Second Look - God of War II

Following the release and success of the original God of War, Kratos’ story was allowed to continue in a sequel, aptly titled God of War II. Notably, although the PS3 was around the corner during its development, the game was developed exclusively for the PS2, due to the developers having a better understanding of the PS2’s architecture in addition to the system having the bigger player base at the time. This game and the original God of War would also be ported to the PS3 as part of God of War Legacy Collection, which was made to promote God of War III and ended up popularizing, if not pioneering, HD remasters of retro games. As with the first game, I decided to replay the second through this collection after having not played it for a little over 10 years, coming away with a much better understanding of its plot and themes than I did previously.

After becoming the new god of war, Kratos uses his position to lead Spartans into battle against the city of Rhodes, out of revenge for not ridding him of his haunting memories. In order to stop him, Zeus weakens Kratos and brings the Colossus of Rhodes to life to attack him. Following this, Kratos is tricked into draining his godly powers into the Blade of Olympus to stop the Colossus, only for that to be revealed a spart of Zeus’ ruse. After he is betrayed by Zeus and sent to Hades, Kratos is saved by the Titan known as Gaia, who tells him to find the Sisters of Fate, as well as find the remaining Titans, so he can turn back time and get his revenge on Zeus.

 

Even after becoming the new God of War, Kratos (T.C. Carson) has some
unfinished business with the gods.

The storyline feels like a natural extension of the original game, building on the theme of revenge and expanding on Kratos’ character in a way that works with this theme. Interestingly, while some mythological figures do get slain along the way, Kratos is only interested in going after Zeus himself and not any of the other Greek pantheon, with the rest being casualties for getting in his way, a plot point which is echoed in God of War: Ragnarök in regards to Odin and the Norse pantheon. While the ending is an obvious hook for the later-released God of War III, the amount of Kratos’ character arc explored in this game is compelling enough in its own right to ensure demand for said sequel.

As far as its relation to the previous game, aside from the effects of time travel inconsequentially altering a scene from the original, the plot point of Cronos being presented as the last Titan is contradicted a bit in order to make its story work, with Gaia, Typhon and Atlas suddenly being relevant. On top of this, while redesigns following the first game are nothing new, Atlas is depicted very differently in the original game, resembling a human more than he does a Titan. As for the future, while there is an image in the chambers of the Sisters of Fate foreshadowing the ending of God of War III, there is an interesting acknowledgement of Christianity that ties in with creator David Jaffe’s original concept for God of War III, but whether or not this event will occur in any future games is currently unknown.

Before getting into the gameplay, I should mention that this playthrough involved me playing in Bonus Play, which is basically New Game +, which allows you to start with the unlocked Blade of Olympus and have any collected Urns of Power active (I started off with three active, then found a fourth during my run and activated that as well). Additionally, I played using the Cod of War skin, which among its enhancements allows for infinite Magic. In an interesting touch, even with every weapon available in Bonus Play, the game is still designed in a way that prevents sequence breaking by locking you out of using certain weapons in specific situations before you would have obtained them normally.

The core gameplay is largely identical to that of the first game, but with some differences, including the Blades of Chaos being replaced with Athena's Blades from the end of the first game and Rage of the Gods being replaced with Rage of the Titans for narrative purposes. Aside from that, there are some actual gameplay improvements, such as making it easier to swap weapons with a single button press, with the secondary weapon being selected through the pause menu, as well as it being far easier to swing from hooks by holding down R1 instead having to also move the stick back and forth to create momentum. Additionally, puzzles are made a little easier to get through, even on lower difficulties, and you obtain additional items such as the Golden Fleece, which deflects projectiles; and Icarus’ wings, which enable you to glide. Collectibles now also include Cyclops Eyes, collecting 20 of which unlocks a special costume; and hidden Urns of Power, which unlock gameplay perks during Bonus Play.

 

There are also new flying sections between some locations.

 

While the graphics are improved over the original God of War, in both gameplay and cutscenes, they still look dated by modern standards, especially in comparison with the Norse games. That said, the particle effects hold up rather well and the fight with the Colossus of Rhodes still feels impressive and epic for a PS2 game. The Upgrade screen also has a new look, even including new options to toggle settings and Urns of Power, as well as letting you check your progress with some collectibles. One thing that admittedly weirded me out in previous playthroughs was Atlas’ design, since he appears to be a living being that was designed as a level first, and no amount of noticeable aging in the visuals could change that for me.

 

The Colossus of Rhodes still impresses today.

Many voice actors from the previous game return here, giving excellent performances that build on what came before, though some were recast. Of these, the most notable is Corey Burton replacing Paul Eiding in the role of Zeus going forward, however this change works for the better, since Burton has the right delivery to portray a more vengeful Zeus. Of the new additions to the cast, one of the most interesting is Bob Joles of Big City Greens fame as a handful of characters, including the insane Icarus, in a way that shows off his voice acting range. Much of the sound design form the previous game is retained in this installment as well, keeping a sense of familiarity and continuity between experiences.

Much like the original, God of War II has aged surprisingly well from a narrative perspective. While it could easily have ended at the first game despite obvious forward thinking, this sequel serves as a good expansion on its take on Greek mythology, Kratos’ character arc and the original’s narrative themes of revenge, feeling justified in its existence. While I would still recommend this entry in the series, I would also highly suggest playing the first one beforehand for story reasons.