Review: God of War 2

This is the type of game that a console maker would want to be among either its very first or very last releases. It's so good that it may even move a few PS3's along the way. It's impressive when a game from the last generation has the chutzpah to stand its ground against its bigger, younger brother. Kratos the God of War is back and has another god-sized chip on his painted shoulder.

I'm going to break the review down into 5 main categories: Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Staying Power and WOW-factor.

Graphics
Graphics are as good a place as any to start. Now I don't think that graphics are the most important part of the game, but they might be most important part in regards to the bottom line. Gameplay might ultimately sell the game, but graphics sell the box. I can tell you that GoW2 looks astonishing and squeezes just about every drop of power out of the PS2.

Right from the opening FMV that leads to the now-famous Colossus of Rhodes boss fight (which basically IS level one); you know you are looking at something special. The details in the buildings and background environments are amazing. That's apparent right away. It becomes more apparent as the buildings get destroyed around you by the big, angry statue.

Rest assured that this remains constant throughout the entire game. Every environment you encounter--from Rhodes, to a snowy Titan mountain, to a secluded and oppressive swamp and on to the Temple of the Fates-looks rich and detailed. The game takes you there and makes the environments into a breathing part of the game and sometimes even makes them into a puzzle or foe. To top it off, the game does all this seamlessly throughout its entirety.