God of War II review

/*The same warning applies to this game as it did for the first God of War*/

God of War II, in my opinion is an even better game than its predecessor in every way. The game starts off where the first one ends. Kratos sits high above the tower having just destroyed Ares and watches as the war between the Spartans and Olympus. He feels compelled, against Athena's wishes, to help his brethren. In an attempt to help his brethen, he is confronted by Zeus. In a battle between Kratos and Zeus, Kratos is nearly destroyed by Zeus but is saved by the Titans. Kratos, by the aid of the Titans, is now on a quest to destroy Zeus. I won't spoil the rest as you will just have to play the game. Anyway, the gameplay is the same as it was in the first one. Although I think it may be easier to string combos together. Magic returns as well as the red orbs used to level up said magic as the blades of chaos (In GoW II, they are called Athena's blades). Puzzles return and are more thought provoking so it may take you a longer to figure them out. Speaking of time, I think this game is a little harder than the first. I say that having beaten GoW and GoW II on the hardest difficulty and it took me nearly twice as long to beat the second one than the first one. Granted the second one is longer than the first one. However playing it on the harder difficulty reaps more rewards in that you unlock a more higher difficulty as well as other stuff including a challenge mode and an arena to fight in. All in all, this is a fun game. But again if you are squeamish about blood and gore as there is a lot of it in this game, then don't pick this one up. Otherwise be prepared for a great game.