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God of War II

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God of War II is a video game, the sequel to the extremely popular God of War. It was released on March 13, 2007[1] for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. The game will be released on March 30[1] in Europe.

God of War II
File:Gow2-2.jpg
Developer(s)SCE Studios Santa Monica
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
ReleaseUnited States of America March 13 2007
Europe March 30, 2007
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single player

God of War II is a 2 disc set. The first disc contains the actual game, while the second disc is dedicated to the game's development, including a diary of the game production.[2]

Story

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The game starts with Kratos looking down on the destruction of Rhodes by his Spartan army, not long after he killed Ares and took his spot as the God of War. Growing impatient, Kratos, brought forth his old Spartan Army, and is to to conquer the living world out of vengeance to the gods who did not rid his memories. As his forces slaughter the citizens, Kratos decides to give one last blow to the city.Athena comes to Kratos and pleads with him to stop destroying the cities of Greece because the gods are becoming increasingly angry. Athena warns Kratos that he is in her debt because she gave him his throne. Kratos ignores Athena, telling her that he owes her nothing, to which Athena replies that he has left her with no choice. Kratos descends to Rhodes himself. An owl sent by one of the Gods flies over Kratos and starts draining his godly size and power. Kratos immediately suspects Athena. The creature also flies over the Colossus of Rhodes and brings the statue to life. Kratos then begins the battle against the Colossus, as it rages through the city.

After battling the Colossus a few times, Zeus offers Kratos the blade of Olympus. He tells Kratos that if he puts all his godhood into the blade, he can defeat the colossus. Kratos grabs the blade and it sucks all his god-strength, turning him into a mortal. After going inside and destroying the supporting structures, Kratos stands and gloats, getting crushed by the Colossus' hand. He limps over towards the blade to gain back his god hood, however Zeus stabs him with it, telling him to bow down and gives Kratos the option of dying or becoming Zeus' servant. Kratos refuses, and is sent to the underworld. He is rescued and healed by Gaia, mother of the titans, who dislikes Zeus and tells Kratos of his goal, to find the Sisters of Fate, who control every mortalor god's fate and destiny. Kratos once again escapes Hades and sets off to the Islands of Creation, on Pegasus' back. But first, he is trapped in Typhon's mountain.

Pegasus is caught under Typhon's crushing grip which forces Kratos into finding a way to rescue Pegasus from the titan's hand. Kratos tries to convince the titan into helping him and Gaia defeat Zeus. Typhon remarks he is of no help, Kratos then stabs his eye and gets Typhon's Bane, while on the mountain, Kratos also finds Prometheus, a prisoner of the Gods, after realesing Prometheus' tormented soul by burning him, Kratos earns Rage of the Titans, which helps Kratos rescue Pegasus. Kratos then leaves the island and flies towards the edges of the world to find the Temple of the Fates.

On his way there, he meets up with harpies and Fate Sentries piloting Gryphons, trying to stop him from reaching the sisters, he kills them all and confronts the Dark Rider atop the blue Griffon, who wields a powerful weapon, the Spear of Destiny. After a brutal contanct-sensitive event Kratos stabs and pushes off the rider, then shoves the Spear into the birds neck and cuts oof the wing.

While on the Island of creation, "key" Greek heroes are encountered. These include Theseus, Perseus, Icarus, and Hercules, who turns out to be the surviving spartan from Zeus' slaughter of Kratos troops earlier. Jason is seen as he is eaten by the Cerberus. Also on the island is the barbarian king, a main figure in Kratos' past, who ends up summoning the captain from the ship in the first game. Kratos ventures through the Temple of Lahkesis, the Steeds of Time, Destiny's Atrium, Bog of the Forgotten, and the Temple of Euryale, defeating untold horrors such as the Kraken and Euryale, and many titan minotaurs and cerberi. He also fights Icarus, Perseus, and Theseus who are also trying to change their fates. In the Steeds of Time. he alos earns Kronos' Rage, a thunder magic.

He also frees Atlas from his prison and gains a new magic. In which a cutscene occurs in which Atlas shows him the Great War between the titans and the olympians. Hades and Poseidon are shown bringing down Atlas and Kronos. He tells Kratos that he will need more help to defeat Zeus, so he grants him Atlas Quake.

After many trials and tribulations on the island, Kratos manages to find the sister Lahkesis. After fighting her, Atropo appears and takes him to the time when he and Ares fought. She attempts to destroy the sword he used to kill Ares, thus causing Ares to be the victor instead of Kratos. After her defeat, Kratos must fight both Lakhesis and Atropos. Once they are defeated, he works his way to Clotho, the last sister, within the loom chamber, eventually ramming a pendulum through her head. Killing her allows him to rewind his thread to back when he was betrayed by Zeus. After fighting Zeus, he manages to get the blade. After fighting him some more, Kratos appears to be giving up. However, he is attempting to fool Zeus to gain the upper hand. He does so, but Athena interferes and gets stabbed instead, sacrificing herself. She explains that Zeus only did what he did because he was worried that Kratos would do to him what Zeus had done to Kronos, a son killing his father. As she explains this, Zeus gets away.

Kratos goes back to the temple and rewinds the thread to moments before the Great War ended, calling the titans back to his time. In the present, Zeus is in his palace on Mount Olympus, preparing the remaining gods for an assault on Kratos. As he does so, Mount Olympus trembles. The gods go to the edge and see Kratos and Gaia leading Typhon, Kronos, Atlas and other titans in an assault on Mount Olympus itself as the words "The End Begins" show......

Gameplay

The difficulties are Mortal (Easy), Spartan (Normal), God (Hard), and Titan (Very Hard).

Kratos begins the game with full health, full magic power, Poseidon's Rage, and fully powered up Athena's Blades. After being stripped of most of his abilities, Kratos will be left with the lowest level Athena's Blades, lowest health and magic power, and no magical attacks.

Kratos will be able to take flight on the back of Pegasus. In a recent gameplay of flight combat with the Pegasus, it appears that the combat will be similar to rail games such as Panzer Dragoon Orta in which Kratos can tell the Pegasus to move up, down, reverse, speed up, left, and right. Apparently if the Pegasus crashes or accelerates too quickly it will fall into a tumble in which the player must shake the analog stick to escape.

Another story trait that has been confirmed is that the relics will be more closely tied with the story, like obtaining the Golden Fleece to ward off the gaze of a Gorgon that is emblazoned on a temple door.

There will be a new "Challenge of the Titans" mode with 7 challenges, which is said to be very difficult, and includes a ranking system. There are bonuses for achieving the highest rank, however, the next level can be reached by achieving the lowest rank. There is a save feature in between rounds as well.

Another mode revealed is Arena of the Fates, in which the number and types of opponents can be customized. The experience points carry over to the main game. But, the Challenge of the Titans must be achieved with Titan rank to play this.

New yellow orbs can be acquired from completing mini-games on enemies, they load the Rage of the Titans meter.

Graphics

"Even from a technical perspective, God of War really carries its weight, making excellent use of the PS2 hardware's capabilities. The best part of the game is the animation, which is practically seamless, no matter what the player does. The developers evidently went out of their way to make sure every possible scenario was animated in a realistic fashion. As a result, the player won't find any herky-jerky movements between getting hit and going into another combo move. Everything transitions beautifully, and save for a few glitches players might run into here and there (most of which are minor), this game is just about as polished up as polished up gets.

The current engine on PS2 developer systems is reported to be using up to 99.3% of the PS2's system resources (i.e. processing power) and has two user selectable high-resolution modes. The modes supported are 480p60 and 1080i30 for those who have the Component Video cables for the Playstation 2.

There are practically no loading times (save for a few brief ones), so practically every changeover from level to level is totally seamless. The only real technical issues players might run into involve the frame rate, which has an occasional tendency to hitch up during some very specific scenarios. Generally, the game can handle a lot of enemies onscreen at once, but if players couple a lot of enemies with, for instance, a water-covered ground surface, then things get a smidge choppy; but even when this does happen, it's never much of a problem, and it's really just a minor blemish on an otherwise excellent-looking game."


The above quote is an editorial from Jaffe, 2007:155.

Enemies

  • Rhodes Soldiers - fought on the first level of Rhodes, they carry a sword as well as a shield to block with or a bow and arrow. By pressing O on them, Kratos repeatedly stabs them three times or throws their body on the ground, dismembering them.
  • Skeleton - These can re-build themselves after being broken into pieces, but not if the player presses O when indicated, Kratos pulls off their arm and shoves it in the skeleton's ribcage.
  • Gryphons - half eagle, half lion enemies fought on top of Pegasus. These can have enemies piloting them such as the 'Dark Rider'. Kratos is able to jump from Pegasus' back and onto the back of the gryphons and kill their pilot, and then proceed to slice their wings off.
  • Minotaurs - Regular Minotaurs are returning from the first game. The player are still able to do the finisher from the last game to get health. A bigger, beefier type is new also that breathes fire on its club. By pressing O when indicated, Kratos impales it on its club.
  • Gorgons - Gorgons make their return from the original, but with the exception that now the gorgon freezing ray can petrify other gorgons, which was not possible in the first game. Kratos, when prompted, can still rip their heads off by following on-screen analog movements.
  • Cyclops - These creatures make their return from the original, and now have small imps which ride them; the player can obtain Cyclops Eyes from completing a mini-game on them. If the player obtains the 20 cyclops eyes through the whole game, they earn a bonus costume. When not armed, they can throw boars at the player.
  • Harpies - They return from the original, but are larger than before, some are grey in color as well.
  • Cerberus - Cerberus is back and harder than ever. The O button must be used to pull off one of its heads, one by one, when indicated. Cerberus pups are back as well, and can be kicked at other enemies by pressing O.
  • Wraiths - Wraiths are souls of the dead, they have blades grafted into their arms, same as the first God of War.
  • Sirens - Nothing new about these, except there is a new type of siren that screams, temporarily stunning Kratos.
  • Satyrs - Satyrs have returned from the original and have about the same power as the undead enemies in the first god of war.
  • Boars - these attempt to ram Kratos, but by pressing 'O' on them, Kratos can gut them like the pigs they are. Can also be picked up by Cyclops.
  • Imps - Freakish little creatures that can call a Cyclops into battle with a horn, and then mount them for more strength. They carry axes to battle Kratos. Once grabbed by Kratos, he can flip them over and stomp on their faces, or finish them off by grabbing the Imps' axes and hacking them into their faces.
  • Barbarians - These souls are ressurected by their king and are fought alongside the Barbarian King.
  • Hades Hands - arms that stretch out from rocks and crevices in the Underworld.
  • Giant Moths - Large, flying insects that spew venom and webbing that can immobilize Kratos.
  • Gladiator - seen in IGN Review, is shielded and uses a flaming flail to attack.
  • Fire Bugs - in the Preview on gametrailers.com, small orange bugs are seen fighting Kratos. When killed, they fall to the ground and blow up, which can harm Kratos.
  • High Priest of the Fates - During some select fights, a man with a green scroll is fought. He summons minotaurs and teleports around, as well as firing green blasts

Bosses

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This is the list of bosses in order as confirmed by the strategy guide:

  • Colossus of Rhodes - The first boss in the game. Zeus brings it to life by draining Kratos' power and giving it to the statue. This battle is fought throughout various parts of the city of Rhodes. Kratos defeats this boss using the Blade of Olympus to destroy the control mechanism inside the statue.
  • Typhon - A massive titan who lives in a cavern Kratos must pass through to reach the Island of Fate. The Titan pins Kratos' Pegasus under its hand and Kratos must free his mount. At one point the Titan will attempt to blow the player off ledges and the player must stab him in the eye. By doing this, Kratos acquires the Bane of Typhon.
  • The Dark Rider - A creature wielding the Spear of Destiny and flying on the back of a Dark Gryphon. Fought at various stages during the aerial battle leading to the Island of Fate. As fight progresses, Kratos' Pegasus is knocked out of the air and Kratos jumps onto the Dark Gryphon's back. The player must kill the Rider and then stab the Gryphon with the spear.
  • Brown Cerberus - This brown Cerberus serves as a mini-boss, early in the game, just after landing at the Temple of Lakhesis off the coast of the Island of Fate. The middle head has horns and there are a lot of pups to contend with as well. To kill Cerberus, Kratos must pull off its heads one by one.
  • Theseus - A famous Greek hero, who wields a twin-bladed spear, and can summon ice crystals and Frost Minotaurs. Serves the Sisters of Fate as the 'Steedmaster', the keeper of the key to the Steeds of Time. Must defeat this mini-boss in order to use the Steeds to access the Island of Fate. To beat him once and for all, Kratos impales him with his spear, opens up a door and smashes his head numerous times.
  • The Barbarian King - Fought and (almost) defeated Kratos in his days as a Spartan Commander (and led Kratos to making his deal with Ares). At first, he is riding his horse and a button sequence must be pressed so Kratos can follow him. The player must first kill his horse to dismount him. Then the player must destroy several undead minions summoned by him than you have to deal with his 30ft. Giant form before stealing his weapon and smashing him several times with it to kill him.
  • Titan Minotaur (mini boss) - The titan minotaur seen in the E3 demo. Attempts to destroy the player by throwing rocks at the player and smashing the ground. Kratos must latch onto him and stab him in the heart to kill him.
  • Cerberus - A black, three-headed hound who eats Jason who has the Golden Fleece. The player must defeat this more powerful Cerberus, that is faster and can breathe fire, in order to obtain the Golden Fleece.
  • Euryale - Medusa's sister, a much larger, heavier gorgon. Euryale's Stare is earned by ripping off her head and used just like "Medusa's Gaze" from the original God of War. During the fight, when she gazes at the player, the player has to tap the circle button to stop it if you used the Golden Fleece with proper timing.
  • Titan Minotaur (mini boss) - Another titan minotaur, this time fought inside a cave.
  • Perseus - Owner of the Helmet of Hades, as during the fight against Kratos he turns invisible. After weakening him Kratos grabs him and manages to break the helmet. He also carries a slingshot, a sword and a shield. after becoming visible he can use the shield to blind Kratos temporarily and attempt to attack him before he regains sight. Kratos must then destroy his sword before taking his shield then and finally throwing him through a stone wall to be impaled on a large hook.
  • Icarus - Kratos will fight Icarus for the use of his wings . The fight will take place with both men falling off a cliff, with each button being a different attack. Once in a while the player will be overpowered by Icarus and must move the left analog stick according to the on-screen instructions to regain the advantage. Eventually Kratos rips off Icarus' wings leaving him to fall to his death.
  • Atlas - The player has to scale this massive Titan who will open the path for the player to find the Sisters of Fate and bring the player a magic ability. Not truly a boss.
  • Titan Minotaur (mini boss) - Another titan minotaur is fought for the last time inside a lava cave.
  • Hercules - Right before the kraken, a mini boss style fight with an unknown figure is fought. This is revealed to be the surviving spartan from the beginning of the game, Hercules
  • The Kraken - Giant sea monster of folklore, Kratos must fight it by first cutting off its tentacles and attacking the head.
  • Lakhesis - The first sister, who is fought alone, and then with Atropos
  • Atropos - The second sister, who is fought alone, after Lakhesis, and then with Lakhesis.
  • Clotho - The final of the Sisters of Fate. She is an extremely huge and grotesque figure whom Kratos stabs a pendulum through her face.
  • Zeus - Has a phase in which he is giant, then he turns small and takes the blade from you. Sirens help Zeus to battle you. He throws thunderbolts at you and uses the Blade of Olympus for a while.

Weapons, Magic, Urns, Armor, and Relics

Weapons

  • Athena's Blades: Given to Kratos by the goddess Athena. Many of the combos available to the Blades of Chaos (from the first game) have been retained, but new moves are available as well. At game start, the Blades are at maximum power with a complete move set, but after Kratos transfers his power to the Blade of Olympus, they are reduced to the lowest level, and have to be upgraded via collecting red orbs.
  • Barbarian Hammer: This hammer comes from the Barbarian King after you defeat him and can summon the dead souls of Hades; has the spell "Army of Hades" incorporated into it once leveled up to level 2. It is a very awkward and heavy weapon and you cannot Evade(roll) with it due to its size.
  • Spear of Destiny: A giant purple spear. Seems to be able to change length. Originally wielded by The Dark Rider. Some time after stabbing the Rider's Gryphon with it, he finds the rotting body and takes the spear from it.
  • Blade of Olympus: Giant sword, wielded by Zeus and loaned to Kratos during the game's opening level. Kratos donates his god-hood to it in order to defeat the Colossus, losing his life-bar and magic-bar extensions, the Rage of Poseidon spell, and any red orbs he has collected. The sword absorbs enemies' power when the player kills them with it. This sword can be used during the entire game in a bonus play which you can earn when you beat the game.

Magic

  • Poseidon's Rage: Kratos starts out with this magic, and the level one spell appears to be more powerful than the starting spell in the first game. The Wrath of Poseidon, Kratos' spinning lightning attack, returns at level two. Earned in the first game from Poseidon, it is only available during the first level. When Kratos finds himself in the underworld, he no longer has any magic. Can also be used during bonus play if you use the Urn of Poseidon. When he uses this spell he will shout "I am the god of war!" or, "None will defy me!".
  • Typhon's Bane: Level One allows Kratos to fire supernatural wind arrows. Level Two increases the firing rate and allows Kratos to send a whirlwind that lifts enemies into the air. Level Three improves all previous attacks, and gives a new option: a huge vortex of air that damages all surrounding enemies.
  • Cronos' Rage: Allows Kratos to place lightning bolts that will chain to nearby enemies. When upgraded to MAX, they explode after shocking everything near it.
  • Head of Euryale: The new 'Medusa's Gaze', it transforms enemies into stone as in the original but it wields new attacks and features. Earned by defeating Euryale.
  • Atlas Quake: This magic allows Kratos to shake the earth. At the highest level, Kratos can tap the O button to increase the strength.
  • Rage of the Titans: Similar to the "Rage of the Gods" in the original game. It is activated by pressing both L3 and R3 (the analog-stick buttons), covering Kratos in flames and increasing the strength of his attacks. However, where "Rage of the Gods" could only be activated with a full bar and deactivated by depleting said bar, Kratos can turn Rage of the Titans on and off at any time, regardless of bar contents. When the Blades of Athena are leveled to MAX, and while he is in Rage of the Titans mode, Kratos can perform a move that sacrifices his combo meter for damage dependent on the amount of hits. Finally, new "gold orbs" refill the Rage meter when collected (generally from chests or enemies). Also, unlike the Rage of the Gods, you don't have invincibility.

Urns

In the game the Urns give Kratos special abilities and attributes when activated in a bonus play. The Urns are either found during gameplay or earned in Challenge of the Titans.

  • Urn of Gaia: Kratos gains more Red Orbs; each one is worth 10 times its normal value.
  • Urn of the Gorgons: Kratos' weapons turn creatures to stone.
  • Urn of Olympus: Kratos gains the power of infinite magic.
  • Urn of Prometheus: When activated, it grants Kratos the power of infinite Rage of the Titans.
  • Urn of the Fates: Kratos gains the power to extend his combo timer by three seconds.
  • Urn of Poseidon: Kratos can replace Kronos' Rage with Poseidon's Rage.

Armor

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In the game the armor changes the way Kratos looks and changes his attributes such as the power of his attacks, his defense, amount of health gained from green orbs, amount of magic gained from blue orbs, etc.

  • Cod of War: Kratos is dressed up in a blue fish costume. Kratos deals 100% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 100%, he gains 200% health from health orbs, 200% magic from magic orbs, 200% experience from experience orbs, and 200% Titan power from Titan orbs while wearing this armor. To unlock this armor you have to beat the game on any difficulty.
  • Hydra Armor: Kratos is dressed up in armor made from Hydra scales. Kratos deals 50% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 200%, he gains 200% health from health orbs, 200% magic from magic orbs, 100% experience from experience orbs, and 200% Titan power from Titan orbs while wearing this armor. To unlock this armor you have to beat the game on any difficulty.
  • Black Odyssey: Kratos is dressed in his regular armor but his skin is black and the red tattoos are changed to gold. Kratos deals 200% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 50%, he gains 100% health from health orbs, 100% magic from magic orbs, 500% experience from experience orbs, and 100% Titan power from Titan orbs while wearing this armor. To unlock this armor you have to beat the game on God Mode difficulty.
  • Athena: Kratos is replaced by Athena. Athena deals 100% damage to enemies, her armor is set to 66%, she gains 500% health from health orbs, 500% magic from magic orbs, 200% experience from experience orbs, and 100% Titan power from Titan orbs. To unlock Athena you have to beat the game on Titan Mode difficulty.
  • Hercules: Kratos is replaced by Hercules. Hercules deals 150% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 50%, he gains 100% health from health orbs, 100% magic from magic orbs, 100% experience from experience orbs, and 100% Titan power from Titan orbs. To unlock Hercules you have to beat the game on Titan Mode difficulty.
  • General Kratos: Kratos is undressed in his Spartan General armor from before he sold his soul to Ares. Kratos deals 50% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 50%, he gains 25% health from health orbs, 25% magic from magic orbs, 500% experience from experience orbs, and 25% Titan power from Titan orbs while wearing this armor. To unlock this armor you have to collect 20 Cyclops eyes.
  • God Armor: Kratos is dressed up in the God Armor from the beginning of the game. Kratos deals 200% damage to enemies, his armor is set to 200%, he gains 200% health from health orbs, 200% magic from magic orbs, 200% experience from experience orbs, and 200% Titan power from Titan orbs while wearing this armor. To unlock this armor you have to receive God ranking in Challenge Mode.

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Relics

  • Amulet of the Fates: Slows down time for a certain amount of time when in range of a fate statue.
  • Wings of Icarus: Allows Kratos to glide.
  • Golden Fleece: Allows the reflection of projectiles and reduction of some % of melee attacks and gorgon stare attacks.

Critical reception

God of War II has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Many critics have stated that the sequel surpasses the original,[3][4][5] is one of the PlayStation 2's best games,[6][7] is one of the best action games of all time,[3][8][9], and, moreover, is one of the best video games ever made.[10][11][12][5]

Reviews:

Compilations of Multiple Reviews:

See Also

References

  1. ^ a b "IGN: God of War II". IGN PlayStation 2. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  2. ^ Roper, Chris (2007-02-12). "IGN: God of War II Review". IGN PlayStation 2. pp. 3 of 3. Retrieved 2007-02-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "IGN: God of War II Review". IGN PlayStation 2. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  4. ^ "GameSpy: God of War II Review". GameSpy PS2. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  5. ^ a b "God of War II for PlayStation 2 Review - GameDaily". GameDaily.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  6. ^ "God of War II Review - PlayStation 2". GameZone. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  7. ^ "GameTrailers.com - God of War II (PlayStation 2)". GameTrailers.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  8. ^ "CANOE -- WHAM Gaming - PS2: 'God of War' sequel a PS2 epic". Wham.Canoe.PA. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  9. ^ Electronic Gaming Monthly, April 2007, p.90
  10. ^ "Review: God of War II for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro.com. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  11. ^ "Game Informer Online". Game Informer. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  12. ^ Template:Cite web url=http://gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=789

3. Jaffe, David. (2007) Cyclops Foundationary, California:Sony Computer Entertainment America. ISBN 1-844435-51-3.

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