Download God Of War 2

The original God of War was an action gaming masterpiece from start to finish. Its Greek mythology-derived storyline, blanketed with larger-than-life set pieces and timeless characters and themes, provided the perfect backdrop to an incredibly intense and engaging action romp. We dubbed it our pick for not only Best Action Game but overallGame of the Year for 2005, and to this day it stands as one of, if not the greatest, action games ever released. Though Kratos wound up sitting atop his throne as the God of War at the first game's finale, his tale was far from over. God of War II picks up right where the original left off and follows the anti-hero on his continued path of revenge.

When the sequel was announced, fans wondered not if it would be a worthy follow-up but whether Sony's Santa Monica Studio would actually be able to outdo the original. After all, rather than making the leap to next-gen, the developer decided to keep the franchise on the PlayStation 2 for the time being. Citing matured technology that would allow them to focus on content rather than having to work through the growing pains associated with in-progress engine development, Santa Monica Studios took the road most traveled and wound up producing what amounts to a near-perfect sequel.

The answer is that yes, Santa Monica has indeed managed to better the original, though given how fantastic the first title was, just barely. It's not an exponential improvement, one that an appearance on the PlayStation 3 may have brought, but rather an evolutionary one that has seen what small imperfections the original God of War contained polished out.

While we're not going to provide any significant spoilers that anyone who's followed the game thus far wouldn't already know, those of you who want to know absolutely nothing about the story should skip ahead to the next paragraph right about… now. The second chapter of Kratos' story once again revolves around revenge, and after being Metroided out of your godly status and powers, you head off to find the Sisters of Fate to set things right again. Well, "right" is only from Kratos' perspective as the story in God of War II isn't about black and white / good vs. evil, but rather all about perspectives. Even more so than the first game, God of War II taps into Greek mythology for a vast assortment of characters, settings and, more importantly this time, purpose, power and greed. Does that make this tale better? Frankly, it's quite arguable and it's a close one to call, but we think so. Only time (and really, another game) will tell us which chapter stands up stronger in the long run, but God of War II's story certainly doesn't disappoint. It's likely that some folks may be a little disappointed in the ending as it's obvious Kratos' journey is far from over, but it's been known for some time that a third game has been planned all along so none of this should come as a shocking surprise.

While it certainly approached flawlessness, God of War was imperfect, though fortunately many of its problems were tied directly to individual segments of the game rather than commonly-used mechanics. God of War II is practically devoid of these fallacies and even improves on the original's fantastic mechanics in a number of small and subtle ways. For example, you can now drop down walls while scaling them so that you have quick movement in all four directions. 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. If you're not in the middle of a fight, you're almost certainly working on one of the game's interesting puzzles. There are few times when you'll find yourself climbing alone on walls or running down an empty pathway, though most of these times are short and the scenery around you is enough to keep your eyes engaged. Indeed, God of War II is as polished and refined an experience as you'll find in gaming.

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