Introduction
God of War was a tour de force when it first released in 2005. A mature, brutal, bloody struggle of a mortal set out to kill the god who betrayed him took the world by storm and cemented Kratos as a new mascot for the Playstation brand.
Last week I went through the entire first game in the series, so check it out if you haven’t seen it already, but for those of you who have you might remember I found it to be a dated, messy game by today’s standards, but still worth playing for the story, presentation, and fun that still permeates through the more troubled segments.
While God of War was an excellent game for its time, it doesn’t hold up as well today. But with every excellent game comes a sequel, and God of War had a direct follow up released only 2 years later.
Today I’d like to take a deeper look into this sequel and see what, if anything, changed, and if this game can hold up to the test of time more than its predecessor. So once again, let’s dive into an action-packed adventure through Greek mythology and examine, God of War 2.
Development History
Development for God of War II started very soon after the first game’s release. With this new game came a change in leadership as David Jaffe stepped down and let Cory Barlog take the stage as game director. The pressure was… high to say the least.
The goal with this game was to expand on the story, improve several elements, and feature more memorable moments during the game. They didn’t want to switch up the central themes, gameplay, or presentation, simply refine it to a tee. The game is meant to be a continuation more than a sequel to the original.
After its announcement at GDC 2006, everyone was excited for the new installment and the hype got even more intense after its showing at E3 that same year. Despite the PS3 launching four months before the game, it remained on the legacy console because the team wanted all of the fans to be able to play.
Despite the release on an older machine, God of War 2 was critically acclaimed and won a whole host of awards, considered a large step forward from its predecessor and another definitive title in the action genre, the game would go on to sell over four million copies, just like the first game.
Barlog went on to direct part of the third and entire fourth entries in the series, having proved that he was up to the task of improving upon what was already great. And the best place to see that talent come to life is at the beginning.
Opening Sequence
The game opens with a monologue from the narrator describing Kratos’s actions as the new God of War. He’s been busy using the Spartan army to take over nearly all of Greece as revenge for the gods not taking away his nightmares. Athena warns him that the gods aren’t too keen on this whole thing and Kratos ignores her warning, skydiving down to Rhodes to deliver the finishing blow.
As this happens, Kratos is zapped by an eagle, shrinking him down to the size of a mortal and giving life to the colossus of Rhodes, which breaks free and begins hunting Kratos down. For some reason Kratos thinks Athena is the one who zapped him with lightning, but regardless he’s pissed and the level begins.
Here, Kratos has many of the powers obtained in the first game, such as a new version of the blades of chaos known as Athena’s blades, all of the combos and special moves, the Poseidon’s rage magic attack, and Poseidon’s trident allowing him to swim and breathe underwater. He also has a full bar for health and magic.
Now as anyone who’s played a video game sequel knows, these powers won’t last long as the developers need to weaken our protagonist in order to allow for a natural progression and upgrade system throughout the game, but this is a great way to show the player just how much power they’re going to have by the end of the game. More on that later.
For now, Kratos is dropped into a room full of Rhodes soldiers as the colossus looks in through the window. Why this giant living statue doesn’t just slam a fist through the building is beyond me, but it’s a neat little playground for the game to explain the controls to anyone who hasn’t played the first game as well as allowing for a fun slaughterfest.
Leaving this room, we get to see the statue’s hand burst through a wall and straight up squish some guys, showing that it’ll be playing a similar role to the Hydra from the first game. Soon after, Kratos makes his way outside and is greeted by the beast with a friendly fist bump. He then hits it with a ballista, uses it to jump onto the giant’s head, and we get our first quick time event.
This is great as it shows how much more lenient this sequel is with the triggers, offering a bit more time to get things right, which is an important improvement as it allows the player to become more invested in the awesome action taking place instead of being too worried about the button prompts to pay attention to the scene in front of them.
A quick stab in the eye later and Kratos ends up on the other side of the city, where we learn to swim underwater to make our way to a lovely bathhouse and save the game. From here we get to see Kratos’s new platforming ability- the grapple.
Using the blades, Kratos can swing from one glowing object to the next. It’s a really cool idea that’s fun to use and allows for must faster traversal throughout the game. Simple, but effective
From there Kratos avoids getting stomped on really quick and then makes his way over to a climbable wall. At the top he reaches the next phase against the golden boy. Just dodge a few punches and make your way through.
This part of the fight is pretty weak as the punches are tough to dodge for the tutorial, but eventually you’ll slice through the statue’s cheeks a couple times and gets launched across the city again.
Here, we find some archers and the first puzzle the game has to offer. Just slide this block onto a button to open one door, then kick it over to the next button to make it across. It’s here players of the first game will notice just how much faster the sliding is as well as how much further Kratos can kick boxes.
Make out way outside again and Zeus offers Kratos the blade of Olympus. We begin to make our way over to it when we encounter the first of the dreaded plank walking segments. Kratos deals with the archers and makes his way across, but something here is different.
The planks are wider in this game, making for an easier time getting across and way less frustration and I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.
What was more surprising was the colossus smashing a bridge, leading to a make or break run to survive. This actually caught me off guard at first and I died, but the checkpoint is pretty nearby so I’ll pass it off as an opportunity to teach the player about environmental hazards and not letting their guards down.
We then reach the sword and begin the final fight against the colossus. In order to power up the sword, Kratos must first debilitate the monster and then go up to the sword and imbue it with his energy. First the red orbs, then the magic powers, and finally most of his health.
This part of the fight is a bit hit and miss. The colossus can smash the ground to create energy beams that shoot up and swing his arms to hit Kratos with an unblockable punch. It’s honestly a bit underwhelming, especially since many of the hits don’t look like they even reach your opponent and the only confirmation of a collision comes from the audio cues.
However, once Kratos grabs the sword things get really cool. He fights his way into the statue and we enter a final test of sorts. Here we get to climb some ropes, do some platforming, kill a few weaker soldiers, and destroy the giant’s central structures one by one. Every single part testing some knowledge from earlier or teaching a new skill used during the game.
There’s a really cool cinematic shot of Kratos climbing up the burning behemoth and reach the head. I love the attention to detail where we get to see outside through the slits in its cheeks made earlier.
Here, there’s a really clever puzzle where the eye beams are blocking the path across, so Kratos must lower the pendulum nearby, go down to get it swinging, and then raise it back up to block the beams and allow him across. This gets him to the final inner support and he brings the leviathan down and escapes through its mouth.
He takes some time to brag about his victory and what’s probably the funniest moment in the entire series takes place. It had me laughing out loud for way too long, but here we see that Kratos has become mortal and in his weakened state he makes his way to the sword to reclaim his powers.
On his way however, Zeus flies down to show that he’s the one who orchestrated these events since Athena refused. They banter for a bit and Kratos refuses to swear allegiance to Zeus. We get a quick fight in which a weakened Kratos gets the shit sliced out of him and he’s quickly taken down. Zeus offers one last chance to choose obedience and Kratos throws some major shade with his response. Zeus gets pissed off, stabs Kratos in the chest, and kills every Spartan in Rhodes. Kratos is dragged down to Hades and the opening concludes.
And once again, this opening is fantastic. In only 45 minutes we’re given a sample of our power, reestablish the central theme of revenge, learn just about every single mechanic in the game, and oh yeah, our hero dies.
We also get a taste of some of the improvements to the gameplay by getting an opportunity to push a block around more quickly, complete QTEs in a reasonable amount of time, and walk across wider planks than in the first game that also have better camera angles.
But the best thing about this commencement is that none of it feels like a tutorial. I mean sure, there are prompts explaining the controls here and there, but it all takes place in an event that would probably act as the conclusion to most other games at the time. Fighting a giant monster across an entire city and using every move in the game to do so makes for a wonderful spectacle.
On top of that, the game sets up the central motif of revenge with a brilliantly executed plot of Zeus betraying Kratos. Not only is this a cool idea, but the execution makes sense from each character’s perspective. Zeus thinks Kratos is set out to conquer Olympus and kills him to protect himself and his fellow gods.
At the same time, we have Kratos, tormented by one god and betrayed by the others, he knows what it’s like to be mortal. To pray to the gods and receive nothing in return. Which is why his line about the useless gods offering false choices is much more poignant than a simple insult, as it tells us Kratos’s perspective on the gods while also acting as a commentary that can ring true today.
This connection with our protagonist is also felt through the gameplay. By allowing the player to wield all of this power we begin to understand Kratos’s arrogance and overconfidence in his abilities.
And when the moment comes where those powers are taken away, we can grasp just how helpless the former God of War feels and identify with his lust for vengeance at the gods who betrayed him once again.
All in all, while some might feel that this opening doesn’t have the same wow factor as the first, I personally disagree. I think it flows better, plays better, and acts as a more intriguing set up for the story to come.
A complete success with only a few minor blemishes here and there in the colossus fight. And things just keep getting better from here as the opening sequence comes to a close and the story truly begins
Story
From there, Kratos descends into the depths of hades and we get a quick flashback of his life. As it goes on, things get trippy when the Titan Gaia tells him to fight for survival. This also reveals that Gaia was the narrator of the first game.
She helps Kratos to escape from hell and sends a pegasus, telling him to travel to the Island of Creation and meet with the sisters of fate in order to travel back in time and prevent his own death. Kratos agrees to the arrangement and before setting off, has a great scene with a surviving Spartan soldier.
The man tells Kratos that he never lost faith in him or in Sparta and you can tell that Kratos feels the responsibility of his people weighing on his shoulders. He tells the soldier to go back to Sparta and amass an army, even going as far as to give the man a small pep talk before setting off on his journey.
He gets attacked on his way and falls into the chamber of Typhon, Gaia’s brother. With the pegasus trapped beneath his massive hand, Kratos searches around the mountain for a way to free his transportation.
He encounters the titan Prometheus who, like in the source material, is cursed with being eaten alive by a giant bird every day and healing each night as punishment for bringing the fire of Olympus to mankind. He begs Kratos to kill him by dropping him into the fire and he agrees.
After stealing the power of a magic bow from Typhon’s eye and dropping the only person I’ve ever heard complain about getting eaten out into the flames, Kratos is granted the gift of titan’s rage, similar to the rage of the gods from the first game, which Kratos uses to free his horse from Typhon and continue on his quest.
He’s then attacked once again, but this time succeeds in bringing the Dark Rider down with his own spear, and dives down to the Island of Creation. He explores the island for a while as Gaia tells him the history of Zeus and the titans, which is pretty damn accurate to the source material. Zeus was the child of the titan Chronos and Rhea.
While I’m not really sure how things… worked between the two of them, they had many children. But fearing a prophecy that his children would one day rise against him, he ate them all. Rhea protected Zeus by hiding him on Gaia’s back and when he grew up, the king of the gods gathered his brothers and sisters to wage war against the titans.
Using the blade of olympus, Zeus defeated the titans and banished them to the pits of Tartarus. Gaia proposes that Kratos and the titans work together to exact their revenge on Zeus and the gods of Olympus.
Eventually Kratos runs into Theseus, a great Greek hero known for slaying the horrifying minotaur… You know, those things Kratos killed a million times in the first game?
He and Kratos seem to have some respect for one another, but end up fighting to the hero’s demise, giving Kratos access to the Steeds of Time. These horses were failed gifts from Chronos attempting to get the Fates to change his future, but by utilizing them Kratos is able to make his way further into the Island.
Next, our angry spartan makes his way into the bog of the forgotten where we see a familiar face. The barbarian king who once killed him is attempting to reach the sisters to basically do the same thing to Kratos as Kratos is to Zeus.
But he doesn’t get the chance as Kratos kills him again and steal his hammer. Oh, and while the barbarian is resurrecting the dead to fight for him we also get another hilarious visit from the ship captain from the first game, who proceeds to run away instead of attacking.
Kratos moves forward to the temple of Euryale, sister of Medusa who’s pretty pissed at the warrior for killing her sister. He pushes ahead and kills a cerberus in the process of tearing apart Jason, leader of the Argonauts, and gains the golden fleece, capable of reflecting any projectile.
He kills the new gorgon queen and claims her head, capable of turning enemies to stone just like her sister. Aww, see guys? That’s what God of War is all about… Family values…
Kratos returns to the island and uses the fleece to find the hero Perseus, trapped within a bathhouse. Seemingly insane from the isolation, he attacks Kratos in an attempt to appease the sisters of fate. Kratos knocks off each of his magical tools one by one until he kills the hero and uses his shield to progress.
Upon defeating the champion, Kratos finds another man driven insane trying to find the Fates, Icarus. Ashamed by his past that led to his death, the bird man wishes to change history, but can’t seem to fly far enough to reach the temple of the fates.
Kartos, being the good samaritan that he is, kindly offers to take some weight off Icarus’s shoulders and as they fall into Atlas’s chamber beneath the Earth, he rips the wings off Icarus’s back, sending him into the molten core while Kratos glides to safety.
Atlas isn’t particularly happy with Kratos coming into his domain as he appears to have been hurt by the fallen god before. This is explained more in the prequel Ghost of Sparta, where Kratos ends up being responsible for Atlas’s fate of holding up the Earth for all eternity.
Kratos explains his plan to kill Zeus and Atlas helps him to leave in the hopes that they can work towards a common goal of revenge. Kratos finally makes it to the surface again and uses his new powers to free a phoenix, the final transport to the fates, but faces one last challenge on the way.
In a dark room, Kratos is greeted by the silhouette of a warrior. The two duke it out in a spectacular 2D battle, unable to see one another until Kratos impales the man and realizes his identity as the last spartan from Rhodes.
When asked why he left Sparta unprotected, the man tells Kratos that Zeus destroyed all of sparta, and with his death only Kratos remains. He dies and Kratos is understandably furious, demanding that Zeus face him honorably when out of nowhere a giant Kraken climbs up to fight.
As the Kraken squeezes the life out of him, Kratos has a vision of his dead wife and we get a really touching scene, even if it is just Gaia in disguise. She convinces him to keep fighting by basically telling him he has no choice in the matter, then gives him the rage of the titans.
Kratos kills the Kraken and gains access to the phoenix, flying it to the temple of the fates and is granted a meeting with the first sister, Lakhesis. She warns him that no one can challenge the sisters as fate is out of his control, then proceeds to get the shit kicked out of her until another sister shows up.
This fate, known as Atropos, takes Kratos back in time to his fight with Ares, where she attempts to destroy the sword of the gods and kill Kratos even earlier than before. Kratos protects the sword and travels back to the present, trapping the sister in the mirror. He then fights and kills both fates in a conclusive battle, destroying the mirror they’re trapped in to erase them from existence and moves on to the final obstacle.
Here he meets the, uh, lovely? Final sister of the fates, Clotho. He climbs to the top of her body and impales he with a giant pendulum in order to gain control of his own destiny. He uses the thread to travel back in time to confront Zeus and after a lengthy battle, the king of the gods forces Kratos into what seems like submission.
As Zeus is about to deliver the final blow however, Kratos fights back and stabs the god in the chest before being stopped by Athena. She warns that killing Zeus would in turn kill all of Olympus and as Kratos attempts to stop an escaping Zeus, he accidentally kills Athena in the process.
As she dies in his arms, she tells Kratos that Zeus is his father, and Zeus wanted to kill him in order to prevent the cycle of sons killing fathers as with Chronos and himself before. Kratos takes this news about as well as any abandoned child.
He vows that any god standing in the way of his vengeance will meet the same fate as Zeus and Athena dies in his arms. Gaia gives Kratos a quick reminder that he can control time itself and Kratos uses this ability to go back to the great war and inform the mother of the titans of their plans.
The scene the cuts to Zeus telling his fellow gods that Kratos must be dealt with when Mount Olympus is shaken. We go outside to see a bunch of freed titans climbing the mountain with Kratos, ready for revenge, riding on Gaia’s back to the finale.
And that’s the ending. A bit of a cliffhanger I know, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This story did have a solid beginning, middle, and ending, even if the plot continues in the next game. When it comes to the overall structure, there is a lot of good and a bit of bad.
With the good comes the central motifs of revenge, destiny, and fear. Revenge is easy to point out. Kratos takes revenge on the gods for betraying him, leading to his death. Zeus is shown to retaliate against Chronos and the other titans out of anger and vengeance. Even the barbarian king and gorgon queen are set out to kill Kratos for his past transgressions.
The entire plot revolves around both this and fear, as Chronos wouldn’t have been defeated by Zeus had he not feared and eaten his children and Kratos had no intention of destroying Olympus until Zeus betrayed him. These two work together to create the theme that actions performed out of fear will likely result in those acted upon seeking revenge.
When it comes to destiny, nearly every character Kratos meets on the Island of Creation intends to change their fate, bringing with them questions of whether or not such a thing is even possible. It’s actually pretty cool to see Kratos change his own fate in the most literal way possible, but with that comes one of the negative aspects of the story.
It comes in the form of a question: why didn’t Kratos simply travel back to when he was about to be killed by the barbarian king and win the battle? He could have prevented everything, including the deaths of his wife and child, but instead chooses to go fight Zeus.
This could be a statement on how his revenge blinded him from the opportunity, but with nothing in the story indicating this is the case, I have to assume the writers just couldn’t think of a way around it and left the plot hole in place.
Another small gripe I have is with the appearance of the Kraken. Everything about this sequence makes very little sense. First, the Kraken is a creature from scandinavian folklore, so its use in the game is just strange.
On top of that, why it suddenly appears after climbing a mountain, with very little water around, when Kratos asks for Zeus to fight him is completely ignored. Don’t get me wrong, it makes for a cool fight, but the entire sequence just feels so out of place in an otherwise carefully planned out and plotted storyline.
The final issue I have comes with the struct of the story. This entire adventure takes place as Kratos simply climbs a mountain. The first game’s plot felt like a long drive with a stint of traffic in the middle as it halted progression quite often. This game feels more like a long trip down a road with a bunch of stop lights.
While I understand that games need progression blockers in order to have actual challenges along the way, this game feels like it just keeps setting Kratos back over and over instead of like progress is really being made.
However, while the first game did better when it comes to the overarching story, the sequel is superior in terms of the moment to moment experiences. This has a lot to do with the utilization of more source material.
There are more heroes, more villains, and a ton of small additions that simply add to the world and make it feel alive. The lore is expanded upon, the side characters are given more to works with and unique personalities to display, and instead of facing off against different combinations of the same few enemies over and over again, this game has way more variety in its monsters, face, and names recognizable to anyone who’s learn a bit about Greek mythology.
On top of that, this story heavily reflects that of Hercules. In the mythos, Hercules killed his wife and children when hypnotized by the god Hera and after gaining forgiveness from King Thespius, he is originally given 10 tasks (later expanded to 12) to complete in order to gain immortality.
If you take a look at the setup of this game, Kratos kills his wife and child, is eventually forgiven by the gods, and then sets out to change his past and reclaim is lost immortality. There are even around 12 boss fights in the game (give or take depending on what would be considered a boss or miniboss).
It’s a cool structure to follow and in that vein I’d say the story succeeded, even if the continuous nature of the plot doesn’t always gel with it perfectly.
God of War 2 does what every good sequel should do and expands upon its predecessor. As it stands this game’s story is about on par with the first, but their strengths are different. With the original being better as a complete product, but with poor pacing and the follow up having better consistency even if it struggles as a whole. But when it comes to the other aspects of the sequel, things only get better from here.
Characterization
In the first game, we got a lot of characterization for our protagonist Kratos. We saw a broken and defeated servant rise up against his former master to exact his revenge. God of War 2 expands upon Kratos and the gods he served for so many years. While the extent of Kratos’s character is still less than one might expect of other heroes, we do get to see a few new sides to the fallen God of War this time around.
Here, we see a bit more compassion in Kratos and caring for those other than himself. My favorite example comes from the last spartan soldier. Kratos is stern towards him, but also clearly cares about the man and his fellow spartans. While death is normal to a soldier and glory is still the end goal, Kratos clearly cares for his men and feels a responsibility to them.
When he kills the last spartan and hears of his great city’s destruction, his anger becomes palpable. Going back to the beginning, it brings back the line about the gods being useless. Kratos knows this as he was once a mortal failed by the gods, but in that moment you know that he feels just as useless and pathetic as the gods he’s grown to hate, driving his lust for vengeance even further.
And once again, when people say Kratos in the new God of War isn’t true to his character, this game has scenes to reject that mindset. When Kratos confronts his wife, the tone of his voice and animation tell you he’s ashamed of his past actions.
He’s not cold or angry, he just wants his wife to forgive him. He even shows some weakness in his resolve here. This short scene really does a lot to make Kratos into a more human character, and the writers deserve a ton of credit for that.
That said, he does make some odd choices throughout the game. For example, his idiocy thinking Athena is the one who zapped him with lightning from Zeus’s eagle is baffling, but even worse is his reaction to learning of his lineage.
This should be a moment when Kratos acknowledges his past or perhaps question if his fate has changed since the cycle of sons defeating fathers has continued, but instead he just rejects Zeus and lets Athena die. It’s not an awful moment, just one that lessens the impact of the big reveal.
Then there’s the antagonist, Zeus. He gets a lot more development than many might expect from such an isolated experience. We get to see his past, his motivations, and his connections to our main character.
Learning of the cycle of children revolting against their parents is an interesting take on the mythology, as in the real stories we don’t have an ending to Zeus’s life, so this is completely original, but feels right at home in the mythos.
We also get a solid motivation for both Kratos and Zeus and from a certain perspective each is right and wrong at different points in the story. While today it’s more common, having such moral ambiguity in not only the protagonist, but also the enemy was incredibly rare and it adds a lot of depth and nuance to an otherwise pretty surface-level narrative.
When it comes to the side characters, this game takes a big lap ahead of its predecessor without quite hitting the mark in terms of development. There are many more people that Kratos interacts with in this game and while I love the inclusion of more notable figures from Greek mythology, what’s even better is that some of them actually have character traits.
Thinking back to the first game, each of the side characters outside of Athena and the Gravedigger came down to one of three categories. Gods that Kratos earns powers from, monsters or enemies that need to be slaughtered, and innocent people that need to be slaughtered. I guess the zombie in front of Pandora’s temple is different, but that’s about it.
Nearly every encounter in that game is basic input and output, used as a means to progress the game without progressing or adding to the story. In the sequel this isn’t always the case.
Now obviously in a game like this, many side characters are going to have to be enemies leading to boss fights, but I like that this time around they also tend to have some sort of a personality and motivations behind their actions.
Each new person met along the way has their own reason for wanting to find the sisters. Perseus wants to save his lost loved one, the last spartan wants to bring back his destroyed city, Theseus wants to protect the sisters for glory, and the barbarian king wants revenge against Kratos.
Plus they all have some real attributes shine through their initially rough exteriors. Theseus for example is a man made cocky by years of success. Perseus is the same, but with his magic weapons. He taunts Kratos during the fight and while none of this really makes him a three dimensional character per se, he does come off as a bit more human than almost any character in the first game.
Icarus has gone insane from the results of his poor decisions. The titans aren’t necessarily on Kratos’s side as much as they make an alliance with him. Each interaction just feels more proper this time around, resulting in a much more lively game.
That said, many of these people do end up dying or becoming boss fights and their development is still pretty shallow. I can understand an isolated adventure has these elements inherently, but I would have liked to see just a bit more effort put in to one or two side characters, like maybe a version of Navi from Zelda, but much less annoying for Kratos to banter with.
In the end, for a lonely story, this game does have quite a bit more effort put into its characters than its predecessor and it really shows. While interactions are brief, they do more to keep things entertaining and believable and it results in a game that feels less mechanical and more like a true adventure.
Presentation
God of War 2 has more or less the same style as its predecessor. Realistic models dropped into ancient Greek setting with massive boss fights and spectacular setpieces. Not much has changed here, but in terms of scale and quality things have been dialed up to 11.
In these terms, nothing’s really gone downhill since the first and just about everything has been improved. The boss fights show more and have wider camera angles leading to a more cinematic feel. The environments are beautifully designed and executed. And the music is just as incredible as before. So let’s take a look at what’s been improved this time around.
First, the previews. When walking into a new area, the game has a tendency to halt Kratos and give a view of the environment ahead. While this aids in puzzles and knowing the types of challenges that lie ahead, it also give the player a chance to breathe and appreciate the wonderful world crafted for them.
And speaking of quiet moments, God of War 2 has them, and they’re incredibly welcome. While there were one or two areas in the first game that were devoid of enemies and allowed the player to absorb the experience they’re having, they were few and far between. I would have preferred if some of the more repetitious and less creative enemy encounters had been replaced with a quiet trek through the world. The sequel does this.
Now don’t get me wrong- this is still an action-packed game with moments of quiet contemplation being few and far between, but in this game they’re more numerous, spaced out more effectively, and take place at appropriate times. None of these segments ever becomes boring or slow as they all act as a time to think about what’s happened and get excited about the challenges to come. A perfect balance.
Cinematically, the game still has the aspect ratio bars to give it that movie-like appearance, but the interactive cutscenes have become more brutal and just downright unsettling. Take for example the finishers for Zeus and Theseus. These absolutely insane endings not only feel gratifying on their own, but also really nail the true brutality behind these Greek legends.
When it comes to the music, it’s honestly more of the same. Wonderful orchestral and operatic tracks with lyrics mentioning the names of characters in the story. It’s nothing that’s been improved much since the first game, but when you create one of the most recognizable soundtracks in gaming history, being able to match the quality of the original while also expanding on it to improve the depth of the experience makes for a commendable achievement.
Then there’s the voice acting, which has also improved a considerable amount. Zeus, Athena, and each of the side characters actually express emotion in their voices and sound appropriate for their roles. Theseus is arrogant, Perseus is irritating, the last Spartan is a prideful warrior beaten down by the losses he’s endured.
Everyone does a fantastic job, especially Terrance C Howard, who reprises his role as Kratos to another complete success. The anger, yelling, and disgust in his voice are all here and expected given the subject matter, but he also has more nuance this time around. Just listen to the heartbreaking sadness in his voice when apologizing to his late wife.
The slight quivers in his throat and small touches really make this moment stand out and show that Kratos really is done with his fight and even the most determined of all the Greek champions has his moments of weakness. All brought to life in this one line.
One thing that is slightly worsened in this game is the repetitious dialogue. Since the number of side characters has increased, interactions with them have done so as well. Unfortunately, there are certain circumstances, rare as they are, in which you’ll be running to fetch something while another character is around and they just repeat the same one or two lines of dialogue over and over. It’s definitely a nitpick, but something I thought was worth mentioning.
The only other thing that’s taken a bit of a dip is some of the sound effects. While they’re okay for the most part, there are some noticeable spots in which the designers either got lazy or didn’t have the time to insert additional sounds. The single repeating sound of Athena’s blades hitting the soldiers around is one of the most egregious examples.
These effects are pretty weak and repetitive to where it sounds more like I’m hitting a bunch of tin cans than human skulls. And the noise made for successfully executing a QTE is also pretty weak, meaning there were multiple occasions on which my brain didn’t completely register the successful hit.
Does it break the immersion? Not much, if at all. So I’ll stop nitpicking and just leave off on the fact that if I had to dive this deep into the presentation to find something worth complaining about, you can bet your ass this is a fantastic experience from start to finish.
Combat
When approaching the combat design of this game, I imagine the developers started off pretty stumped. How does one improve upon the almighty square square triangle combo? It turns out that the answer is to add variety. And that’s exactly what they did.
See, at its core, fighting in God of War 2 is the same as it was in the first game. There’s still the same exact moveset, including the same combos and similar attacks, but what’s changed is how those combos work and what the new abilities add to make the experience more cohesive.
First, the changes to Athena’s blades aren’t massive, but help just enough to warrant experimentation. In the first game, the square and triangle combos were so powerful in comparison to the rest of Kratos’s moveset that they became the de facto attacks to use in combat. In this game, that changes quite a bit.
The block attacks now offer more utility, the spin attack actually staggers smaller enemies, making for a useful means to escape when surrounded, the slam attack is great for dealing a lot of damage to a small group of enemies, and the rhythmic gymnastics routine makes for a flashy and quick way to deal with single enemies with a series of speedy blows.
With these small changes, there’s now a legitimate use for nearly every attack as they each work in a specific situation. While the old standby combos and distance attacks are still the bread and butter, the modifications to the typical attacks serve to improve combat versatility.
Fighting one walls and ropes has also been improved. Heavy attacks now slam into the wall with a ton of force, giving a real feeling of strength when attacking, and in general there are far fewer of these sections making them a refreshing change of pace rather than a slog that needs to be surpassed over and over.
When it comes to new additions, there’s not a lot that’s been added, but enough to warrant a mention. On the smaller side we have the dodge attacks. Unlike in the first game, where dodging enemies always left Kratos standing still for a second before getting back into the action, this time around Kratos can come out of a dodge with an attack right away, making for a tiny change that really aids in the flow of combat.
An even smaller addition that just makes sense is the ability to turn rage of the titans on and off at any time. Instead of needing to use all of the additional power in one burst, Kratos can now hold on to the power for another time. It also has new attacks including an explosion of fire, an infinite blade spin, and more. There are times where the ability doesn’t turn on for some reason or another, but this is definitely a welcome improvement.
On the larger side is the golden fleece. This addition grants Kratos the ability to reflect certain projectiles back at opponents and rewards well-timed blocks with a punishing retaliation. Not only does this make it so archers can be dealt with without having to resort to red light green light between shots, but also add variety to combat as enemies are now allowed to use projectile attacks without them feeling cheap or unfair.
Next have the magic abilities. The bow and gorgon head are almost entirely unchanged from the first game, so I won’t be discussing them this time around. Instead I’ll be focusing on the two replacement powers- Chronos’s rage and Atlas quake.
The first ability acquired is Chronos’s rage, allowing Kratos to drop balls of electricity that temporarily damage and paralyze opponents. It’s a really useful ability, replacing Poseidon’s rage from the first game. I think this power is better in terms of gameplay because it allows players to be more active when fighting.
In the first game Kratos just stands around and spins while lightning hurts enemies nearby. With this power, the player is granted more freedom to move around and attempt a new strategy against enemies.
Though it can be irritating when an enemy doesn’t get staggered, it’s a cool addition and with the area of effect attacks being more effective, Poseidon’s rage isn’t sorely missed.
The final ability, Atlas quake, replaces Hades army as the new large area of effect power and it’s really cool. Kratos stomps the ground and staggers all enemies nearby, going so far as to last nearly three times as long when fully upgraded. There’s not much to talk about here since the two abilities fill a similar function of wide range and heavy damage, but it’s a cool effect that’s fun to use.
Then there’s the weapons. In the first game, Artemis’s blade was the only alternate tool offering additional power in exchange for a shorter reach. It was useful and powerful, though limited. The sequel adds three new weapons to the arsenal, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.
The first is the Barbarian’s hammer. This giant mallet has a pretty simple concept- tons of power in exchange for a slower swing and an inability to dodge. While it has its uses against larger foes, being unable to get away from powerful attacks puts this weapon in a very niche category. Maybe if it had better staggering power against normally unphased enemies it would retain more utility, but as it stands I find this weapon to be the least useful of the four.
Up next is the spear of destiny. This offers a huge variety of sweeping ranged attacks great for crowd control. It’s also useful against smaller mini bosses as the triangle combo renders them helpless for an extended period of time. It’s a great weapon with a lot of powerful combos that’s main drawback is its lack of raw power and close range versatility.
Last up is the sword of Olympus. This blade pretty much plays like Artemis’s blade from the first game, but with a few cool abilities acquired when powered up. Unfortunately, this weapon is obtained in the final boss fight of the game, making it effectively useless unless you want to play in new game plus. I understand the reasoning behind this decision, but it’s still pretty disappointing.
While the new tools are a mixed bag, I do appreciate the effort that went in to adding diversity to the arsenal. Not only does each weapon have its own standard moveset, but also its own versions of the combos and special attacks, adding a ton of breadth to the options available to the player.
However, one small irritation does come into play here and it has to do with swapping weapons. While switching from the blades to a side weapon happens at the press of a button like in the first game, the developers made the baffling choice of only allowing one weapon to be equipped at a time.
This means that in order to switch side arms, you have to pause the game and do it manually rather than just having the weapons cycle through. It’s not too bad, just a weird choice in a game where the combat flows so well otherwise.
Lastly we have the newest addition to the game- flying combat. When on top of the pegasus, a new form of fighting comes into play involving regular attacks, dash attacks that send you flying forward, and ram attacks into the opponent’s side. It’s not a major addition by any means and the combat isn’t deep at all, but it adds a welcome change of pace and the segments don’t overstay their welcome.
Overall, the combat is tighter than ever and an absolute delight in this game. Despite the first game feeling a bit repetitive towards the end, this game plays and feels like a breath of fresh air with the added variety and depth to the combat making for a truly empowering and rewarding experience.
Enemies
What these new mechanics are used against has changed here as well. In the first God of War, enemy variety was one of its weakest elements. It had plenty to pick from, but only a select few were ever seen. On top of that, many felt like damage sponges meant to halt progress rather than offer a fun and engaging combat scenario. That’s not the case here.
Every aspect of enemy design has been amplified to an impressive degree offering more diversity, creativity, and fun than the first game by a long shot. Starting off with variety, this game offers that in spades.
While not every fight is a winner, most at least offer some new combination of enemies to defeat. They come in varying locations, environments, and scenarios to create unique experiences from start to finish.
The improved variety aids this quite a bit. All of the old favorites are here, including the cyclops, minotaurs, harpies, and more, but there’s also additional flying enemies that slow you down, shoot projectiles, and explode. There’s additional undead soldier types that can offer a fun challenge every now and again.
Some enemies even interact with one another such as the cyclops that can eat and then throw the remains of boars at you or become a mount for these smaller enemies. Or the summoners that bring forth minotaurs from the ground and then proceed to attack alongside them.
There’s even the creative use of a cliched enemy in the skeletons which can either be defeated when staggered using the circle button or shattered two separate times to finally kill them off. Honestly, I’d love to go into each new enemy type and their varying abilities, but there’s just so many that it would eat up way to much time. So just know that there are a lot of these guys and they’re a blast to fight.
Along with the variety comes the gimmicks and while they tend to be better in this game, they can still get frustrating every once in a while. The worst example of this is in the fire chamber, in which Kratos must push a pillar through this room while fighting off legionnaires are harpies.
Normally this wouldn’t be too bad, but the infinite regeneration and speedy recovery combined with the damage caused by the wall of flames every so often makes for a supremely annoying sequence. It’s a clever idea, but it just needed a bit more time in the oven before being added to the game.
That said, for every segment like that there are three more that are much better and really fun. The spike walls closing in unless all of the enemies are dispatched is tense and gratifying, while the treadmill leading into medusa beams is cool and tactical. And there are far more enjoyable encounters like these than there are irritating scenarios, making for a great time.
Another notable improvement is the AI. In the first game, they seemed to simply funnel in to get slaughtered as Kratos demolished them one by one. While they do employ similar tactics in this game, there are some that try new strategies.
Smarter enemies might attempt to sneak around the battle and attack from behind or stay behind the larger enemies to keep safe. It’s really cool to see the enemies try and outplay you rather than overwhelm you, making for a more tactically challenging experience.
Lastly, the best change to the enemy encounters is seemingly small, but incredibly powerful when put into effect. I’m talking about the reduced health and shorter battles. I mentioned before that the damage sponge enemies were a huge problem in the first game, resulting in long, drawn out, and repetitive encounters that offered very little in terms of new and interesting challenges. That’s not the case here.
Not only are enemies able to be dispatched faster, but they also come in smaller numbers. This means that if a particular setup is found to be disinteresting or frustrating, the player won’t have to put up with it for long before the challenge is complete and they’ve moved onto the next.
It’s a fantastic change that shows not only how great this game is, but how close the original was to the same heights.The elements were always here, they just needed some tweaks and design changes to really let them shine.
Bosses
Of course, small enemies aren’t what many players are here for. They serve as a decent appetizer, but what about the main course? Well, in God of War 1 there were only 3 bosses to talk about. I went into quite a bit of detail for each due to their significance being emphasized by their small numbers.
In God of War 2 there are between 9 and 12 of these behemoths, depending on what one considers a boss or a mini boss. The main question to ask is whether the increase in quantity results in a lack of creativity or quality. And no. No it doesn’t.
The first game had three gigantic monsters to fight, each with multiple phases and unique methods to dispatch. Here, we have a bit more variety. Humans, demigods, giants, tricksters, brute strength competitions, puzzles, they’re all here and they’re all great.
I’ll be skipping the colossus of Rhodes as I covered it in the opening sequence and in the interest of timeliness I think it would be best to cover the minibosses quickly. Similar to Medusa’s fight in the first game.
With that said, Typhon could be considered a boss, but is more like an obstacle introducing a cool new mechanic to keep in mind while traversing his cavern. The Dark Rider is pretty typical as far as fights in the air go and doesn’t offer many new challenges when compared to the other arial enemies, but taking him down in the sky is a cool spectacle.
Speaking of which, the fight against Icarus is incredibly short and mostly a QTE sequence with some punches in between, but it’s a fun ride and makes for another unique encounter. The cerberus breeder is pretty much the same as those in the first game, but the mole cerberus has additional elements that make the fight enjoyable, even if it does last a bit too long.
And that about covers the smaller boss encounters. In general, they’re all enjoyable, though not necessarily deep or interesting enough to discuss in depth. For that we turn to the other enemies, which I’ll be covering in chronological order within the game.
Up first we have Theseus. The guardian of the steeds of time. This is a fight that goes back and forth between enjoyable and frustrating. It starts off simple enough, with the demigod attacking Kratos with some basic attacks that require strategic blocks and dodges. This continues until he’s weakened and climbs out of reach.
From his new perch, Kratos must dodge his icicles spewing from the ground, defeat the minotaurs he’s summoned, and avoid the beams he fires your way. This is both fun and frustrating, as Theseus needs to be shot down with Typhon’s bow, but magic is limited unless you kill the minotaurs. Luckily, the icicles harm the beasts as well and killing them with a finisher grants additional health to keep the fight going.
It’s also cool to see Theseus summon minotaurs since that’s the beast his mythological counterpart is famous for defeating. And while the fight does go on for a bit too long, when finished we get a satisfying end of slamming the cocky bastard’s face into the door frame over and over and over again. A wholly satisfying fight.
Later on we encounter the Barbarian king. This fight starts with a set of QTEs as we drag behind his horse which transitions directly into the battle. This involves dodging the horse and landing a few hits until he’s forced to dismount, followed by a one on one against his mighty hammer, and concluding with his minions summoned from Hades to assist being taken out before delivering the final blow.
The multiple phases, connection to Kratos’s past, and even the reappearance of the first game’s shipowner all add a lot to connect the player with the fight itself more so than would be possible if he was just a random monster. A solid encounter through and through.
Soon after we come into contact with the fattest snake I’ve ever seen and sister of Medusa, Euryale. This big snake lady can turn Kratos to stone in an instant and slam him with her tail, making her a real threat. Luckily, the recently acquired golden fleece can reflect her attacks and makes for a saving grace in this fight.
In her second phase she’ll slither over to the two columns which must be taken down in order to win. While this part of the fight is also entertaining, there’s one minor glitch that gets really tiring after a while.
She has this one attack that covers the entire room in her gaze, making it difficult to avoid being turned to stone. The beam can be jumped over, but if you so much as touch it, the few inched Kratos fall to the ground cause him to shatter on impact and restart the fight.
It’s a minor problem that can be solved by just letting the attack hit and shaking off the effects, but it’s still pretty annoying. Though the game does make up for it with another brutal gorgon decapitation finishing off the fight.
Later on we encounter the hero Perseus. He’s probably my favorite fight in the game. This encounter has multiple phases all centered around one of his unique tools granted to him by the gods.
His invisibility is combated by looking for his foot splashes in the water below. When his invisibility helmet is destroyed, he’ll try attacking with his sword. Kratos breaks that and he’s forced to resort to blinding Kratos with his shield. Each new phase brings with it a new mechanic as well as a new puzzle to be solved.
The fight ends with Kratos smashing the guy straight through the wall of the bathhouse he’d been trapped in for so long. I love that this shows Kratos could have helped them both escape had Perseus not attacked someone so far out of his league. An excellent fight worthy of a Greek champion.
Continuing from there we fight the last spartan in what’s a really conflicting battle for me. See, the idea is fantastic. Fighting an unknown figure in a new 2D plane, shrouded in a silhouette makes for a visually stunning battle, but in execution it’s a bit too simple.
Since the spartan is difficult to block on time, the best strategy is to simply jump over his head and hit him a few times as he turns around to reach you, then rinse and repeat until he’s finished. It’s still a fun time, just not as deep as it probably could have been.
Immediately after, we fight the Kraken. Here, we have to force it to lift a tentacle, then drop the spartan’s body on a switch to create an air vent allowing us to hit it in the head. This small puzzle element is pretty novel and makes for a decent enough challenge.
It’s followed up by a section requiring Kratos to climb up its tentacles to reach the same spot, which is both daunting and cool. The fight is finished when we knock the oversized squid back and pull a lever sending a bridge straight through its head. A bloody and satisfying conclusion to an oddly out of place fight.
Soon after we meet the sisters of fate. There’s a lengthy three part confrontation with the first two topped off with a climb to the top of the final sister’s body. The first portion with Lahkesis involves her following Kratos around and smacking him with her staff.
Occasionally she’ll fire energy beams that can be reflected back, in an energy tennis match reminiscent of the Ganondorf fights from The Legend of Zelda. Eventually she’ll start dive bombing the ground and playing a game of the floor is lava which can be dodged by latching on to the hooks surrounding the arena.
Just keep dodging and getting hits in for a while and she’ll come down. While this phase isn’t very tricky and I even found a couple of glitched spots where she stopped trying to hit me, it’s a well put together fight that’s enjoyable to overcome.
From here, her sister Atropos sends Kratos to his battle with Ares, where he must protect the sword of the gods from her attacks by dispatching the enemies scattered around and reflecting her energy balls back. This brings her to the sword where a few smacks later she’ll be trapped inside the mirror ready for round 3.
In this final phase, the two sisters work together with Lahkesis using her normal attacks minus the floor lightning and Atropos shooting energy balls from the mirrors. This continues as before with a bunch of attacks eventually sending Lahkesis to the ground.
For some reason, she begins to glow green and Kratos can use that chance to slow down time and destroy whatever mirror Atropos is in at the moment. Repeat this process three times and eventually the two sisters will be trapped in the mirror together before Kratos shatters it, erasing them from existence itself.
After a long fight down a spiral ramp of death we come to the final sister’s feet. Here, the player is tasked with making their way up two separate levels of puzzles, dodging the grotesque hands of Clotho along the way. Once at the top, the goal is to injure her arms, use the levers to pull up an axe-faced pendulum, and ram it through her face.
I love the idea of having a boss that requires more brains than brawn to defeat. Each floor makes good use of multiple powers and while the final level could have maybe offered more of a challenge, I consider this a great way to put an end to the sisters of fate.
Finally, we have the skirmish against the king of the gods himself, Zeus. Here, Kratos starts off fighting a gigantic Zeus with the blade of Olympus. He’ll summon some sirens that are meant to cause damage, but using a finishing move against them causes their screams to damage Zeus as well.
Eventually he’ll be harmed enough to shrink to Kratos’s size and continue the fight on foot. Over the course of this phase, the blade of Olympus switches hands back and forth. This creates a unique dynamic of the fighting style changing on a dime.
Zeus has a deadly variety of attacks, all dealing a ton of damage. He’ll throw projectiles, charge at full speed, send a series of beam attacks your way, and teleport around the environment. Eventually he’ll also have balls of lightning surrounding him that must be dealt with in order to reach him.
This will trigger the final sequence of Kratos’s feigned surrender, followed by a series of QTEs that result in the cliffhanger ending described earlier. And when it comes down to it, this is a great final boss. The multiple phases, the strategic blocking, dodging, and countering required to win, and the crushing difficulty of it all make for a battle the truly feels like you’re fighting the king of Olympus.
All in all, what these fights show is that while the number of fights increased significantly, the quality of these fights had a tendency to do the same. And the end result is a commendable set of struggles that are challenging to overcome and satisfying to conquer.
Platforming
This time around platforming is largely unchanged from the previous entry. There’s still the typical traversal methods, the special obstacles for climbing, swinging, and balancing, and the general platforming challenges spread throughout, but everything here has either been streamlined or improved in one way or another.
First, the climbing. I already touched on how the combat was improved, but I have yet to mention the new ability to walk along the ceilings. This involves Kratos sticking his blade up above and making his way across the tops of caverns, buildings, and more.
While the added dimension is nice, what’s even better is the ability to move quickly. By pressing the jump button, Kratos does a quick jump forward to speed up his travel time. This applies to the rope swinging sections as well. While it might seem like a small addition, anything to allow the player to have more control over their actions is a plus in my book.
And while I’ve already mentioned the wider planks for beam balancing, that’s a minor change compared to the big alteration: these segments are more rare. By reducing the number of these events in the game, their overall impact is more significant as a means to break up the action, resulting in a feeling of intrigue instead of dread when approaching one.
The platforming challenges are also here, though these have actually become more prevalent this time around. Pretty much always fun, these little obstacle courses offer a cool way to test your platforming skills while also breaking up the action and adding variety, just like before. Segments like the colored levers that free the steeds of time or the timed race to the window to the past are tight, tense, and control really well.
The newest addition here is the ability to swing. Latching onto a glowing object on the ceiling allows Kratos to either fly forwards or swing in a circle like a sling. It’s a great addition that really makes the flow of certain timed sections much more smooth and enjoyable. Just seeing how well it’s executed in the QTEs as seen here shows how much this simple feature can add to both the cinematic feel and the fast-paced nature of the interactive cutscenes.
There’s also the Icarus wings gained towards the final third of the adventure. These offer Kratos the ability to glide from platform to platform. It’s a really cool mechanic, but because they’re unlocked so late, the game only has a few areas dedicated to their use. Still a fun means of traversing the environment that, once again, adds variety to a formula that could have otherwise become stale.
So while the changes are small, they do serve to further refine and elevate the quality of the mechanics already in place, resulting in a more cohesive experience than ever before. And with the combat improving its depth, the enemies adding to their variety, and the platforming flowing more naturally, the question now turns to what the puzzles bring to the table in terms of innovation.
Puzzles
The puzzles in God of War 2 have improved things quite a bit while still maintaining the same philosophy of simple, yet challenging breaks from the action that show how even the greatest warriors need a sharp mind in addition to a strong body.
There are the quality of life improvements like the block sliding speed increase that make many of the puzzles feel tighter, and while I’ve already mentioned the great pendulum trick from the opening sequence, but that’s just one of many fantastic rooms dedicated to testing your mind instead of your might.
Item utilization, unique challenges, using the environment to your advantage, they’re all here and useful for finding a solution to these rooms with new additions such as the abilities to slow time and reflect projectiles offering a slew of possibilities.
One of my favorite puzzles comes in forcing the translator to read the sacred text. He’s not to keen on the whole idea and decides to jump off a nearby cliff. Luckily, there’s a handy portal to the past nearby that sends Kratos to the moment just before the man runs off the cliff.
This is a simple puzzle, but a fun one that requires the player to drag a statue allowing them to stop time over to the room, travel back in time, and slow things down enough to reach the translator before he takes that swan dive. It’s just a cool way to achieve a pretty basic goal that’s completely different from anything else in the game.
I’ve already mentioned the boss fight with the final sister of fate Clotho, but I feel the need to reiterate how refreshing it is to see a boss fight that plays out like a puzzle rather than a brawl. Each level of her chamber offers a new set of challenges to figure out.
The first floor comes after dodging a few pendulums and has the player simply knocking out her hands in order to use a ramp to reach the ceiling. This isn’t too tricky, but teaches a fundamental mechanic that comes back later.
On the second floor the player is required to use multiple tools in the environment to pin down Clotho’s hands, clearing up the path for a rotating a platform around the outside of the arena which contains the key for reaching level 3. Here, the individual elements are a bit more deceptive, but still relatively simple as the player learns more about how this area’s environmental tools work.
Finally, on the third floor it seems like a boss fight is about to take place, but in reality it’s another puzzle. This is shown by the ability to freeze time, making the task of disabling Clotho’s arms a breeze.
Instead, the challenge here comes from pulling one lever to free a crane, which must then be released by climbing up to reach it, and then dragged over to where the pendulums are to grab one and use it to pull the axe straight into this disgusting thing’s face.
What I love about this is how each level adds new elements to the puzzle solving, all culminating in the third floor’s combination of each to create a well-designed challenge. The disabling of arms from the first floor and the rotating of an object around the arena and using a lever to utilize objects in other parts of the room from the second floor are all present on the third along with the addition of the ability to slow down time. It’s a well put together sequence that expertly concludes the central goal of the game.
My favorite puzzle in the game however, comes in the form of a spinning, fire spitting bird. In this room, it becomes immediately clear that the player is meant to melt the ice covering each part of the chamber. The problem is that the lever is covered. So you melt the ice covering one wall and reveal a reflective plate.
At the same time there’s a set of rotating rings surrounding the statue, each representing a phase of the moon with the full moon looking similar to the reflective bowl. From here, the player can set things up properly, but the fire can’t be reflected and there’s no other source of heat except for this light from up above.
If the player is observant, they may use this knowledge to realize there’s a wall leading to the ceiling, which is covered in destructible icicles that reveal more light sources. From here, the player can find the relevant light source, reflect it off each of the bowls, melt the handle, and use the stature to escape from the room.
What I love about this is how it takes a room that seems daunting at first and breaks everything down incrementally until the solution becomes clear. By taking each piece of the puzzle one at a time, the player should eventually find the solution with a little bit of thought and the power of observation.
So the puzzles in this game are fantastic, just like before. However, with the added bonus of a lengthier experience and improved mechanics such as faster block sliding, everything seems to just flow better this time around and it leads to an impressive array of puzzle that, while not particularly mind blowing, make for a successful means of breaking up the action yet again.
Level Design
Wrapping things up, when it comes to God of War 2, a lot of the level design is similar to the first game. The green and blue chests still restore health and magic, although there is the addition of yellow chests that refill the rage of the titans meter.
Save points are still numerous and checkpoints are still generous. The hidden chests are still here, although with the addition of special urns that unlock new abilities in subsequent playthroughs.
The truth of the matter is that not much has changed or even been added to the game. What has been effected is the way things are laid out and just how everything comes together to create a more solid experience overall. In that regard, I would say the two major philosophies of this sequel’s design would have to be variety and subversion of expectations.
I’ve already talked variety to death. The increased enemy types, numerous boss encounters, shorter enemy encounter lengths, and general improvement in how each is spread out have all already been covered. Instead let’s talk about how the game subverts expectations to deliver a unique experience despite the game being incredibly similar to its predecessor.
First, the translators. When Kratos encounters the first translator, he’s tasked with protecting him while defeating a gigantic horde of enemies ranging from undead soldiers to satyrs to summoners. It’s an insane battle that takes a long time to finish and leaves the player exhausted afterwards, most likely barely clinging to life.
Later on, the player sees another translator and probably bemoan this fact, as they expect to be facing another set of challenging enemies as before. But just as they begin to dread the repetitive experience ahead, the guy goes and jumps off the cliff, leading to the puzzle mentioned earlier.
In the grand scheme of things, this might seem like a miniscule sequence of events that just so happens to differ from what the player expects, but in reality it’s much more. I played through the first God of War and analyzed every single piece of the game, so I can tell you right now that the agonizingly long enemy encounters were some of the worst parts of that game.
This small subversion acts as the game designers acknowledging those issues and showing their desire to change and improve. They’re showing that they listened to feedback and understand how frustrating those parts of the first game were and that they’re going to be much more rare, and thus more meaningful, this time around.
Nowhere is this more clear than in the ramp of doom leading to Clotho’s chamber. After a long battle against the sisters of fate, the player probably expects to be given a break before moving on to another fight, but instead they’re immediately thrown into this circular ramp that contains a huge number of enemies, walled off into segments.
This takes the player by surprise, giving them a gauntlet of enemy after enemy all the way down this seemingly endless ramp until they finally manage to reach the bottom. By now they’re tired, relieved at their success, and probably in the mood for a change of pace.
So they fight their way up to Clotho and when you first lay eyes on her, it seems like a boss fight is the next natural step. She’s poised and ready to attack, she swings at the player with powerful blows, and her sisters were defeated in a three part scuffle.
However, once the player realizes they can use the statues to slow down time, their perspective on the situation is flipped. This isn’t a boss fight. It’s a puzzle. Not only does this make the whole segment completely unlike anything else in the game, but it also relieves the tension felt by the player after being thrown an unending string of difficult battles.
Not only that, but it breaks up the action even more before going on to fight the true final boss, Zeus. Who just so happens to be the final subject of this segment. Nearly every element of the climactic finish to the game throws the player through a loop or subverts some trope of the genre.
First, within the fight itself, Kratos is expected to use the blade of Olympus throughout to win. After all, the entire story revolves around the use of this one weapon and it’s the only tool we know of that’s able to kill a god.
However, halfway through the fight, Zeus steals this away and things continue like nothing’s happened. It’s a small moment, but certainly one of importance as it shows that Kratos is now powerful enough to face off against a god even without the sword.
As the fight concludes, players probably expect that Kratos will kill Zeus and claim his throne as the new king of Olympus, but instead we’re treated to a twist ending in which Athena sacrifices herself and Zeus gets away, with a setup for the sequel being the cliffhanger ending instead.
Whether or not a player agrees with this ending is up to them, but most, if not all, would be lying if they tried to say this didn’t surprise them. And then we have the final surprise- the reveal that Zeus is Kratos’s father. In just about any other story, this would result in the protagonist reacting with denial or anger or at least yelling...
But instead we have our protagonist remain completely unphased and pretty much say that doesn’t matter and he’s still going to kill Zeus. While this could be seen as anticlimactic, I personally think it reaffirms the overwhelming resolve that Kratos has in his goals while at the same time alluding back to the cycle of sons defeating their fathers that’s gone back for what is now four generations.
When it comes down to it, a lot of what was achieved here was due to the additional time available for the game to be redesigned given that the assets and planning for the series had already been put in place with the first entry.
Even then it takes a visionary director to be able to use all of those pieces and make the correct decisions in how to fix what was broken while leaving what worked intact and Cory Barlog did just that.
Final Thoughts
God of War 2 is a fantastic game that builds upon the foundation laid by its predecessor to create an experience that’s better in just about every way.
While the first game left me a bit disappointed in its inability to fully retain its quality over time, this entry manages to do that and more, still a shining example of excellence in its genre to this very day.
While I can understand the cliffhanger ending being a turn off for some, I see it as a huge gamble instead. With a ballsy move like that you’re essentially telling your players that the sequel will be so well told, so well designed, and so well directed that it will not only be worth the wait for a follow up, but that the third entry will be a conclusion satisfying enough for both itself and the title before it.
Next week, I’ll be examining the final chronological entry in the trilogy to see if it lives up to such a bold statement. And after, I’ll finally be diving into the newest entry in this long running and historic franchise.
So be sure to subscribe if you want to see when that gets uploaded, and leave a comment below letting me know whether or not you agree about God of War 2 outshining the first game. And as always, have a mighty nifty day today!