In celebration of its 10 year anniversary, my ode to the Playstation 2 (yes it’s been 10 years, feel old don’t you?) continues. Today, we look at a classic, must-play title for the system - God of War. If you haven’t played it yet, it’s time my friend. And with it now available on the Playstation 3 via the God of War Collection, you have no excuses.

God of War
If you looked up epic in the dictionary, you’d probably find God of War.

Current Price: $9.99 @ Gamestop (used), $2-$7 @ Amazon (used)

The Good:
+ Kratos is an intriguing and fascinating lead character who’s back-story is fleshed out very well over the course of the game.
+ A surprisingly deep and well-written story, that’s much better than other action/adventure titles.
+ Whether you’re ripping heads off gorgons, slicing appendages off centaurs, or jabbing your Blades of Chaos (quite possibly one of the coolest weapons in a video game ever) into a cyclops’ eye, GoW’s combat is brutal and violent.
+ Some simple and light puzzles help break up the action nicely, while not leaving you scratching your head…at least for too long.
+ Breathtaking views and cinematic camera angles such as a gigantic Ares attacking the city of Athens, the many heads of the hydra attacking a fleet of ships, climbing atop the back of a titan, or ascending Hades while screaming souls plummet around you.
+ Beautiful environments perfectly evoke the time and atmosphere of ancient Greece.
+ Enormous and intense boss fights ranging from a multi-headed Hydra, to a mechanical Minotaur, to even Ares, the God of War himself.
+ Well-presented and gorgeous cutscenes.
+ Integrates Greek mythology extremely well - ie: collecting gorgon eyes to increase you’re health, searching out Pandora’s Box, encountering Cronus the Titan, battling harpies and a handful of other mythological beasts, and much more.
+ An epic and sweeping soundtrack, that sounds reminiscent of the film Gladiator at times.
+ The only game I know with a sex minigame PLUS plenty of boobs for good measure. Need I say more?
+ GoW ends with a challenging, climactic final battle, as well as a satisfying ending that will please fans.
+ Is better than a lot of next-gen games.
+ Plenty of bonus features ranging from making-of videos, a deleted levels video with commentary, a look at the many character designs and their evolutions, and more.
+ Additional difficulty levels provide gamers seeking a challenge just that.

The Bad:
- Gore + boobs + blood = not for kids.
- A couple parts of the game feel broken and might spur short bouts of frustration (ie: the rotating towers covered in blades in Hades. Which, during my ascent, I fell through the walls to my death twice)
- There’s a pretty good variety of enemies here but there should have been more.
- GoW’s camera angles aren’t always the best with occasional cheap shots from off-screen enemies.
- The boss fights are great and all, if only there were more of them…
- Though rare, mid-level loading does rear its ugly head. And it can take a while…
- Some may find the game a bit short with players beating GoW in 6-8 hours.

Overall rating: A