I've lost track of time, quit eating and sleeping. Why? God of War 2!!

Yes there is a good reason for the length between posts even after I blew the trumpets of my return has to do with the sandal wearing, twin sword wielding, Gods of Olympus hating, Kratos!
Oh yeah, the God of War (GOW) is back. I can't think of any better way to get your "Spartan On" than by seeing "300" this past weekend and then getting GOW 2 on store shelves this week. I know the two have nothing to do with another and their close release is by sheer coincidence but it was a good week for us Ancient Greek Warrior lovin' fans!
GOW 2 is the follow up to the popular, award winning and critically acclaimed GOW but is does not play like a sequel. Rather it feels like a continuation of the first game through story telling. You don't need to have played the first game to enjoy GOW 2 but it sure does help in understanding our hero Kratos's plight and its a good 10-15 hours well spent butt kicking!

Kratos has left Olympus to fight on Earth because he's tired of the Gods' backbighting and manipulation. It is while fighting on Earth as the new God of War that he's betrayed by Zeus himself and left for dead. The Titans (and they are in scale and power in this game), forbears of the Gods of Olympus come to Krato's aide and guide him through the game. For the second installment you don't just play as Kratos either but you also get to take the reins of the legendary Pegasus for some awesome in air/free fall fighting. But what the game has become famous for is not just the great action but also the story that drives us through the game. The GOW series perfectly melds gameplay with cutscenes to keep you "in the game". The voice acting is spot on and never waivers or sounds flat. That coupled with the movie-like soundtrack make you feel less like you're playing the game than being a part of an experience.

During the game you'll run into/have to defeat about 8 bosses (compared to the 3 the first game came under much scrutiny for, there's even a battle against the man that started it all for Kratos in the first game). To be honest bosses is a loose term. Some of the larger enemies with the contextual requirements for defeat would rank as bosses in other games and the "big bosses" are so massive the game has a little "Shadow of the Colossus" feel to it. One boss is so gargantuan that you won't even get a shot if its head for a solid 10 minutes into the battle. Yet another (the first of the game) requires you to defeat him from the outside then burrow your way in the defeat him from the inside!
The levels are huge and beeeeautilful!! Looking at this game its hard to believe that its running on a PS2 and not a PS3. A nice addition is the Prince of Persia-like camera fly through at the beginning of each level that gives you an idea of how you need to progress. There are a few other nods to Prince of Persia and Lara Croft with a seamless grappling system that lets you swing around with your blades. But for the most part, the game's stayed true to its roots. There's also some puzzles but there worked into the story and the environment so well they don't feel like you're doing a puzzle at all. Its the small touches like that, rather than some un-needed "over haul" for a sequel that a true gamer can appreciate.
But let's get to the meat.........the battling. Its movie-stylish and brutal as Hades itself! There are some added combos that increase your butt kicking repertiore but it wasn't broke to start with so there wasn't any need to fix it. There are a few new weapons that have been added too in order to diversify your slaying but I like to stick with the tried and true "Blades of Chaos" (which when fully "powered up" provide hours of bloody deaths).

Hard to believe that they could top the original but Game Director Cory Barlog and his crew certainly took Mr. Jaffe's (original GOW Game Director) to new heights!!

You have GOT to go out and buy this game! And be on the lookout for yours truly on the extras DVD. That's right, I made it in there (may only be for 10 seconds but that's more than you suckas)!! New game, new story, new powers, new weapons, new monsters...oh my! I gotta get back to gaming.