What's better than being enslaved by Ares, the Olympian god of war, then forced to hack and slash all of Greece with giant cursed blades attached to your forearms, then accidentally killing your family? Having to do it again. If you were wowed by the original, you'll want to jump right back into the fray with God of War II, which takes all the mile-a-minute monster-gutting action of the first and turns it up to XI.
Having been stripped of all the awesome godly powers he got in the last game by a totally jealous Zeus, Kratos The Angry Spartan decides to sic his bottomless pit of pissed-offitude on Mount Olympus, taking the gods down one by one. What ensues is an action game that starts off huge and never lets up.
Whereas some game designers might build a few giant set pieces, then make you spend hours grinding in each one until you're sick of it, God of War II moves you from level to level at breakneck speed. One minute you're clambering across the backs of a fleet of giant horses, the next you're pulling yourself up the face of Atlas, having nearly fallen off the Earth.
Slicing your blades through Minotaurs and Gorgons feels as satisfying as ever. As you gain experience, you can upgrade your weapons and magic back to their former glory, although some are mostly useless: super-charging your magical bow and arrow is pointless when the screen-filling lightning magic is so much better. And some of the encounters with boss monsters can be frustrating or just boring.
But these are minor quibbles. God of War II, like its predecessor, is a slap to the face of every other action game. Its breathtaking presentation and heart-stopping action outdoes its peers so thoroughly that it's just difficult to play other games afterwards.
__—__Chris Kohler
WIRED Fluid, visceral fighting broken up with some head-scratching puzzles, breathtaking presentation
TIRED A couple lame boss battles, some useless weapons, and a vague sense of having done this before two years ago
$50, Sony
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