God of War II

Tada! And here it is, the hit that was raised on the altar before birth, invariably associated with the passing of PS2 to oblivion and intended to sum up the galactic game of this console with dignity. It is known that we will encounter similar hype for a long time, and we will be able to collect a considerable collection of "the last great Chernel games", so what? In this case, it is worth getting carried away by fantasy and tempted by a slight pomposity, because the production deserves every kind word that was written about it. God of War II is a game disturbingly close to the ideal, providing several hours of intense, meaty action, implemented with an unprecedented flourish and titanic programming facilities. Little? Let's say a few words about the story.

The story presented in GoW2 is not going to be presented without a fairly serious spoiler compared to the first part, so, sensitive, turn off the tape recorder and the lights go out. We met Kratos as a mercenary in the service of the Greek god of war, Ares. The remaining rulers of Olympus, concerned about the growing madness of their brother, decided to order a former Spartan general to kill their master. This story was presented by the first God of War: Kratos set off in search of Pandora's Box concealing enormous power, with the help of which he eventually defeated Ares. This was perfectly predictable - but it was a surprise that the gods decided to make Kratos the new god of war. "And they lived happily ever after," it seems. The action of the second part of the game takes place some time later, when Zeus himself begins to feel threatened by the ambition of our anti-hero. A trap is set in which we consciously enter into the first stage: Kratos is deprived of his divine powers, and then killed by the king of gods. Hades, however, is not lucky with the Spirit of Sparta, because for the second time the hero manages to escape the infernal depths. He is saved by the Titans, who with his help intend to end the mythological era of the gods once and for all.

As you can see, even the simplified version of the plot is confusing like a family tree of the Greek pantheon. The authors clearly listened to the response that the first part of the game met, thanks to which there are many, many more mythological tastes and references, all in interpretations that Mr. Parandowski did not dream about. All in all, we come to the question of quite controversial, i.e. Americanization of myths. All direct and indirect quotes from the cultural heritage of ancient Greece are passed through the mill of modern fashion like Thermopylae by Frank Miller. It has light and dark sides, but the ground is that it's fun and cool.

And the game itself? Its mechanics are very similar to its predecessor, which is worth digesting or refreshing first. In fact, it is a simple beat'em-up, whose fighting system even meets the biggest layman and lets them shoot devilish combos. We fight, platform, solve a puzzle, we fight again, over and over again. Like nothing, but something. The charm lies in smaller and larger details, among which the ubiquitous claptrap comes to the fore. By playing this game you just feel like a boss.

Kratos's basic weapon is, as before, blades permanently attached to his hands, here called Blades of Atena (the only ones were Blades of Chaos). This tool should boldly appear on every man-made list of the coolest weapons in video games. And figures from what I saw. In addition, the hero will find on his way 3 other "accessories" (hammer, spear and sword), and will also gain access to 4 magic spells (quite similar to those from the first part). The gap between Athenian Blades and other weapons is a problem. As before, we can develop each acquired toy by using the red orbs collected during the game. However, there is no special sense to invest in an upgrade, e.g. a hammer, if you can buy increased firepower for BoA for a comparable number of points. This is probably the only problem of the first part, which the authors failed to solve.

Recently, the trend in games is popularizing that it is not worth trying to design many types of opponents, but rather focus on 2-3 types, which will be better refined in terms of AI. We saw it in Halo , we saw it in Gears of War , will we see it here? On the contrary! There are a multitude of monsters: whether they are mermaids, or those already known to lovers of the jellyfish series, or cyclops, or finally good 8 types of "ordinary" soldiers, each fight brings something different and does not let us get bored for a moment. And the crowning achievement is bosses, much more numerous than in the first part. Already the first level shows us more or less what is going on. And although not every duel will be as epic as the gradual massacre of a lively Colossus of Rhodes, admirers of great and powerful opponents will not be disappointed. The color is added by the fact that the vast majority of bosses are characters quite clearly rooted in mythology. And what, look for yourself on the net.

I spent a lot more on the game than I needed to finish it once (you get advice, you know), and somehow I didn't pay attention to the problem of its brutality. He made me aware of this fact Shuck, who after seeing the videos from me from the gameplay grabbed his head and said that such bullying opponents is not appropriate. True, the game is extremely brutal, and Kratos is a butcher in the full sense of the word. Most monsters can be killed with a special fatality (hidden under the circle on the pad), which is usually associated with a quick patting of the button sequence displayed on the screen. Animations of these finishes can both shock and provide some wild satisfaction. And even when the movement we make ends up with the eye of the cyclopian - an otherwise completely fictional beast - and so we seem to see and hear this virtual pain, presented so vividly and suggestively that the shivers pass on the back and not on the back.

You won't find particularly many secrets or unlockables here. During the entire, approximately 15-hour campaign, insightful observers will catch just 4 additional items, enabling cheats to be turned on again at the same difficulty level. In addition, for special achievements we will get access to several additional costumes for the hero, as well as the bonus mode Challenge of the Titans, in which we will complete 7 deadly mini challenges. An interesting addition is the opportunity to watch all cut-scenes in the form of one, feature film. Despite some shortcomings in this field, the game still shows an unusually high replay value, which is a direct derivative of its playability. Even though it is twice as long as its predecessor, it still leaves us eagerly yet. Extra difficult levels of difficulty were not thrown here without a goat.

God of War II deserves an Oscar in the previous-generation category. Really, Sony even digs a hole under itself, proving at the time of the European premiere of PS3 something so beautiful, and intended for their previous platform. Wow, after all this Genji for "three" is just an elevated chapter and a little more polygons here and there, GoW2 is *** NICE ***! Whether it's waking or dreaming, I don't know, just look at the screenshots, trailers, videos in our guide and you'll see for yourself. Graphics, animation, diversity of environments, it's all unbelievable in the context of nigella. And pre-rendered cut-scenes. There are not many of them, but, for Zeus, what they look like and how they sound! The last video, by the way extremely cheeky cliffhanger, directly announcing the third part of the game, gave me even physical pleasure - that some accelerated pulse, sweat rising to the forehead, chaotic thoughts centered around the statement "no, this is TOO GOOD". If that doesn't convince you, then I don't know, go play in the Paper Furniture World .

And the sound. Voice-acting - excellent, sfx-excellent - music - excellent. It sounds monotonous, but it can't be helped, that it's one of the most sumptuous feasts you can get when you own a PlayStation 2. Eternal pissed off Kratos, angrily yelling at every opportunity, terrifying roars of monsters, cracks of broken bones, and more with all this monumental, choral-symphonic soundtrack. Chad from beginning to end.

It is difficult to find blemishes in the image of this wonderful game. It's so good that you would like more and more of it, which makes it difficult to reconcile after a while that it's all. However, it would be unfair to accuse her of too short a gameplay time, it is still "just" a dexterity game. One flaw can be considered a simplified combat model, not forcing us to breakneckly combining, as did Devil May Cry 3 . Nothing, though, it's good to get on your knees in front of SCE and pay tribute to the creators of one of the best PS2 games, well, perhaps one of the best games ever. History will judge, and meanwhile we judge well over 90%, so that nobody has any doubts about what to invest in the next cash flow.

Krzysztof "Lordareon" Gonciarz

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