Hello Old Friend (Kitten Censor Safe)

Last night I went to the bottom of my closet and dusted off my old Playstation 2. You might be wondering why I would pull out that ancient artifact of video gaming and hook it up to my HDTV. What could my PS2 have at that moment that my 360 couldn't? In one word: Kratos. Yes, Kratos has returned in God of War 2 for the PS2. This is the final great game that we will probably see for this steady but now outdated video system. The original God of War is one of the greatest games to ever come out on the PS2, and this game of course is supposed to be better.

A side note: First, video games seem to be the only media where sequels can often be better than the original. Musicians often suffer the sophomore slump. Movie sequels almost always are worse. It is understandable though that video games beat this sophomore slump. With the groundwork already laid out in the original. Development time can be spent on enhancing the game elements and pushing the game further.

Last we left Kratos he had recently defeated Ares and replaced him as the God of War. Now, Kratos and his Spartans are destroying the cities of Greece left and right. This of course has the other Gods a little miffed. So, when Kratos goes to Rhodes to help wipe it out. Athena then turns him into a human, and Zeus tricks Kratos into giving up his powers to defeat a Colossus. Zeus then comes down and kicks Kratos' ass and sends him to Hades. Lucky for Kratos, Gaia. Gaia! Saves you and instructs you to go to the Island of Creation and gain the assistance of the Sisters of Fate to help you get payback on Zeus.

I've gotten as far as just arriving at the Island of Creation. So far the game matches up well against the original. There is still that grand scale of the game that always impresses. Watching you scale up a Colossus and slash his face is always a crowd pleaser. Kratos gets to fly Pegasus and battle Dark Riders on their gryphon. There's the nice sequences of kicking off the Dark Rider, slashing off the gryphon's wings, and jumping off only to be caught by Pegasus. There isn't a whole lot of improvement in the game compared to the original, but I'm not really surprised since the original already pushed the PS2 to its limits. Still this game is a must have, and a great way to say farewell to your PS2. That is till you get that itching for Katamari Damacy.

Below are God of War 2 screenshots. Because of the violent nature of the game, kitten censor has been applied.