For those that missed the first outing of the Spartan warrior Kratos, his journey had lead the bald and ghostly pale fighter through hell and back so he could exact revenge on the God of War, Ares, for betraying him and tricking him into killing his own family. This time around, it is the king of the gods, Zeus, himself that has turned his back on Kratos. As he is betrayed, he learns that the enemy of his enemy is also his friend and they are willing to help him get that revenge. Those gamers out there that aren’t up to snuff on their Greek mythology history, the Gods of Olympus had an all out war with the Titans for control of the universe and the battle ended up with Zeus banishing all of the Titans to the underworld of the Tartarus. Once the Titans were banished, they were chained and kept captive, never to be allowed to walk on the Earth again. From that day on, Zeus, Hades, Demeter, Hera, Athena and the rest of the other gods and goddesses of Olympus ruled all and the Titans remained hidden from the world, forever wishing revenge on Zeus.

As the game begins, Kratos’s warriors are over taking a city and Kratos joins in the fun. Angry that Kratos is abusing his powers and becoming too powerful, he is betrayed by Zeus during the struggle. As Zeus plunges his sword through the chest of the God of War, Kratos is already ready to dish out his revenge. As Kratos falls into death, he is taken to the underworld of Hades, where he is confronted by Gaia, the mother of the Titans and is told that he has a chance to undo time and return to the point where he is betrayed and turn the tables on Zeus. Given the opportunity to repay the favor to Zeus, Kratos makes his way out of Hades and begins his search for the Sisters of Fate, the only ones who can help him return in time. Through the journey, you will run into other Titans such as Atlas and Cronos and other well known characters from mythological stories. Some such as Prometheus, the son of a titan who stole fire from the gods to give to man and paid the ultimate price for doing so, as well as Icarus, who crafted wings of feathers and wax and Perseus (who interestingly enough is voiced by Harry Hamlin, the same person who played Perseus in the movie Clash of the Titans) whom some may remember as the warrior who slew the Medusa and the Kraken.

Much like the first game, your blades will deal more than their share of death but will need to become more powerful as the game goes on. As Kratos comes across chests and defeats enemies throughout the game, he will find red orbs that he will collect. As the number of red orbs increases, he can use these to trade for higher attack skills for each of the weapons he possesses. Aside from his default chain blades, which will primarily be the weapon of choice, Kratos can also use sub weapons as well as magic attacks. Sub weapons he will gain as he defeats certain bosses and takes them from them. Magic attacks are gained much the same way and you can use the d-pad to select one of the 4 magic attacks you can have to use. Sub weapons can be used unlimited times, however magic attacks can only be used as long as you have some magic left in your magic meter that is found below your health meter and above the Amulet of Fates meter.

The Amulet of Fates meter allows Kratos to use the Amulet of Fates whenever he is near a statue of the Fates to slow down time for a brief period. If the storyline didn’t make you feel as though you were in an odd spin off of Prince of Persia, using the Amulet of Fates definitely will. The Amulet serves no real purpose other than adding puzzles that require you to slow down time to get past and really just seems the game could have gotten along just fine without it being included at all.

Unfortunately there are a few things in the game that feel that way. Later on in the game when you acquire Icarus’s wings, it is one of the most frustrating items to use. Many times when using them, they would simply shut off and Kratos would fall to his death or other times they would pop out and then quickly retract or not even come out at all. A lot of the puzzles that required you to glide to ledges or places only the wings could allow you to go would require you to do them a few times over just due to the fact the wings would not operate properly. Thankfully many of the things from the first game that made it such a hit are still in place though. The context sensitive attacks that require you to match the button presses that are shown on screen while Kratos does some incredible attacks are still there, as are the brutal and gory finishing moves that he performs on his enemies. As if he didn’t inflict enough damage on his own, Kratos now has the ability to create even more carnage with the Rage of the Titans meter that fills as he continuously decimates his enemies. Once the meter is full, it allows him to be engulfed in flames and bring massive amounts of damage to whoever stands in his way.

God of War 2 brings back all the things that made the first game such a huge hit, including an incredible battle right at the start of the game to set the pace for the rest of the way. Although some things can be more than a little frustrating like the Pegasus portion of the game or the need to use Icarus’s wings to access places, the overall game is a masterpiece matched only by the first God of War. The second game builds on what made the first so good and makes it all that much better of an experience. The graphics are gorgeous and the sounds and voices are bang on. Not only is the game play a fantastic experience, but the graphics and voices all combine to make the game an above average outing. The God of War series is one the best out there for the Playstation 2 and this second incarnation keeps it going full steam. Do yourself a favor and pick this game up and keep it in your collection for a long time to come.