GameFancier

The God of War Collection for PS3 brings two of the greatest games from the PlayStation 2 era and gives them a new lease of life on one Blu Ray. Their age certainly wasn’t a barrier to my enjoyment.

Kratos does his thing

God of War and its sequel are both studies in how to make great action adventure games and even though they were directed by different people, they both contain the trademarks of brutal combat, enormous set piece encounters and an epic storyline.

Part one of the collection deals with how Kratos became the “ghost of Sparta” and subsequently fought his once master Ares, whilst part two focuses on what happens when Kratos wields ultimate power.

If I felt sympathy for my character up to point of his own deification, his arrogance and disregard for life after this point made me quite uncomfortable with his continuing campaign of wanton destruction. Such is the rage displayed by anti-hero Kratos, at times I felt as if he was daring me to interfere as he sought revenge for the trickery he has suffered at the hands of the deities.

I felt that if only I could reason with Kratos, we might just be able to succeed without the spilling of more blood, but inevitably the most direct course of action was the one forced upon me. This is of course entirely in keeping with the stories of the gods and their own ruthless wars with man and the titans.

Combat then, which is the primary focus is both simple to pick up, but extensible enough to let me grow into my own style as I progressed through to the more challenging moments. Initially, the simple two button combinations were enough, but soon I was calling on the new powers I’d unlocked to even the score. Collecting red orbs from fallen foes to act as currency allows a decent level of customisation of powers and I chose to max out my standard attack moves. You could ignore those thought and build a more esoteric Kratos, turning enemies to stone or shaking them with earth tremors.

The stages upon which you fight are amongst the most breathtaking of any game and nowhere is this more evident than in the opening scenes. Both start with bosses that make their presence felt throughout the level, telegraphing that ultimate encounter in a way that both excited and terrified me. Later on, several levels tried to top that initial experience with even bigger and more spectacular arenas, which impress on you your own insignificance. This is accentuated when the camera pulls way back, leaving Kratos as just a few pixels, which is a trick not seen in other games, but a simple way to add scale.

God of War is amongst that select few games that invite spectators, even from those usually uninterested. This was certainly my experience – whilst climbing the infamous wall of revolving blades, which punish failure by dumping you back at the start, I ended up with a small crowd of cheering onlookers. Experiencing the euphoric shouts as I finally crawled my way out of Hades after many attempts, elevate these games above the standard hack and slash titles.

Both games are amongst the best in their genre and it’s difficult to pick between them, but the tightness and the pacing of the first game, gives it the edge for me. It felt like the perfect balance of combat, exploration and puzzle solving whereas the sequel sometimes threw too many foes at me, never letting me enjoy just being in the world. The puzzles themselves were also more integrated into the levels in the first game, with the Pandora Temple puzzle in the first game, taking up the entire level and several hours of play.

As someone that wants to embrace their character, the actions of Kratos makes it at times a difficult to come to terms with his onscreen actions, but there is seldom time to reflect on this as the next set piece assaults the senses. I was never comfortable as the ashen warrior from Sparta, but that could well be what the developers wanted from me. If you love well made games that take you to exciting places, this collection is an absolute steal.

This review was first published on Gamepeople