God of War 2, oh how do I love thee, let me count the ways. For starters, it was wickedly awesome that the first level was one long, amazing boss fight. Oh, and then you snapped that one warrior's neck. And then you pulled the eye out of a Cyclops. And you have a great story. And you ripped the wings off a bunch of Gryphons. And you've got some dastardly puzzles. And, oh, forget the review! Go out and buy the game now, play it, love it, and then come back here and read up on why you were so right to trust this opening paragraph and enjoy this simply great game for the aging PS2. Or, you know, just go ahead and read the review first.

THE STORY SO FAR
God of War 2 is a direct continuation of the first game, and though it doesn't take place right after, it is pretty close in the timeline. Since the second one ties so closely in to the first one in many ways, you will get the most from the second one's story if you've played the original (and if you haven't, you should). As a crash course though, Kratos was in battle and was about to die, called out to Ares (the God of War) to save him, was saved, became his living embodiment of death, killed his wife and kid about accident, sought revenge against Ares, killed him, and then became the new God of War. Okay, there is the groundwork that sets up the events of God of War 2 (GOW2 from here on).

In GOW2 you are still the God of War, leading your fellow Spartans on a rampage of the land. Though you are pleased with your standing, many of the other gods in Olympus have tired of you, especially Athena who you helped and thusly she helped you in the first game, and suddenly you find yourself battling against her. However, Athena is the least of your problems, because soon enough you are human again, stripped of everything you worked for, and seeking out the Sisters of Fate so that you can turn back time to right a wrong done against you. The rest of the story and the twists and turns, dear readers, I'll leave to you.

It's safe to say that though the action will keep your blood pumping, the story is what ultimately drove me on from beginning to end, and the game is filled with epic moments that are simply awe inspiring. I want to share all of them, but part of the fun comes from not knowing what is to come and discovering it for yourself when it actually happens. Some early moments (and those mentioned and talked about before) include an epic battle against a statue of Athena (completing demolishing the epic first level battle against the Hydra in the first game); a winged flight atop Pegasus as you jump onto Gryphons and rip their wings off; and several meetings with famous figures from Greek mythology, this time extending beyond just the Gods, including such individuals as Jason and the Argonauts.

GAMEPLAY
GOW2 is all about two things: combat and puzzling/adventuring (and the game balances the two exquisitely so at just the moment you get tired of fighting tons of enemies, you're thrown a bit of brain teasing puzzles).

Much like the first game, combat involves your two handed blades, and as you advance through the game you'll have the option to use experience orbs to power up your weapons, opening up more and more combat opportunities and moves to really start laying it to your enemies. You've got your traditional hack and slash combos, the ability to knock opponents up into the air for combos, and grapples. However, the combat in GOW2 is far from hack and slash typical, as every move seamlessly moves from one move to the next, and enemies are intelligent enough so you'll have to mix things up with your attacks and do things such as parries and dodges to make sure you outlast the battle. Another big thing about the combat is the QTE (quick time events) where you must push certain button presses or thumbstick movements to deal the final blow to certain enemies, which is indicated by issuing a grapple when the giant circle button icon appears over the enemy. You'll also acquire various magical abilities as you move through the game, which will incorporate even more ways in which you can combat your foes.

Combat isn't stuck strictly to the ground either, as you'll have fights while scaling the side of cliffs and walls, while hanging from atop a ceiling (which is new to the series), and while traversing a rope. The combat here is a little more reserved and less combo friendly, because all you can do is light attack, heavy attack, or grapple, but it is still fun and tense, especially when some warrior grabs your ankles and you have to shake the thumbstick back and forth to shake them off before they drop you to your death.

Another new combat scenario this time around are fights atop Pegasus. Much like the wall/ceiling/rope battles, combat involves you steering Pegasus around, attacking enemies to your sides, dashing into them and dashing forward, and jumping on to Gryphons to deliver those final blows. There aren't many Pegasus moments, and they aren't the greatest thing you'll be raving about after you've played the game, but they are still really well done and pulled off, breaking up the gameplay and giving you some good story in the progress.

Besides combat, the puzzle/discovery/adventuring elements are also a huge factor of the game, as there are some tricky areas, where you'll have to really analyze a situation to figure out what you need to do, while others will come pretty quickly to your head. The puzzles also range from the simple ones, where the puzzle is confined strictly to a room, where others might have you traversing for something like a half an hour, just to finally get to the answer to help solve that puzzle earlier. However, just because it might take so long to get to the puzzle's ultimate answer, don't assume you'll be doing a lot of backtracking, because the levels are so wonderfully designed that the natural progression is very linear and once you find your solution a path to quickly get you back to where you need to wind up will present itself, eliminating the need for backtracking. You'll run across switch puzzles, time puzzles, chain swing puzzles, and many others. And some of the puzzles are quite dastardly in that they involve gore and other wonderful moments of blood and guts, such as having to sacrifice people in order for you to move on.

GRAPHICS
Behold the beauty that is God of War 2 and ancient Greece! Of course the animation is great, because we've already gone over that, but everything about the game is beautiful. The characters are rendered smoothly; the enemy types (though some taken from the original game) are designed well and are full of character; and the environments, oh the environments, are giant slabs of gorgeous. I mean, there is so much creativity here in regards to the environment, ranging from levels built around Titans to large, intricate puzzle temples to crumbling ruins and snow peaked mountains. You know you are playing and seeing something special when you find yourself running on a giant chain leading to a whole fleet of horses, and you have to just stop and take in all you are experiencing and let it all soak in.

SOUND
Great character voicework that really drives home the epic scope and seriousness of the story. Battle sounds, enemy screams, and ambient environment noise drive home the immersion of the GOW2 world. The game also features a sweeping musical score, which resounds with the bombastic power of ancient Greece, and overall it just fills you with joy hearing it.

IN CONCLUSION
Look, the days of the PS2 are about done, but that doesn't mean this old dog doesn't have a leg to still stand on and a few good fights left in him. God of War 2 is one such fight, as it is an amazing game, that will please your brain as much as it fuels your adrenaline. An epic story, great gameplay, and wonderful graphics and sound make God of War 2 the entire package. The only real problem with the game – it has to end, and now we must wait for the inevitable God of War 3.

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