God of War review

/* Only buy this game if you are over 17 */
* This game is rated M for Mature *
* Do not attempt anything done in this game *

The game, God of War, is a very interesting one. It is a hack-and-slash game where you control a mortal named Kratos. I say mortal because the characters (most of them anyway) are of Greek mythical origin (i.e. Zeus, Athena, Artemis etc). The story is a sort of a flashback in that the game actually begins with Kratos leaning and falling off a cliff. The flashback occurs when we rewind to three days prior to the incident and thus is where the game begins. Kratos was originally leader of his army and he called on the aide of Ares, the Greek god of war. Ares helped Kratos in exchange for Kratos giving his life to him. Well, over time Kratos was serving under Ares in his army. However Kratos turned on Ares when Ares made Kratos kill his family. So the game basically is a quest for Kratos to kill Ares and once he does Kratos will become the new god of war. The game features button combo presses and a lot of quick time events. A quick time event occurs whenever a button or analog stick prompt pops up on the screen. Whenever the event is completed in succession, good things happen (a boss/enemy is defeated, you avoid something hazardous, etc). The game also has a leveling system in which you can level up your standard blades and whatever magic you incur throughout your quest. Leveling up is only done through things called red orbs. These orbs are attainable by killing enemies, destroying the environment when applicable and getting a long hit combo. Think of these red orbs as experience points for you fantasy RPG players out there. There is also a rage of the gods meter. This meter fills up with each enemy you kill. Once it gets high enough, you can activate it by pressing the two analog sticks simultaneously. Once activated, Kratos glows blue and with Level 5 blades, can use magic indefinitely. The overall game length is not long (about 10-12 hours) and I found the game very fun to play. If you are afraid of blood and don't like too much gore in your games, be forewarned; there is a ton of blood and gore in this game. The game can be a little hard at times but a little strategizing can go a long way and I like games that are hard; they are more rewarding that way. Pick this game up if you are looking for a good game to finish off your PS2 library with (assuming you will get a PS3 of course). Enjoy some Greek mythology mixed with action.