · by Greg Mitchell (37) · 2006
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
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Kratos | Unicorn Lynx (181780) | May 19, 2008 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The PS2 version of God of War appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Athena
In the God of War series, the Greek Goddess Athena is voiced by Carole Ruggier. Co-incidentally, she also voiced the same role in the game Age of Mythology.
Development
According the "Making of" materials, A number of elements were removed from the finished game. Kratos, for example, underwent a number of incarnations before his final design. Some of these included a tribalistic, African design with dreadlocks, a "Lone Wolf and Cub" theme that included a child or small dog (which may have inspired the Cerberus Pups), a vaguely futuristic, armoured look, and various gladiator designs, which were rejected because they didn't look savage enough.
German version
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's original intention was to release this game in Germany alongside the other countries in June 2005. They even had a cover art for the Germany release ready, as you can see on this back cover, yet there was one big problem.
The USK, Germany's age rating organization, refused to give the game a rating. And while it is not illegal to sell games in Germany without a USK rating (in this case it acts in most cases as it were rated USK 18), Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland decided to not release the game in Germany.
For this, SCED's Marketing Director Ulrich Barbian gave a statement telling that:
"The publication of a title without an age rating does not fit Sony Computer Entertainment Deutschland's company philosophy. As a pioneer of a whole category, we can't expect that the public accepts video gaming as a natural entertainment like music and video if we release titles without age ratings. We hope our Action-Adventure fans understand us. Besides, there are many very good Action-Adventures available for the PlayStation 2, which got an age rating from the USK."
Besides this marketing speech, there is another reason. Games released in Germany after April 2003 without a USK rating tend be be indexed shortly after. And this means that most of the sales drop to zero after a short time.
Essentially, publishers only have two choices once the USK rejects the game. Give up or cut it so much until the USK is satisfied. The latter of course runs the risk that the publisher is investing tons of money in cutting it down and the public won't take it anymore, because it is cut way too much.
A similar thing happened with Activision's Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, where Activision decided not to release in in Germany after the USK refused it. And ultimately, the game found its way to the index.
But for God of War, don't cutting it down went to success, as the USK revised the decision two days ago, on 13 February 2006, when it got its USK 18 rating (and therefore the protection from being indexed). However, there is one change: during the sacrificing sequence the human victim was replaced with a monster.
Kratos
Kratos, the name of the game's main character, is Greek for strength or power. Even though he is not part of the canonical Greek mythology, a deity named Kratos (ÎșÏαÏÎżÏ, "power") is mentioned in several classic works, including Hesiod's Theogony, the primary source for Greek mythology.
Kratos was one of the four children of the titan Pallas and Ocean's daughter Styx. He had a brother named Zelos ("rivalry"), and sisters Bia ("force") and - the most famous of the four - Nike ("victory").
The four sided with Zeus when he fought the titans, and became somewhat of "bodyguards" to him. Interestingly enough, in the few myths that mention Kratos, his portrayal is not dissimilar to the protagonist of God of War. His loyalty to his master and his brutality are particularly noticeable.
Awards
- 4Players
- 2005 â Best Game Without German Release of the Year
- 2006 â #2 Best Game of the Year
- 2006 â #2 Best PlayStation 2 Game of the Year
- 2006 â Best Action Game of the Year
- 2006 â Best Hero of the Year (for Kratos)
- 2006 â #2 Most Impressive Boss of the Year
- 2006 â #2 Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
- 2006 â #2 Best Voice-Acting of the Year
- 2006 â #2 Best Graphics of the Year
- 2006 â #3 Best Story of the Year
- Computer Games Magazine
- March 2006 - Console Game of the Year 2005
- GamePro (Germany)
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- February 2006 - Best Console Action Game in 2005 (notable is that the game was not released in Germany at this point)
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- GameSpy
- 2005 â #3 Game of the Year
- 2005 â PS2 Game of the Year
- 2005 â PS2 Action Game of the Year
- 2005 â PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
Information also contributed b< Mark Ennis, PCGamer77, Supernintedo Chalmers and Unicorn Lynx
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Wikipedia: God of War
Information about God of War at Wikipedia
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by JPaterson.
PlayStation 3 added by MAT.
Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Xoleras, formercontrib, DreinIX, Caelestis, Patrick Bregger, Charly2.0, FatherJack.
Game added April 13, 2005. Last modified January 28, 2024.