God of War II

The original God of War was three things. First, it was solid entertainment composed of great combat and above-average platforming and puzzles. Second, it was the game that parents and politicians in the 90s and 2000s thought every game was. And third, it was a surprisingly sophisticated story. That third point was a significant counter to the second. Yeah, it was full of gratuitous violence and nudity, but it was also a modern take on Greek tragedy with a uniquely fascinating protagonist. The second game does not have such a story, and as such is merely a very entertaining game that I’m kind of embarrassed to admit to being entertained by.

From a pure gameplay perspective, God of War II is a minor improvement on its predecessor. Traversal is faster, there’s a greater number of flashy boss fights, and the regular combat encounters usually have a gimmick to keep them engaging. The nuts and bolts are identical, so the combat feels fluid and comes with a significant but not overbearing challenge. Aesthetically, the music is a little less memorable, but it’s still one of the best-looking PS2 games, and the voice acting…well, it’s about on par with what could be reasonably expected of games in the mid-2000s.

On that note, this game is very obviously a product of its time. Without its more enlightened centre, God of War is just using Greek mythology as a backdrop for every textbook male power fantasy. Kratos in the first game walked a knife’s edge between sympathetic and unsympathetic, and GoW2 is not up to the task of duplicating that dynamic. Having a villain protagonist isn’t inherently a flaw, but it’s clear that we’re still supposed to have a conflicted opinion of this character even after that ship has sailed. The scenes that are meant to humanize him now come across as simply mawkish as a result. Finally, the narrative ends on one of the most egregious misfires of a cliffhanger I’ve ever seen.