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God of War

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

  • 战神 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Screenshots

Promos

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: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 173 ratings with 11 reviews)

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

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

It's not easy to be a human being

The Good
Usually I like platform games, even though you need a lot of patience for them. "God of War" is just such a game. In every place you have to figure out the trick that you need to do to continue. Like for example there is a place with three switches, you need to find a way to press them all to open a door.

There is also fighting, and the moves look great. And there are many combinations to do different moves. Another very fun thing are those parts when you have to press different buttons one after the other, or the same button very quickly. Like for example when you have to press circle quickly to kill that cow. It's very cruel, to put a knife into the mouth of a cow. Poor cow! Well, it's not really a cow, more like a cow-warrior.

Speaking of those cows, there are some that are on fire. I don't understand how they can be alive. I mean, they are burning. This is already a steak, not a cow.

You also crawl on walls, like Spiderman, kicking the enemies that try to hit you. This part is a bit silly, just hit the enemies a couple of times until they fall down.

The great thing about all this is that there are always different things to do. You never feel bored. Sometimes there is a lot of fighting, sometimes a lot of puzzles.

It's a platform game with a great story. The story is great because of Kratos. Actually, Kratos is an evil man. He kills people, he even kills innocent people, he is very cruel. But... we still feel compassion to him. I don't know how the developers did that. I don't know how they could look so deep into his soul. They show us that this character is still a human being. He is bad, he continues doing bad things, but he also feels bad. He suffers. That was the most exciting thing in the game.

There was one very touching part in the game... I can't say exactly, but you will know when you play it. It reminded me of the song: "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"...

Now the other characters are gods. And they are really cruel. You have to be cruel to become a god. For example, Athena is very beautiful, but also very cruel. And Ares... well, he is the God of War, so if he doesn't make war, what would he be? It's "part of his job"... It's hard to say, because he is cruel, I admit it, but the whole meaning of his life is to be God of War, I don't think he can reject it. So when he dies... I even had some pity to him. And what happens in the end is very sad, very tragic.

The graphics and the music are cool, no complaints.

The Bad
The only bad thing is the camera.You can't look around. The camera changes automatically. You lose your direction. Especially me, because I have no sense of direction at all.

Maybe many people can think that killing an innocent person in a game is bad, but that was the game's intention. This game is all about war. Maybe that part where Kratos just kicked down an innocent man was a bit too much. Although I think it was part of the game's meaning. It's all about gods and sacrifices. And I mean, it's just a game. Don't take this part too seriously.

The Bottom Line
All the blood and violence are part of the game's idea, so they have a meaning. And Kratos is a complicated character, and his story is touching. "God of War" is a great platform game with a great story.

PlayStation 2 · by Melody (48) · 2008

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Kratos Unicorn Lynx (181676) 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 (κρατος, "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 September 11, 2024.