God of War

aka: Dark Odyssey, GoW, God of War HD, God of War: The Hydra Battle
Moby ID: 17344
PlayStation 2 Specs
Buy on PlayStation 2
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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.

Spellings

  • 战焞 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

453 People (402 developers, 51 thanks) · View all

Game Director / Lead Designer
Producer
Lead Programmer
Art Directors
Coordinating Producer
Associate Producers
Project Coordinator
Game Programmers
Lead Engine Programmer
Design - Level Design & Scripting
Design - Combat Scenarios
Design - Combat System
Design - Camera
Design - Level Design
[ full credits ]

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

*I* *AM* *THE* *GOD OF WAR*

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. “The Best Game For PS2” (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. It’s 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. What’s 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 doesn’t 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 “How on Earth would I be able to defeat such a creature?” (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. You’ll 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 player’s wishes. As if afraid that he might lose interest in the midgame. Tired of town ruins? Here’s a change in scenery. Tired of puzzles? Here’s 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 “Not again!” in my mind.

Another side of the entire “keeping things fresh” agenda manifests itself in game constantly feeding you new abilities. It doesn’t give all the powers at once, but give them out gradually through the course of the game. You won’t 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 don’t 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.

I’ve 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 “no thing repeats itself” 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 won’t grow tired of repeating that the graphics must solely lie on the shoulders of artists, not programmers. Artist draw, programmers fit into a game’s 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 – 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 doesn’t 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 don’t 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 game’s 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 game’s 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 won’t be able to look where developers don’t want you to. That in its turn provides an opportunity for some very juicy angles and camera work. It doesn’t make the technique any less cheaper and fake though.

As I said, that’s 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 doesn’t. You can’t 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 don’t 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 it’s 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 Pandora’s 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 doesn’t 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
Let’s sum it up!

Talent: 4/5

As far as camera changing, locations and music go this game was a dream-like experience. It’s 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: “I am something you have never seen before!”. Can’t say I agree. But the ambition of developers is very hard to ignore. They really wished the game to be “the most” 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 Monica’s titanic ambition.

Pteity (Pushing The Envelope - ity): 2/5

We’ve seen it all before. The amazing level design and thrilling action together with the exploration of the ancient Greek setting and QTE sequences weren’t 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 can’t 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.

That’s all, folks! See you back in God Of War II.

PlayStation 2 · by St. Martyne (3648) · 2007

God of War shows not only what can be done with the PS2 now, but what developers should have been doing all along

The Good
A battlefield pledge to Ares, the God of War, gives Kratos superhuman abilities at the cost of his own humanity. After years in servitude acting as the sword Ares wields, the enormity of Kratos’ crimes catch up to him in a moment of clarity triggered by a tragic event. Here the Greek legends would end, the protagonist undone by his hubris. Kratos, though, is no mere protagonist. The embodiment of an antihero, Kratos turns his single-minded focus towards a new goal: killing the God of War.

God of War starts aboard an armada heading towards Athens, where Ares lays siege. Suddenly skeletal beings crawl aboard your ship and you must repel them. Hacking away with your twin swords, the Blades of Chaos (complete with chains, so you can chain-sword-whip opponents), you knock enemies aside, cleave them in two, grab them and rip them apart, or stylishly execute them with a quick finishing move. After the deck is cleared a hatch draws your attention. You hammer away at a shoulder button to muscle the hatch open and drop down to the lower levels.

Here you find chests to restore your health, magic, or rage meters. Moving along past flooding bulkheads and tightrope walking across narrow spans, you enter a narrow hallway leaping back just as a giant Hydra head comes crashing through the floorboards. The first miniboss, mere minutes into the game, is completely indicative of what God of War is going to throw at you.

Jumping back a step, most of Kratos’ opponents can be slain with simple sword attacks or combinations. When his rage meter fills, Kratos can unleash the Rage of the Gods on his enemies dispatching them with blinding speed in a bloody flurry. There are some opponents too powerful for such base attacks though. Bosses, like the hydra head require special attacks: quickly following a succession of on-screen button prompts. Balancing timing with finesse, these special attacks are more challenging than just hammering away at an opponent.

As he kills, Kratos earns experience he can spend on upgrading his weapons (more damage and better combos) and upgrading any magic he learns on his journey. Some gods favor Kratos’ side of the struggle and grant him abilities. Early in the game Kratos earns Poseidon’s Rage, an electrical attack which radiates from him. Later Kratos earns more magic letting him strike down enemies from afar or freeze foes in their place.

Although Ares is his main target, Kratos must fight his way through a host of fiends. Drawing from Greek Mythology, Minotaurs, Meduses, and Cyclops are just some of the varied opponents. Often God of War will introduce a new monster as a miniboss requiring special attacks to put them down, but as Kratos levels up, they just become more fodder.

As a third-person action/adventure game with equal emphasis on combat and puzzle-solving. I’ve seen God of War compared to many games: Castlevania, ICO, and Rygar among others, but I’m going to suggest that God of War is really the greatest Tomb Raider game ever made. While Kratos must solve manufactured puzzles, a good portion of the game involves exploring the environment, pulling levers, scaling cliffs and jumping to ledges. While all of this sounds like typical platforming, God of War has stunning levels and a strong fundamental design concept: you are living a part of Greek mythology.

Even after fighting your way from ship to ship to take on the Hydra, even after carving your way from the streets to the rooftops of an Athens aflame towards a mountainous Ares, and even after hunting down the last Titan in the siren haunted Desert of Lost Souls, God of War still finds a way to take your breath away. God of War looks real. It looks lived in. It looks right.

It feels right. God of War has tight controls. You use the analog stick to walk across narrow beams adjusting for Kratos’ balance. Kratos leaps when you tell him to leap, fights when you tell him to fight, and (in one brief scene) scores when you tell him to score. I’ve seen a few complaints about the repetitive nature of some of the finishing moves. At first, the only way to kill a Minotaur is by forcing your blade down its throat (rapidly pressing a button). Is this button mashing? Sure, but there’s no disconnect between what you are doing with the controller and what Kratos is doing on-screen.

Beating God of War unlocks a harder difficulty setting, Challenges of the Gods, and a wealth of DVD-like extras. There’s a lengthy “making of” featurette, deleted levels, a character model graveyard, a closer look at the game’s levels and monsters, and more. All that’s missing is the opening level commentary track available on the God of War demo disk. It’s a high quality presentation of a high quality game.

The Bad
God of War has a fixed camera system which shows Kratos, his opponents and elements of interest, but a freelook option would have been a nice touch. As it stands, the camera is great and often cinematic, but a few levels would be easier if Kratos could look around a bit. One particular area, a maze-like series of beams Kratos must creep across, would be less frustrating if the player could see what Kratos obviously could.

The frustration of this level pales in comparison to a hellish series of spiky, rotating pillars Kratos must climb. Touching a single spike sends Kratos plummeting downward past the three or four sections you managed to ascend. Frustrating, yes, but more annoying since there’s no trick to it. Finally the endgame can be equally frustrating, especially if the spells you’ve leveled up aren’t working for you. Thankfully God of War shows some mercy if you keep dying, giving you the option to continue where you are at an easier setting, with no penalty.

The Bottom Line
Based solely on visuals and gameplay, God of War is a strong candidate for Game of the Year. But its epic story, wonderful acting, and incredible sound push it over the top. You can’t play God of War and think of the PS2 as being an aging platform. God of War shows not only what can be done with the PS2 now, but what developers should have been doing all along: providing seamless levels, cutscene-quality graphics, epic environments, and unnoticeable load times. God of War is a rich, satisfying gaming experience which leaves you waiting for the next installment and apathetic about the glut of toothless games currently out there.

PlayStation 2 · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2005

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
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 (ÎșÏÎ±Ï„ÎżÏ‚, "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 – Best Game Without German Release of the Year
    • 2006 – #2 Best Game of the Year
    • 2006 – #2 Best PlayStation 2 Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Best Action Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Best Hero of the Year (for Kratos)
    • 2006 – #2 Most Impressive Boss of the Year
    • 2006 – #2 Best Original Soundtrack of the Year
    • 2006 – #2 Best Voice-Acting of the Year
    • 2006 – #2 Best Graphics of the Year
    • 2006 – #3 Best Story of the Year
  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2006 - Console Game of the Year 2005
  • GamePro (Germany)
      1. February 2006 - Best Console Action Game in 2005 (notable is that the game was not released in Germany at this point)
  • GameSpy
    • 2005 – #3 Game of the Year
    • 2005 – PS2 Game of the Year
    • 2005 – PS2 Action Game of the Year
    • 2005 – PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed b< Mark Ennis, PCGamer77, Supernintedo Chalmers and Unicorn Lynx

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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.