God of War

We've been hearing about it for quite some time, and now we get a chance to taste the fruits of Sony's labor. It's action, it's adventure, it's... aptly named. Is it everything it could be?

	Version PS2	Developer SCE Studios Santa Monica	Publisher SCEA	Genre Action

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It's the little things that will continue to make you smile. It's these additions to inherently straightforward platforming elements that raise the game to another level. It's the wonderful placement of the save points that force you to face some challenges, but never leaves you hung out to dry. It's the checkpoints sprinkled generously throughout that let you retry a tough obstacle, like tough jumps over spinning blades on moving platforms or a roomful of enemies. It's the fluidity, variety, and steadily increasing challenge of the combat.

Even the puzzles are extraordinarily well designed. None of them are real brain-busters, but most will make you think for a few minutes, and you'll even get that ol' familiar twinge of satisfaction when you complete them. Exploration is rewarded with red orbs - used to power up your magic and weapons - and health and magic upgrades. The only drawback is that the game is very linear, and although you may miss a lot if you don't bother to look around, you don't have much free reign in your environment.

It's difficult to locate any other problems, but there are a few. I would've liked to see a few more enemies, as the tougher foes seem to be very similar to earlier enemies. That's an extremely minor complaint, but it should be noted that I have seen a wider variety of nastiness in other action titles. The only other one I can come up with is in regards to the somewhat erratic difficulty level. It seems to spike at odd times, and can be any of the three major elements that gives you fits: combat, platforming, or puzzle. This can be a touch unsettling and frustrating at times.

The depth of the game is more than sufficient for the genre, and it's best seen in those three gameplay elements fusing together to form a cohesive and beautifully orchestrated adventure that never slows, never grows tiresome, and never ceases to be mesmerizing. The magic and weapon upgrades could be called role-playing aspects, but every other action/adventure title nowadays has this facet included, so it's really nothing new. Still, it's good to know that there's enough depth to keep the gamer from getting bored.

As far as presentation goes, a warning is in order right off the bat. This is not a game for children; that "M" rating is certainly there for a reason. Next to the insanely graphic violence, which is just about the most brutal ever seen in games (mostly in the FMV), there are sexual situations with almost full frontal nudity as well. It's a game for the adult gamer, plain and simple.

The story is very good for the genre, but the flashbacks seem to be somewhat drawn out, and after the third gory scene of Kratos tearing the crap out of innocents, it almost felt as if they were beating a dead horse. However, it was the single complaint I had. The rest of the game; the setting, the environments, the level design, the basically non-existent loading times, the breathtaking visuals... it all just adds up to an accomplishment of the highest order.

Some of the best games of this generation have famous names like Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Splinter Cell, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Metroid, Devil May Cry, Halo, Ratchet and Clank, and Gran Turismo. You can not only add God of War to that list of the best of the best, you can put it right near the top. In fact, it is now arguably the best exclusive title available for the PS2, and that is no small feat.

The only bad news is that it's all over too quickly. It should take between 10-15 hours to complete the game, but with a slew of unlockables, other extras, and difficulty levels, along with the utter bliss of experiencing the game, you may want to go through it more than once. God of War is not to be missed by any mature gamer out there, and this time, it doesn't matter at all if this genre isn't your bag. Play it, own it, love it.

Congratulations to SCE and lead developer David Jaffe for giving us one of the most astounding games in recent memory.

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