1. Gameplay
While I have had the opportunity to play hundreds of games so far, the “hack and slash” variety like God of War has been somewhat sparse from my list. Yes, I have played Dante’s Inferno, but I generally take issue with a game where I hit the same enemies with an incredible flurry of strength and speed and still do very little obvious physical damage. I tend to see these types of games as repetitive.  The boss battles are awesome, but the normal combat is repetitive. But then again, the same can be said for shooters. You walk into a room, kill a bunch of enemies, get a little bit of story progression sprinkled in here and there, then continue on and repeat the process until the game ends. Generally, this type of game isn’t my cup of tea. But God of War does have some elements that made it worth my time. The story in this game is really good. It might come across as simple sometimes, but overall this is a well-executed Greek tragedy that doesn’t pull punches. Kratos might not be the most likable character, but he is the perfect character for this game. The whole time you will be wondering whether Ares is the true god of war, or whether it’s actually Kratos.  It's probably not smart to challenge the god of war. This is an old game now. It was originally released on the PS2, but I played the re-released PS3 version. Visually the game does show its wear, but the mechanics overall felt at home compared to the few similar hack-and-slash games. I’m glad that I went back to play this so I can get some perspective on the series as a whole.  It's also a great companion to a Greek mythology course! That being said, this game was extremely frustrating at times. Certain puzzles and platforming elements left a lot to be desired. Sometimes it was a lack of clarity as to where to go, sometimes it was just a brutal punishment for a single misstep. The combat wasn’t too bad for the most part, but some of the non-combat puzzles (especially the ones in Hades) were painful.
This game is fairly long. This may have partially been due to my failure in Hades (mentioned below), but overall this is a good story with a lot of gameplay that will keep the player going for at least 12 hours (probably closer to 15). However, there are no choices in the story, so the replay value is fairly low. Unless a player greatly enjoys the style of game, I can’t see much of a reason to replay the game.
For the most part this game is relatively fair. When it sticks to the hack-and-slash combat style, the game is fairly predictable and enemies can be easy to take out (depending on their type). However, there were a few platforming sections that were so frustrating that I nearly gave up on this game. The section where Kratos has to climb his way out of Hades was one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had in a video game. The game makes timing such a critical element that being even a split-second off time is enough to cause instant failure.  If I have to see these stupid spinning blades one more time... While most of this game was, at the very least, entertaining, the Hades section made me want to finish the game and never come back. Hopefully the mechanics have improved in the more recent God of War titles. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in this game can get brutal at times. Most attacks in combat will be flashy and cause a decent amount of blood. This can change depending on what attacks Kratos is using, but overall normal attacks simply caused blood to spurt out and land on the ground, but little else.  24 hits later, still not dead... There are a decent variety of magical attacks that Kratos can perform. Some of these cause different elemental effects, such as electrocution. However, the amount of blood and gore caused by these attacks is actually less than the standard hits from Kratos' blades.  I looooved this power! More brutal attacks can be performed, especially with the enemy-specific executions. These usually resulted in a much more violent kill of an enemy, such as by shoving a sword into the enemy’s throat. The player can choose to perform these as part of normal combat but it isn’t required. I preferred to do these since they would automatically kill an opponent no matter how much live that target had left.  Would it be cruel to say "EAT IT!"? Violence in cutscenes can be much more bloody and much more detailed. While there will be a few in-game rendered cutscenes (meaning they have the same level of detail as the above images) that include dismemberment, this overall isn’t significantly greater than normal gameplay. The pre-rendered cutscenes (meaning they have a level of detail significantly greater than normal gameplay) can be a different matter. There are a number of scenes where blood literally covers the screen and enemies are torn to shreds. These all serve to demonstrate Kratos’ thirst for warfare and bloodshed (which ultimately leads to his downfall), but it can be a somewhat gruesome experience.  Not enough blood, I can still see a bit of Kratos' arm.
Nudity and implied sexuality comes into play in a few cutscenes of this game. For example, towards the beginning Kratos is sitting on the side of his bed on a ship in the middle of the Aegean Sea. In his bed are two topless women (who were clearly there to “have fun” with Kratos).  Because, you know, boobs. When the cutscene ends, the player can briefly talk to the women. They invite him back to bed, but he is unable to interact with them any further.  Aaah! Later, Kratos meets a woman who is wearing a sheer dress that partially exposes her breasts.  Why even bother with the top? These scenes are only a tiny portion of the overall story and gameplay.
Substances are not a factor in this game.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion plays a pivotal role in this game’s story. While the Greek gods may no longer be considered a prominent religion in the modern world, there can be no doubt that it was (and still technically is) a religion in the traditional sense. Kratos constantly talks to, interacts with, and sometimes fights the gods on his ultimate quest for revenge. Without the gods, this story would not exist.  Giant talking face of a god... kinda creepy...
While Kratos may defy the gods time and time again, I’m not sure if I’d really consider anyone in this game “law enforcement”. As a result, anti-law is not a factor in this game.
There is no multiplayer content for this game.
For the most part, extreme sports isn’t really much of a factor. There are a number of sections where Kratos has to jump huge gaps or climb on top of massive monsters while slashing at their faces, but this isn’t a game with insane jumps or ridiculous stunts. This is a platformer, so there will be “don’t look down” types of sections, but overall this is relatively mild. The impact of the extreme sports is lessened by the fantasy story and settings, which removes much of the realism of this game when compared to titles with similar elements (i.e. Uncharted).
Magic plays a major role in this game, both in the abilities of the gods and in Kratos’ abilities. After all, he wields a pair of flaming swords which he swings around on chains. Most of Kratos’ abilities are magical in some way. While he is physically hacking and slashing his enemies for a good portion of the combat, these attacks will also commonly be used in conjunction with magical attacks. The gods also have their own magical abilities. These will be made most obvious when the gods talk to Kratos.
There are no additional factors in this game.
2 Comments
Harry
9/13/2014 10:22:25 am
You realize that you can have a threesome with the women in the bed, right?
DiamondRain676
8/23/2015 04:05:23 am
OMG,that was I was thinking.Okay for 12-14 year olds...? Leave a Reply. |
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