God of War made me take notice of the PlayStation 2 console.  I knew of the PS2 prior to God of War but it was more passive interest for me.  Controlling this guy that was to take on the Greek gods was just too cool a game to pass up.  What Sony was doing here was continuing to separate their console from the pack.  You were not going to be playing God of War, or anything like it, on Xbox or Gamecube or PC. This game did exactly what it was meant to do – move consoles.

Out of order releases

Chronologically, God of War was the third title in the series – yea, we are dealing with that type of scenario here folks.  You are not beaten over the head with this fact so it is not that big of a deal, gameplay and storyline wise.

God of War took brawlers into 3D right

God of War took the problems 3D attempts at this type of game, such as Fighting Force, had and fixed them.  You are tasked with small objectives per area, sometimes in waves, whether it is defeating a set of enemies or taking out a boss.  The cool thing about God of War though, is how you accomplish that goal.  The normal enemies are dispatched with your weapons but the bosses, those are a treat for some and the bane of existence for other gamers.

Eliminating frustration in key moments

The boss fights are “quick time events” where you are given on screen button commands to push at a certain time.  Gamers that have played most Full Motion Video (FMV) games like Sewer Shark (Sega CD), Night Trap (various) or Road Avenger (Sega CD) or even the venerable Dragon’s Lair (various) know what Quick Time Events are.  The way Sony’s game uses them allows the designers to go all out on the bosses and how you fight them.  You are no longer fumbling for the right weapon or jockeying for the right position and complaining the camera was not cooperating when you died.

God of War is not perfect, close enough though

With this game Sony did a lot of things right, one was moving over four million copies worldwide and, depending on your point of view, spawned several good sequels across multiple systems.  This was not the first time gamers saw these various elements, Shenmue on Dreamcast did QTE’s also and there were countless brawling hack-a-thons throughout gaming, but it is one of the first to bring it all together in a convenient, interesting package.

Happy birthday Kratos.

God of War has been remastered on PlayStation 3 and is available on the PlayStation Network (various versions). Want more action like GoW? Check out our coverage (including a hack to the Nintendo NES).

Sony has done well to keep the God of War franchise alive and well (take note Sega). That means tons of merch and games on eBay and Amazon. These are commission links that will pay us a small commission when used. This costs you nothing extra but helps us keep the lights on here. Thank you.

Carl Williams

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