God of War (2005) (VG)

User Rating:

9.6/10   

Writers:

Marianne Krawczyk (written by) &
Alexander Stein (written by) ...

Release Date:

22 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Driven by revenge, Kratos embarks on an epic journey to bring down Ares, the God of War. |

Plot Keywords:

Extreme Violence | Fictional War | Female Nudity | Athens Greece | God Of War

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Linda Hunt	...	Narrator (voice)
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Kratos (voice) (as TC Carson)
Carole Ruggier	...	Athena / Aphrodite (voice)
Steve Blum	...	Ares (voice) (as Steven Blum)
Susan Blakeslee	...	Oracle of Athens / Village Oracle (voice)
Paul Eiding	...	Gravedigger / Zeus / Greek Soldier (voice)
Christopher Corey Smith	...	Guardian of Pandora's Box / Undead Soldier / Greek Soldier (voice) (as Christopher Smith)
Keith Ferguson	...	Boat Captain / Greek Soldier (voice)
Gwendoline Yeo	...	Wife / Town Square Woman (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Poseidon / Greek Soldier / Fisherman (voice)
Claudia Black	...	Artemis (voice)
Nolan North	...	Hades / Greek Soldier / Fisherman (voice)
Courtenay Taylor	...	Twins (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Greek Soldier (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tesshô Genda	...	Kratos (voice: Japanese version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | USA:M | UK:18

Company:

Sony Computer Entertainment America

Trivia:

The Gorgons were originally designed with feet, but it was found to be impossible to animate all the portions of a Gorgon at once on the PS2 and the feet were cut.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The Oracle of Athens is wearing 21st century style underwear under her dress. This may be because the underwear of the time period was too revealing, and the creators wanted to keep an M rating.

Quotes:

Ares: That night... I was trying to make you a great warrior!
Kratos: ...You succeeded.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sydney White (2007)

Definitely one of the best games for the PS2 and of 2005.

God Of War, released on March 22, 2005, is one of the best action games ever released on any console. David Jaffe and his team at Sony-Santa Monica have created a game that is better than the Japanese created Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden.

This game is noted for its deep use of Greek Mythology. Mr. Jaffe for years had wanted to make a game based on it. You are Kratos, a super-human who at the start of the game is seen falling to his death. The game then goes back to three weeks earlier where you control the chain of events that lead to him committing suicide.

Kratos has two attacks, magic, and a jump and a roll/evade move. Combat is a breeze and is very satisfying. In this game, you are powerful enough as is to combat your opponents. You gain orbs to increase your powers and the Gods themselves bestow you the magic.

The game is an absolute work of art. The graphics are some of the best you'll see with much detail on the enemies and the locales. The controls are easy to get into and the manual details everything for you. Combat features mostly hack and slash but there will be times you'll do specific button presses or Track-And-Field style button mashing against tougher enemies or bosses.

The music is outstanding; perhaps one of the best original scores ever created. The voice acting is top-notch with Oscar-winning actress Linda Hunt providing the narration. Best of all, the game is just plain fun. You can get into it right away. It can be beaten in 10-12 hours but you'll want to replay it.

One word of warning: this game is rated M and it richly deserves it. There is a lot of violence, blood and gore, and some nudity throughout the game. This isn't a game for kids or the squeamish. For everybody else, this is the PS2s best game of 2005, maybe the year's best, and a game franchise to keep your eye on.