Sat in a Cinema which was packed, watching a brutal display of violence and action. The sounds of war, the blood of the battlefield, then the eclipse of the sun through heavy arrow fire. This was Sparta, more specifically this was 300 the stylised Frank Miller portrayal of the Spartans, and yet I couldn’t escape the feeling that God of War, the phenomenal Playstation 2 game was more than effected by Millers vision.
But imitation is the sincerest way of flattery and God of War stood tall ushering in a wave of unbridled action puzzling wrapped within an evocative setting. With the news of the third installment hitting the PS3 in March 2010, it was with immeasurable pleasure that I was able to get my hands on the God of War collection, which has brought the previous titles in the series to the Playstation in nice next gen glory.
Whether this is a cynical cash in or a shrewd business move to bring it to a new audience prior to their Spring blockbuster is neither here nor there as regardless of … motives behind such a move it brings two of the best titles ever released to the Playstation 3.
For those unaware of the characters and settings sit back and indulge in a little spoiler free story telling. The story revolves around the character of Kratos, think of Leonidas from the 300 and you’re not far from the mark. A proud blood lusting Spartan who revels in battle. Unlike the 300 rather than millions of Persians, Kratos is faced with the hordes of Barbarian Savages and in a moment of defeat he pleads with Aries the God of War to help his floundering side. Aries agrees and Kratos becomes a savage warrior intent only on killing.
God of War though is a story very much in the Greek Tragedy mould and thanks to a cruel trick by his onetime saviour Aries (see told you it was spoiler free) he sets out on a path of vengeance to topple the God of War.
The sequel, also included in this bundle continues the story, and the gamer is given the option of playing either title, but it is seriously recommended that you play through the titles in sequence. Not only will it make much more sense in terms of narrative, but by the second title the controls will be far more instinctive allowing for slight changes here and there.
It’s hard to convey how original the gameplay was with context sensitive button presses to fell large enemies and he ability to combine magic an weapon based attacks, as it has been copied many times over since its release. this though supports how strong a control scheme it has that it has shaped nearly every other game within the 3rd person action genre. The beauty of the controls is the amount of freedom it gives to the gamer. With light, heavy and grapple attacks at your disposal when using the chaos blades or other weaponry it allows you to combine the attacks with magical attacks such as Zeus’s lightning bolt or Medusa’s head. The options of attack are left to the gamer and so you can fight the style of battle you would prefer.
This preference for specific attacks is again given the nod, as the gamer is free to upgrade specific weapons or skills, again unlocking further attack options. The fighting mechanics work brilliantly and put the gamer squarely at the heart of action never feeling that the game is unresponsive.
All this talk of action though is to disregard the large portion of puzzles and in game thinking that is required. this can be as simple as finding a secret doorway, through to navigating across a deathly assault course of blades and platforms to get through a door which will shut after a designated time. There is a great level of variety ensuring that there is a good balance of pace, between action and thinking your way through puzzles. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t Professor Layton of the third person action genre, but the variety adds weight to the overall strength of the games on offer within this collection.
Graphically there has been a great deal of effort made in making the in game action all wonderfully HD, so much that for long periods of the game the gamer would be forgiven for thinking this was a new title. That said, however what changes this and sends the gamers enthusiasm for the titles crashing is that some of the in game cut scenes are decidedly low res, blurry Playstation 2 ports which constantly reminds the gamer how old the title is. This isn’t a huge problem and you do get used to this, but it is a baffling decision not to update these as well, especially when they have made such a great job of revitalising the in game graphics.
Overall this is a great package, reminding the likes of Assassins Creed, Ninja Gaiden and countless others of who exactly is the king of the genre. Sadly for UK gamers there is no indication whether or not this will be released which is a great shame, but for gamers outside of Europe, or those wishing to import God Of War Collection there is a great game to be had.
Kratos has been on a rampage, killing Gods in epic battles since 2005. With each release managing to offer high-octane action, I explore each God of War title and rank every adventure from his journey to Olympus to his Norse tales of fatherhood.
I won’t rank Ragnarok just yet, although it is honestly leaving me and my wife blown away…won’t go into details right now, not done as I assume others aren’t either, maybe some of you are, idk haha.
But here’s how I rank them
5. God of War 3
4. God of War Ascension.
3. God of War 1.
2. God of War 2.
1. God of War 2018.
Wow, that’s pretty interesting that someone has the same ranking as me haha. So, did you beat Ragnarok? I assume so with you placing it at #1
1. God of war 3
2. God of war 2018
3. God of war 2
4. God of war 1
Haven't played the others but about 30 hrs In to ragnarock now so safe to say if it keeps up it will end up being at the top of my list when I'm done.
I will say the pacing of the original titles and the epic feel to them I feel is way better than the new one’s. Like, I could recognize and appreciate the praise God of War received, but it bores me to tears except for the pivotal moments.
However, that being said I feel Ragnarok is waaaaay better than 2018. I’m only on Ch. 6, but it’s pretty much rocked my face off from the get-go.
I’m really split between this being my GotY or Elden Ring.
I think different games in the series had different strengths but all are great. I liked the original as it was an origin story and the mechanics were fresh. The sequel added smoother gameplay. Three was just so far ahead of it's time graphically it wasn't even funny. Plus great gameplay and bosses and insane gore and nice use of sexy time. The reboot was cool but lost a lot of what I liked about the original trilogy (I don't need my games grown up, just fun). Will wait and see with ragnarok as haven't had time to play it yet.
Daily Video Game writes: "GameStop has just kicked off a new pre-owned game sale with a massive list of games that offers four pre-owned ($9.99 or less) games for $20 across multiple gaming platforms, including PS3 and Xbox 360 right now for a limited time!"
We've worked out which remaster collections are the best of the best.
I’d love to see a Ghost Recon/SOCOM/Rainbow Six collection as well, all great military franchises
Pretty good review but (and I'm not sure if I'm just misunderstanding you here) are you saying God of war took inspiration from the movie, 300?? You know God of war was released about a year or so before 300 don't you? Or are you saying it was inspired by the graphic novel from the 90's? Even then I'd have to disagree. The themes and character types of God of war are pretty much taken from the standard Greek legends.
"This was Sparta, more specifically this was 300 the stylised Frank Miller portrayal of the Spartans, and yet I couldn’t escape the feeling that God of War, the phenomenal Playstation 2 game was more than effected by Millers vision."
What about "Troy" or "Gladiator" or "Clash of the Titans" or "Ben Hur" or "Illiad and the oddessy"... This is a really dumb quote from you bud.... basically your saying "It has a spartan turned into a god so it must be like the invasion of Xerxies(Spelling?)..."
The game has nothing at all to do with 300 inspiration wise...
Anyway fantastic game. Just double platinumed it =D