God of War Collection

The God of War series has had its fair share of collections over the years. In 2009, the first God of War Collection was released to fans around the world. Upgraded with new visuals, it gave players the ability to revisit these classics or for new players to experience them in HD glory.

A Spartan’s Revenge

It was clear when God of War was released in 2005 that the team at Santa Monica Studio had a clear vision for their game. They wanted a fast paced, action-packed, retelling of Ancient Greek mythology that we hadn’t seen before.

You play as Kratos, a Spartan warrior who has loyally served the gods for years. When Athena asks Kratos to kill Ares – the God of War – he is tricked by Ares into killing his own family. Fueled by rage and the need to avenge his family, Kratos embarks on a journey to kill Ares. You’ll briskly progress through the world, fighting hundreds of enemies along the way.

God of War’s pace is very fast, with fights only taking a minute or so before you’re onto the next challenge. The inspiration from games such as Devil May Cry are quite evident here.

During combat, you’ll make use of Kratos’ Blades of Chaos, and eventually his sword – the Blade of Artemis. Combos are easy to execute and even more satisfying to see. Blocking is a big part of God of War since most enemies have a prompt that lets you know they’re about to attack. If you can time these well, you’ll rarely die in combat. The inspiration from games such as Devil May Cry are quite evident here. Along with these combos comes an execution ability that starts a quick-time event where you enter in a button combo to perform an extremely gory kill. Magic attacks are also at Kratos’ disposal. My personal favorite is the all-powerful lightening attack that shocks enemies in a large radius around you. Using these magic attacks drains your magic bar, so they should only be used when necessary.

Outside of combat, you will come across the occasional puzzle where you push a stone block or must use a switch to arrange even larger blocks to unlock a door. These aren’t too difficult and if anything, only serve to break up the hectic pace the game plays at. The environments in which you explore are beautifully created, especially during some of the epic boss fights. God of War truly took boss fights to the next level and future games such as Dark Souls seem to have been heavily influenced ever since.

A God’s Revenge

The sequel to 2005’s God of War picks up right where the first game had left off. Kratos is now the new God of War. However, this powerful position fails to protect him from going down another tragic path of vengeance. Zeus – the King of Olympian Gods – betrays Kratos and sends him to the Underworld. There, Kratos is saved by the Titan Gaia and told that if he can locate the Sisters of Fate, he can turn back time and get his revenge on Zeus. This leads Kratos on an epic journey that somehow dwarfs the already grand scale of the first game.

Just as the story is grander and provides much further depth, so does the combat. The smooth, fast-paced combat of the first God of War is back, but improved. You’re given more combos and new magic attacks, such as the ability to shoot rocks from the floor at enemies. The execution quick-time events are back and even more gory than ever. What might be the best addition to the game is the ability to use all sorts of new weapons, such as a war hammer or double-sided spear. Each one has its own benefit of using in combat, so it adds variety to an already stellar combat system.

As you progress through the incredible environments, you can’t help but appreciate the work put into this game. The set pieces are beautiful and massive, ranging from dark caves, stone dungeons, wooded areas, cities, and snowy mountains. Just as in the first game, you’re treated with an orchestral soundtrack that makes playing God of War just as pleasing to watch and listen to as it is top play. God of War 2 truly was the sequel fans deserved.

They’re Remastered and Spectacular

The God of War Collection takes these two gems and gives them a much-needed facelift for the next generation of PlayStation: the PS3. Both games are rendered in full HD and boy, does it look great. Textures and environments are much smoother now. The game also now runs at a clean 60 FPS, making those pesky hitboxes or jumps just a bit easier to hit.

One downside of the HD remaster is that they decided not to redo the cutscenes. It can be a bit jarring to go from HD to the old graphics, but it shouldn’t bother someone enough to not finishing the game.

Pros:

• Two games for the price of one
• It’s been given a facelift for the PS3 in full HD
• Gameplay still holds up with fun, fast-paced gameplay

Cons:

• Cutscenes are a bit jarring since they weren’t remastered in HD