there IS a lot of improvements that could be made, and that i will EXPECT to be made on the next version, since it will be a ps3 game.

HOWEVER, gow2 DOES make a lot of very significant changes, all of the moves and specials have changed. theres a significant increase in new enemies and it addresses concerns from the original, such as the few number of boss fights.

the alternate weapons are totally awesome in GOW2, and the environments are very beautiful and new.

the puzzles include new elements such as the ability to freeze time, and theres changes even to the most basic combat, such as the ability to rebound an attack when you block at the EXACT precise moment (which also applies to attacks like the gorgon flash [which is also new])

frankly, i think there is enough new content to keep the same type of gameplay completely fresh, and very rewarding for this sequel.. However, when the series DOES move onto the next generation console, i think WE ALL expect that some of the similarities which we are can accept in this version wont be acceptable.

there will need to be more changes than just graphics, and a few motion controls thrown into the gow-style "press this button to do this insane fight attack"

joelface

themunk

Instead, send your mail to Santa Monica, or something...

I might be reiterating a point here, so: Oops? :P

Roux

That's actually pretty much the point.

justhesh

Maybe I'll play it sometime soon, maybe I won't...

Roux

Yeah, you clearly have too many of your own problems to have time to comment on the mental state of a video game character.

justhesh

He's the shittiest character i've seen since DMC's Dante. And when that whiny, mass murdering sociopath, who psychotically blames everybody but himself for his problems, gives that gurgling scream of death... I know an angel has gotten its wings.

Zombie G. Zomborgo

Kain The Undead

I think that Totilio argument was flawed... but that´s just me.

PJ Moreno

The thing with Zelda games, though, is that they seem like less of a "sequel" and more of a "re-imagining".

justhesh

I think what it comes down to is that there are true sequels and there are remakes. I haven't played GoW2, so I can't tell which category it falls under.

vizh

GoW II is a great game. It's a more balanced and uniform experience than it's predecessor. I feel the only area it suffered was the puzzles, which I thought were slightly less inventive and satisfying to solve than in GoW I.

Stevedroid

Sounds like some people just need to head downtown and turn their penises (penii?) in.

Cathaoir

Right. And do you know why the games are so similar? Because the first was so well done, that that's what every one wanted. Honestly, I think most of the people saying things like "the story was horrible" or "the character is one dimensional" aren't even talking about the right game. Either that, or they're just plain crazy.

They might as well be saying the voice acting was bad, or the music sucked, because they clearly weren't playing the same games that the rest of the world else has. And if they were, they weren't paying much attention.

justhesh

Aliens took an existing fiction and applied to it a new metaphor and recontextualized it; it took a horror film and made it a war movie. It's exactly the kind of departure that Steven Totillo talks about with games like Paper Mario and Yoshi's Island. That it was fabulously entertaining, well made, and watchable don't change that.

http://eat-sleep-game.com/news

aegies

I loved God of War and still love the sequel. The argument of is the game creative enough to push the genre is the wrong road to go down. The question you should ask is: "Does God of War II succeed as a sequel?" The answer is yes. You don't go to see Aliens 2 and expect a brand new movie with no ties to the old.
Sequels are about one thing, more.Why would you expect the same in games? With the exception of the Final Fantasy series all sequels are just expansions of the original. More explosions,more battles,more of what you wanted.

jackal888

heretrix

...and also a joke that was made by X-play all the way back when the first game was new.

I find it amusing that so many people can like the first game and not the second, or vice-versa. It's virtually the same damn game. The first game had harder puzzles and more annoying platforming sequences, but for the most part, they're extremely similar.

And it's a kick-ass game, IMHO.

WizarDru

Scazza

Yes, games can be beautiful to look at or the soundtrack can really suck you in, but ultimately it's about how *you* act/react/interact within the space of the game.

Sure, shakin' one's ass has a certain participatory nature...but does the act affect the music with which one is participating? No.

So, I would have to say that if the interaction that you have with the game is stale, then the game itself has gone stale. This is probably one of the major reasons why sequels are churned out with some *bonus feature* that attempts to make the interaction in the game more keen, crisp, and engaging. Sometimes it works, sometimes not but without them and if we just continuously borrow from ourselves we are merely walking the same steps over and over.

Of course, for many...that is exactly what they want: more of the same.

To me though it's not surprising that someone with a wider breadth of experience with games and interactive media would crave something *more* out of the experience. You lose some of the drama and power of the interaction when you use the same device for a second time (e.g. sacrifice a pleading soldier). (I'm having this issue with 24 this season...seems all like ground we've already covered before...so the drama falls flat.)

And in counterpoint, someone who is used to passively experiencing media would enjoy and crave that intratexuality because the interaction and engagement he/she gets is demonstrated between pieces (games, songs, etc.) and between people while discussing the pieces. Their minds are used to wandering outside the actual piece in order to draw it into context, so the search for the intratexuality is one that engages them.

For me personally, I want *the game* to engage me and not the dialogue the game has with its predecessor or contemporaries. Not that I don't enjoy referential material...but I feel you can only finance those references (which typically cause a disengagement of the user) with moments that truly engage.

All of that said, I hated the demo of GoW and haven't played the sequel so I can't speak specifically about these games.

LunarDuality

I'm so glad you mentioned gears. people go on about how Marcus fenix is too gruff but at least he jokes around every now and then. The Gears joke and snipe and have personality, Kratos has all of the charm of a white man in a spike lee movie.

And it bugs me that god of War is the only series that can get away with it. Remmeber prince of persia 2? how everyone bitched about the prince becoming dark and generic? No complaints for Kratos.

Marasai

That's really funny.

internetnerd

Which is funny sometimes, but all he does is yell at everything(I don't think he speaks a single word of dialog without yelling) then trys to kill him.

***Possible spoilers a head...****

The sequals plot line is even worse.

Alright you "got revenge" when in reality you were just power hungry and wanted to be a god.

So now you're a god and that isn't good enough so you have to be a dick to all the other gods.

Then someone you hate offers you help and all you do is yell at them.

The help being such an obvious trap that I didn't even want to use the sword. Not only that, you were a god, it didn't look like he was having all that much trouble defeating the collossus.

So then you fall for the trap and get pissed off? Sorry, but if you're that stupid you don't deserve to be a god, get over it.

It's all kind of funny, but really annoying, it's a shame they couldn't apply the excellent gameplay, art, and inventive creatures to something with a little substance. But I think I said the same with Gears of War, but at least those meat heads were funny enough to laugh at, Kratos is just plain annoying.

Ape.of.Gods

'Good' is subjective. Look at how many people hate Halo. You can't simply say a game is "just good." There has to be a reason.

Marasai

http://eat-sleep-game.com/news

aegies

heretrix

Exactly. A game like God of War, with that level of pure quality and cohesion, comes along very rarely. When it comes out, we shouldn't pretend it's "just okay." Exact Animal Crossing or Viva Pinata for being innovative all you want, but God of War -- in all its derivativeness -- is still in another ballpark as game experiences go.

RedRedSuit

3inst3in

3inst3in

The worst part is Kratos. i have never played a game where I did not mind dying just becaue I hate the main character so much.

I mean, everyline of dialogue he has is just some growl about how the gods suck and everything is their fault.

Which makes no sense.

He went ou to war for his own personal glory.
He bit off more than he could chew by facing the barbarian hordes.
He swore to ares that he would do whatever he wanted if he let him win.
He killed his family when people kept warning him not to.
He embarked on a quest for vengeance.
He made the same mistakes that Ares made.

Every single thing that happens to Kratos is his own damn fault. and every situation he gets into is a result of his own stupidity.

Marasai

But as the game progressed, I found myself fighting the same boring enemies(from the first game) over and over again. Having already mastered God of War 1 in God mode, playing the same exact enemies on Spartan mode in God of War 2 was much much too easy. So the most vital part of a game, the gameplay, was utterly lacking by the end of the game.

That said, the story, levels, and characters were far superior to GoWI, which made the game feel much more solid.

armonsore

3inst3in

baberg

Also, it will be a cold day in hell before I ever give MTV a chance to deliver a gaming review, good writing or not.

Ape.of.Gods

That said, the story is horrible, the characters unrealistic and utterly static, and Kratos is a myspace page away from being an emo kid.

It is an achievment to get a game not look like ass and to have little to no load times on the ps2, but it is hardly the tour de force people make it out to be. Everything god of war does, Ninja Gaiden did a thousand times better over 2 years ago.

Marasai

phinehas