It's God of War II. Was that enough? Maybe we should say a little more.

For this week's Frankenreview, we've chosen the indie cult hit, God of War II. You may not have heard of its predecessor, God of War, but it's a more likely scenario that upon finishing the game, your brain erased the experience from your memory as no other occurrence (including having a family, finding true love or fulfilling your religious calling) could transcend your time on Mt. Olympus.

Because of the god-like proportions of this week's topic (and since a lot of people were bitching last week), we have chosen the titans of game review for our plagiarism quotes...

Gamepro
...it's that sense of storytelling that is the true strength of both God of War titles...the delicate interplay between narrative storytelling and action is maintained here, and the tension between the two is just right... suffice it to say that Kratos once again faces a series of trials and must once again climb the tallest of mountains, if not physically then metaphorically.
Gamespot
The character models are equal parts gorgeous and grotesque, the environments are incredible to look at (even when they're not gigantic), and everything runs and animates without a hitch. The fixed-view camera work is once again top notch, almost never giving you any problems during combat and doing a fantastic job of framing the action... As PlayStation 2 games go, this is one of the most attractive you'll encounter...

IGN
God of War was imperfect, though fortunately many of its problems were tied directly to individual segments...God of War II is practically devoid of these fallacies...you can now drop down walls while scaling...[and] Kicking boxes or statues pushes them much farther than before, cutting down on the tedium of moving objects, and the repeated tapping of R1 to open doors has been moved to the much more repetition-friendly Circle button...All of this works to create an experience that is perfectly paced.
1UP
Along the way, you'll fight roughly eight bosses...But there are four massive boss fights in particular that rival the scale and drama of anything seen in the first game. One boss is so large you can't even see its head until 10 minutes into the fight. Another boss you have to first defeat on the outside and then climb through its burning remains to finish it off from the inside.
Gamespy
...the only real criticism that I have of God of War II is that it tends to get a little cheap in the final stages...suffice it to say that some of the later levels ramp up their challenge by putting Kratos in situations that are maddeningly annoying to deal with....Still, I can't fault the game for being difficult, no matter how cheap it seems to put Kratos in such a compromising position.

I have a beautiful 46" DLP...and the bulb is burnt out. Damn the gods. Damn them all. Mark Wilson

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