An almighty sequel

Bill Hutchens, for the Northwest Guardian

Everything about God of War 2 is epic.

It is perhaps the grandest undertaking available for the PlayStation 2, and it has the majority of so-called “next-gen” games beat as well.

From the second you take control of Kratos, the game’s compassionless Greek protagonist, you’ll feel as though you’re taking part in something amazing, and that feeling never lets up.

Immediately as you start to play, the towering Colossus of Rhodes, animated by the gods, is bearing down on you, and it’s all you can do to elude its massive smashing fists as it tears apart the city looking for you.

At just the right moment, Kratos’ signature weapons, twin jagged blades attached to chains bound to his arms, dig into the Colossus’ stony flesh. Soon, the anti-hero finds himself inside the monstrosity, destroying its life-giving machinery as the giant staggers to and fro. Bringing the Colossus down is an undertaking so intense, it easily beats the “final boss” battles that conclude other games. But this is just the opening scene of God of War 2.

It’s rare for a game to be as hauntingly gorgeous as GOW2 and still have intensely interesting level design and perfectly programmed play mechanics. But GOW2 is the complete package. At every turn you’ll find jaw-dropping graphics. Sometimes the environments or the giant characters (or both) are so big, Kratos is just a dot by comparison. But the game’s intelligent camera system does wide shots and close shots at just the right moments, so game play is never hampered by the ambitious cinematic presentation.

And then there are the clever puzzles that often have you manipulating giant mechanisms to alter whole rooms and entire temples as though they were god-sized Rubik’s Cubes. But before you can solve the puzzles, you’ll have to kill the legions of monsters on guard. Kratos fights with those wicked blades (and several other legendary weapons he’ll find during his quests) as well as the many magic powers he’ll learn. A few simple thrusts of his blades can nearly eviscerate an enemy; a flurry of combos and bloody finishing moves are simply devastating.

To understand the violent nature of the God of War games, you have to know Kratos. He’s the amped-up anti-hero for the ages, the mortal who dares to defy the gods of Olympus. But his story isn’t glorious. It’s a savage, merciless tale of betrayal, horrible mistakes and vengeance.

In the first game, Kratos pledged his life to Ares if the god of war would help him in battle. But, infused with the diety’s extrapotent bloodlust, Kratos went too far in his quest for world domination and accidentally killed his wife and his child. He vowed to kill Ares, and, because the other Olympians feel the god of war is out of control, they help Kratos. At the end of the first game, Kratos defeated Ares and took his place as the new god of war.

In GOW2, it’s easy come, easy go.

Even as a god, Kratos falls prey to the roiling bloodlust that consumed Ares. The fickle Olympians decide their new god of war is at least as dangerous as the old one. Zeus and Athena strip Kratos of his power and send him to Hades (his second trip, for those keeping count). But fate and the monolithic Titans – whom Zeus also betrayed – won’t allow Kratos to remain dead.

Although he no longer has a god’s power, or even the assistance of the other Olympians, Kratos’ stone mortal will keeps him going. He blames the gods for all of his torment and vows revenge. And no one will stand in his way, not even the more traditional heroes of Greek mythology, many of whom make surprise appearances and (usually unwillingly) surrender weapons or artifacts that Kratos needs. It’s safe to say that Kratos doesn’t think much of guys named Perseus and Icarus.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the game tosses you a new type of activity. At one point, you’ll find yourself hopping from massive crumbling column to massive crumbling column and swinging from falling buttress to falling buttress as a huge stone bridge breaks apart all around you. And not long after that, you’ll come face to giant face with the mountain-sized Atlas, the rocky titan who holds the world on his shoulders and – at least in GOW2 – is aptly voiced by the formidable 6-foot-5 actor Michael Clark Duncan.

Beyond the vast and beautiful environments, the captivating puzzles, the smart storytelling and the dizzying fights, the game also offers a fun treasure hunt for players. It’s not easy to uncover every hidden artifact, but doing so will unlock several new features and game-play challenges that further extend the game’s already ample longevity and enjoyability.

Beyond that, a second disc is full of “making-of” videos and behind-the-scenes documentaries that show how the talented folks at Sony’s Santa Monica, Calif., studios brought Kratos to life.