God of War II

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God of War II
Developer(s)	SCE Studios Santa Monica
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Picture format	480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
Release date(s)	March 13, 2007 April 27, 2007
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (M) PEGI: 18+
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	DVD9 X 2

God of War II is the sequel to the God of War video game. It was released on March 13, 2007^[1] for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console. The game will be released on April 20^[1] in Europe.

God of War II is packaged in a two-disc set. The first disc contains the game, and the second disc is dedicated to the game's development, including a diary of the game production.^[2]

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Characters 3.1 Main Characters 3.2 Common Enemies 3.3 Bosses 4 Items and Abilities 4.1 Weapons 4.2 Magic 4.3 Relics 4.4 Urns 4.5 Armor 5 Critical reception 6 Cast 7 Trivia 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Story

The game starts with the new god of war Kratos looking down on the destruction of Rhodes. The Spartans, favored as they are by the new God of War, have begun a spree of conquest across Greece. Sparta, his old homeland, had become powerful not long after he had killed Ares at the end of the first God of War, taking his place as a result. Athena comes to Kratos and pleads with him to stop destroying the cities of Greece because the gods are becoming increasingly angry. His behavior has become far more destructive than Ares' own when he was alive as Kratos attempts to drown the sorrows of his past with conquest. Athena warns Kratos that he is in her debt because she gave him his throne. Kratos ignores Athena, telling her that he owes her nothing, to which Athena replies that he has left her with no choice. Kratos descends to Rhodes himself as a giant. An eagle sent by one of the gods flies over Kratos and steals his power. Kratos immediately suspects Athena, and screams "Athena! You conspire against me?". The bird flies over to the Colossus of Rhodes and brings the statue to life, transferring Kratos' godly power into it. Kratos then begins the battle against the Colossus, as it rages through the city.

After battling the Colossus a few times, Zeus offers Kratos the Blade of Olympus. He tells Kratos that if he puts all his godly power into the blade, he can defeat the Colossus. Kratos grabs the blade and pours his remaining god powers into it, turning him into a mortal. After going inside, re-absorbing his stolen godly power that powered the Colossus, and destroying the supporting structures, Kratos stands and gloats to the Gods, not knowing that the Colossus' hand is coming to crush him. He limps over towards the blade, eager to gain his godly power, but the bird that took Kratos' power turns into Zeus, takes the blade and stabs him with it, telling him to bow down and gives Kratos the option of becoming a servant of Zeus or dying. Kratos refuses, and is sent to the underworld. He is rescued and healed by Gaia, mother of the titans, who opposes Zeus and tells Kratos that there is a way for him to seek revenge not only for himself but for the Titans as well. She tells him that he must find the Sisters of Fate, who control every mortal or god's fate and destiny, and use their power to change his own. Helped by Gaia, Kratos once again escapes Hades and sets off to the Islands of Creation on Pegasus' back. With the Titans aiding him, he must seek aid from those that he can starting with Typhon. He flies to Typhon's mountain prison on Gaia's advice.

Pegasus is caught under Typhon's crushing grip, which forces Kratos into finding a way to rescue Pegasus from the titan's hand. Typhon believes that he is a servant of Zeus, and refuses to help Kratos take Typhon's Bane from where it is stuck within the Titan's left eye. While on the mountain, Kratos also finds Prometheus, a prisoner of Zeus, who begs the Spartan to kill him to end his torment. After releasing Prometheus' tormented soul by burning him in the Fires of Olympus, Kratos is infused with the Rage of the Titans which helps him rescue Pegasus. Kratos is then able to leave the mountain and fly towards the Island of Creation where the Sisters of Fate dwell.

On his way there, he battles through harpies and sentries riding atop Gryphons who attempt to stop him from reaching the Sisters. He fights through them and confronts the Dark Rider atop the blue Griffon, who wields a powerful weapon, the Spear of Destiny. Kratos emerges victorious and falls to the Temple of Lakhesis where he uses Athena's Blades to save himself from crashing into the ocean below its cliffs.

On the Island of Creation, he also encounters several Greek heroes, most of whom try to stop him. Kratos has to fight Theseus who had been made the Horse Keeper for the Fates to take his horse keeper key to gain access to the Steeds of Time, Perseus is on a quest to get an audience with the Sisters to save his love from the grasp of Hades for his shield, the annoying and mentally insane Icarus for the use of his wings and Euryale like her sister Medusa gets her head ripped off by Kratos thus gaining Head of Euryale. He also encounters the Barbarian King that he had defeated when he had called upon Ares in the first God of War; the King ends up summoning the captain from the ship in the first game as they fight each other, Kratos defeats the Barbarian King using his own hammer against him. Cronos once the leader of the mighty Titans hid the last remnants of his magic on the island, which gives Kratos Cronos' Rage.

Kratos also encounters Atlas way down below The Great Chasm, seemingly holding up the earth and standing on an unseen surface covered in fog (actually Atlas holds up the heavens away from the Earth in true mythology, despite common belief). In a cut scene, Atlas shows him the Great War between the Titans and the Olympians. Hades and Poseidon are shown bringing down Atlas and Kronos. He tells Kratos that he will need more help to defeat Zeus, so he grants him the power of Atlas Quake.

After many challenges, Kratos manages to find the sister Lakhesis. After defeating her, Atropos appears and takes him to the time when he and Ares fought. She attempts to destroy the sword he used to kill Ares, thus causing Ares to be the victor instead of Kratos. After her defeat, Kratos must then fight both Lakhesis and Atropos. Once they are defeated, he works his way to Clotho, the last sister, within the Loom Chamber, eventually killing her with one of the Loom blades.

By killing her, Kratos becomes able to use the Mirror of Fate. Bringing up the various threads, he finds the one that is linked to him and slowly moves it along, displaying images within the Mirror. He moves it back to when he was betrayed by Zeus and returns to the past to affect the outcome. He defeats Zeus, but before he is able to deliver the final killing blow, Athena steps in the way of Kratos' blow. As she dies, she explains that Zeus' actions were driven by a need to 'end the cycle' of a son killing his father, to preserve Olympus above all else despite the cost to everyone else. In rage over the Olympians' pettiness, Kratos swears vengeance against the gods of Olympus.

Kratos returns to the Temple of Fate and rewinds the thread to moments before the Great War ended. He tells Gaia that "all Olympus tremble at my name, Zeus is weak, Ares and Athena are dead, and I wield the blade." He then calls the Titans back to his time before the moment Young Zeus tries to banish them.

In the present, Zeus is in his palace on Mount Olympus, preparing the remaining gods for an assault on Kratos. As he does so, Mount Olympus trembles. The gods go to the edge and see Kratos and Gaia leading Typhon, Kronos, Atlas and other Titans in an assault on Mount Olympus itself. Kratos, riding on Gaia's back and holding the Blade of Olympus, proclaims, "Zeus! Your son has returned! I bring the destruction of Olympus!" The camera reels back to reveal the city below Mount Olympus, set entirely ablaze. The screen then cuts away to the words "The End Begins".

[edit] Gameplay

The core gameplay in God of War II is the same as in its predecessor. The player controls Kratos in a combination of combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements. Kratos' main weapon is the Athena's Blades which he received at the end of the original God of War, which are blades on the ends of long chains that Kratos is able to swing in destructive paths but also able to use to scale rock faces or swing from special hook points. Other weapons and magic abilities are acquired as the plot progresses and can be used in conjunction with the Blades to dispatch enemies. Defeating foes using a combination of attacks, including chaining attacks together in combos, will release red orbs, used to power up Kratos' weapons and magic, and green, blue, and yellow orbs to replenish health, magic power, and the Rage of the Titans power, respectively. Chests distributed throughout the levels can also release these orbs, as well as providing Kratos with special artifacts to increase his health and magic levels.

As with many foes in the first game, once Kratos has worn down the foe, an indicator will appear above the foe. The player can then initiate a brutal method of finishing off the foe, many that require the player to hit a button, turn the analog stick, or other control method within a short period when it appears on screen to successfully pull off a finishing move. A successful attempt will release additional orbs as a reward, while failure may result in some harm coming to Kratos.

New features in God of War II include additional relics introduced in the game allow Kratos to reflect magic spells back to their target, to slow down time when near special statues, or to open locked doors. Additionally, Kratos takes flight on the back of Pegasus with the combat similar in nature to rail games such as Panzer Dragoon Orta. A new "Challenge of the Titans" mode allows the player to attempt 7 different challenges with increasing difficulty after they have completed the main game once. There is also an Arena of the Fates, in which the number and types of opponents can be customized. The experience points carry over to the main game. However, the Challenge of the Titans must be achieved with Titan rank to play this.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main Characters

• Kratos - At the start of God of War II, Kratos, has defeated Ares to become the God of War but not released from his torment made his sorrow into hatred. He turns to his mortal army to wage war on cities across the land, which raises the ire of Zeus and the other gods. Soon, he finds he is betrayed by Zeus and must travel to the Fates to exact revenge.

• Athena - The goddess of civilization that initially aided Kratos in defeating Ares, but now warns Kratos of his actions displeasing the other gods in hopes to prevent Zeus from taking revenge on Kratos. Kratos accidentally killed her at the end of the game(She took Kratos' killing blow for Zeus).

• Gaia - One of the titans, and connected to all things of the Earth. Along with the other titans, she was banished in the War of the Titans, and seeing Kratos' quest for revenge on Zeus, offers to lend her power to his cause.

• Zeus - The King of the Olympian gods and the object of Kratos' vengeance. He betrays Kratos at the beginning of the game by killing him, only to have his plan secretly thwarted by Gaia. In his final confrontation with Kratos, he is determined to put an end to his attempt at revenge by demonstrating his power as a giant, and then dueling with Kratos in using his abilities as a god.

• Lakhesis - The middle aged Sister of Fate bears feathered regalia and mocks Kratos by telling him that she was the one responsible for weaving both his fate and that of Sparta. She is trapped in a mirror world.

• Atropos - The oldest Sister of Fate who was inside Lakhesis until she split off to fight Kratos. She mocked Kratos' attempt to change his fate by demonstrating her power in altering the event from the first God of War by destroying the Sword of the Gods, so that Kratos would die by Ares' hand. Kratos is forced to fight in his own past in order to defeat her and preserve his existence. She is trapped in a mirror world.

• Clotho - The youngest of the three Sisters of Fate that Kratos encounters. She is an extremely huge and grotesque figure that sits within the multi-leveled Loom of Fate. Kratos must defeat Clotho and learn how to work the Loom in order to kill her and change his fate.

[edit] Common Enemies

Most of the common enemies that Kratos faces are based on mythological creatures, include several that return from the original God of War; these include the undead, skeletons, wraiths, harpies, nymphs, gryphons, minotaurs, Gorgons, cyclops, cerberus hounds, sirens, satyrs, juggernauts, and the armies of the Fates. Many of these common foes can be dealt a more violent finishing blow to earn more experience orbs and other benefits, though can also be finished off by repeated attacks.

[edit] Bosses

• Colossus of Rhodes - The first boss in the game. It is brought to life by Zeus (in the form of a bird) who drains Kratos' power and gives it to the statue. As Kratos fights his way through the city, the Colossus attempts to destroy him. Kratos eventually fights the Colossus from within. When completely drained of its power by Kratos' use of the Blade of Olympus it begins to collapse. Kratos escapes through the mouth onto a platform. He is then crushed and nearly killed by the hand of the falling colossus.

• Horned Cerberus - It confronts Kratos as he explores the Temple of Lakhesis off the coast of the Island of Fate. Kratos cuts off two heads and snaps the neck of the middle one.

• Theseus - A famous Greek hero, he wields a twin-bladed spear and can summon ice crystals and Frost Minotaurs. He serves the Sisters of Fate as the 'Horse master' and keeps the key to the chapels on the backs of the Steeds of Time. Kratos offers Theseus' life in exchange for the key he possesses for the door; however Theseus challenges Kratos to a duel to the death to prove who the greatest warior in Greece is. After an extended battle, Kratos uses Theseus' own spear against him by impaling him to the door, using the key to open the door, then repeatedly slamming the door against Theseus' head until he dies.

• Barbarian King - One of the characters from the original game to return, the Barbarian King was seen repeatedly through the cutscenes in that game as Kratos' adversary who nearly defeated him, forcing Kratos to make a pact with Ares. Kratos decapitated the King in the first game, but in this game he is a corpse riding a decrepit horse and he tells Kratos is thankful that the Fates granted this last duel with Kratos for revenge. After Kratos knocks the King off his horse, he uses his own hammer against him, slamming it repeatedly onto his head.

• Cursed Cerberus - A black, three-headed hound who is faster, stronger and can breath fire, Kratos discovers it has eaten Jason who had found the Golden Fleece. Kratos must retrieve the Golden Fleece from within the beast who consumed it. Kratos breaks its jaw and pulls the golden fleece out of its mouth.

• Euryale - Medusa's sister, a much larger, heavier gorgon. When defeated, Head of Euryale is available for use by Kratos with Euryale's head. This is similar to "Medusa's Gaze" from the original God of War. She is still alive due to her immortality just as in the real myth.

• Perseus - The Greek hero on his own quest to seek the Sisters of Fate, Kratos encounters him during his adventures. He uses the Helmet of Hades that makes him invisible, a sling, a sword, and a reflective shield, all of which he received from various gods. He attempts to kill Kratos believing that the confrontation is a test to prove his worth for an audience with the Sisters. Kratos first destroys his helmet then breaks his sword into pieces. Perseus uses his shield to reflect sunlight into Kratos blinding him, when Kratos regains his standings Perseus is near the back of the pool. Kratos renders Perseus vulnerable by smashing him into a wall, then drowning him. Kratos takes Perseus' shield and throws him through a wall into a hanging hook killing him instantly.

• Icarus -Appears as an insane man about to fly across the Great Chasm, to meet with the sisters, using his artificial wings. Kratos will fight Icarus for the use of his wings. The fight takes place with both men falling off a cliff and into the Great Chasm. Kratos took his wings and Icarus fell to his death.

• Cerberus Breeders - Killer Cerberi that constantly spit up babies are encountered in the Fates' Temple. The breeder babies soon after grow into the adults, and the beasts are only encountered in this one room.

• The Last of the Spartans - Silhouetted against the sky from behind a framed glass window, Kratos fights this opponent as a shadow. Neither man knows the truth as to who they are fighting until Kratos wins by tackling the spartan through a window, discovering to his horror that it was the Spartan he had told to defend the city at the start of the game. The Spartan tells Kratos that Zeus had destroyed Sparta and he had hoped to gain an audience with the Sisters of Fate to change the outcome. The Spartan dies having faith in Kratos' ability to save the Spartans. Kratos uses his body to place on a pressure plate several times before the Kraken devours his body.

• Kraken -Appears after The Last of the Spartans battle. At this point Kratos has been through so much that he gives up fighting and will not lift his blades. He now believes he cannot change his fate and wishes Zeus to face him at that very moment. This allows the Kraken to firmly grab hold of Kratos who is still enraged. Kratos regains his fighting spirit after being convinced by Gaia that he will be eternaly tormented by Zeus unless he changes his fate. After a few rounds of battling the Kraken, Kratos stabs its tentacles, knocking it off balance, allowing Kratos to use a lever to extend a bridge, sening the bridge straight through the Kraken's head, before the Kraken fell to the depths below.

• The Sisters of Fate - In order to use the Loom to change his past, Kratos must battle the Three Sisters of Fate that are defending it, frightened that Kratos will bring doom to the world should he use it. Lakhesis confronts Kratos alone trying to kill him using a combination of melee attacks and magic with the use of her staff. When bested by Kratos Lakhesis releases Atropos from within her. Atropos carries Kratos through the mirror world back to the time when Kratos fought Ares. She threatens that she could kill Kratos in the past by destroying the sword he used to kill Ares. Kratos defeats Atropos, bringing him back to Lakhesis' throne room. Both Lakhesis and Atropos fight against Kratos but are eventually locked away into the mirror world where Kratos destroys them. The final sister Clotho awaits Kratos a few levels away. When Kratos makes his way to her head he disables both of her arms giving him time to bring up a giant swinging blade. With this blade he impales Clotho through her head killing the last of the Sisters of Fate and granting him the power to change the past.

• Zeus - After using the Loom to return to when Zeus drives the Blade of Olympus into Kratos, he must fight Zeus for control of the blade in order to change his future. Toward the end of the battle Kratos uses both Athena's Blades and the Blade of Olympus to bring him down. Though stabbed repeatedly by Kratos, when interrupted by Athena, Zeus stands up virtually unharmed.

[edit] Items and Abilities

[edit] Weapons

Kratos' main weapon is Athena's Blades, bestowed on him by the goddess Athena. During the game, Kratos will also gain the Barbarian Hammer (a slow but powerful close combat weapon), the Spear of Destiny (a fast weapon with piercing attacks originally used by the Dark Rider), and the Blade of Olympus (a powerful sword originally wielded by Zeus.) Each weapon can be powered up with experience orbs to increase their power and add new attacks.

[edit] Magic

Kratos is bestowed with magical powers as he successfully completes certain tasks during the plot. Initially, Kratos starts with the Poseidon's Rage magic, carried over from the original game, but loses this after attempting to defeat the Colossus. However, Kratos regains other magic spells, including Typhon's Bane (a bow-like long range attack weapon), Cronus' Rage (an attack using electricity to strike multiple targets), the Head of Euryale (similar to the Medusa's Gaze from the first game, able to turn enemies to stone), and Atlas Quake (a wide area ground pounding attack). As with his weapons, Kratos can improve the potency and abilities of these spells by spending experience orbs.

Kratos also gains the Rage of the Titans power from Prometheus, which is similar to the "Rage of the Gods" from the first game. This power can only be activated initially when a meter has been filled either due to Kratos taking damage or collecting yellow/gold orbs from defeated foes. Activating the power increases Kratos' attack power for a short time, though not invincible to damage.

[edit] Relics

There are two primary types of relics in the game that Kratos will collect. The first are special keys to open locked doors throughout the game, but otherwise have no power of their own. The other type of Relics are those that provide Kratos with a special power. Kratos starts the game with the Trident of Poseidon that lets Kratos breath freely underwater. Kratos also gains three additional Relics of this nature in the game: The Amulet of the Fates that allows Kratos to slow down time when close to a Fate statue, the Wings of Icarus that allow Kratos to glide after jumping, and the Golden Fleece which Kratos can use to reflect directed shots back at their sender.

[edit] Urns

In the game the Urns give Kratos special abilities and attributes when activated in a bonus play, such as by giving Kratos infinite magic or Rage of the Titans. The Urns are either found during gameplay in well hidden spots or earned in Challenge of the Titans. The six urns are the Urns of Gaia, the Gorgons, Olympus, Prometheus, the Fates, and Poseidon.

[edit] Armor

By completing the game or through other special criteria, the player can unlock armor for Kratos. The armor changes both Kratos's appearance and alters the benefits from the orbs in both positive and negative ways, thus altering the difficulty of the game. The armors include different costumes that Kratos has worn before, armor made of Hydra scales, Kratos' own appearance, and even complete appearance changes to either Athena or Hercules. There is also one where Kratos dons a fish costume, making him the "Cod of War". The player can only change armor when starting a new game on bonus play. The god armor(the armor Kratos wears in Rhodes) is the best armor to unlock, as it doubles all of your stats.

[edit] Critical reception

God of War II has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Many critics have stated that the sequel surpasses the original,^[3][4][5] is one of the PlayStation 2's best games,^[6][7] is one of the best action games of all time,^[3][8][9] and, moreover, is one of the best video games ever made.^{[10][11][12][5]} The game is also considered to be the swan song of the PlayStation 2 era, in other words the last great game exclusively for the system.^[3][13]

Reviews:

• GamePro — 5 out of 5
• X-Play — 5 out of 5
• The A.V. Club — A
• IGN.com — 9.7 out of 10
• 1UP.com — 9.5 out of 10
• EGM — 9.2 out of 10
• Gaming Trend — 9.4 out of 10
• Game Informer — 9.75 out of 10
• GameZone — 9.5 out of 10
• GameSpot — 9.2 out of 10
• Gamespy — 5 out of 5
• GameTrailers — 9.5 out of 10
• Edge — 7 out of 10
• GamesMaster — 95%
• GameRevolution — A-
• GamesTM — 10 out of 10
• Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (UK) — 9 out of 10

Compilations of Multiple Reviews:

• Metacritic — 94 out of 100
• Game Rankings — 94 out of 100

[edit] Cast

Character	English voice actor	Japanese voice actor
Narrator/Gaia	Linda Hunt
Kratos	Terrence "T.C." Carson (as TC Carson)	Tesshō Genda
Athena	Carole Ruggier	Ryōko Gi
Zeus	Corey Burton	Toshihiko Ojima
Lakhesis	Leigh Allyn Baker
Atropos	Debi Mae West
Clotho	Susan Silo
Prometheus	Alan Oppenheimer
Euryale	Jennifer Martin
Typhon	Fred Tatasciore
Theseus	Paul Eiding
Cronos	Lloyd Sherr
Barbarian King	Bob Joles
Icarus	Bob Joles
Perseus	Harry Hamlin[14]
Atlas	Michael Clarke Duncan

[edit] Trivia

• By achieving a 999,999 hit combo,^[15] the player is treated to a simple secret message: http://www.islandofrhodes.org,^[16] which currently displays a countdown timer to hit zero on April 12, 2007. The website also has an image of Kratos overlooking a flaming landscape. While initial speculation that this may have been a countdown to the European release date for God of War 2, or possibly related to the God of War PSP title, Sony has stated that this is not the case, and that "The website is for true God of War fans...Think of the original God of War."^[17]

• The Titan Oceanus was originally planned to make an appearance in the game, but he had to be cut due to a lack of time before the release date.¹⁸

[edit] See also

• God of War;
• God of War: City of Rhodes

[edit] References

18. As stated in the second DVD packaged with God of War 2

[edit] External links

• God of War II Official Site
• God of War II on IGN
• God of War II on GameDaily
• God of War II on GameSpot
• God of War II on Cheat Code Central
• God of War II E3 Trailers from G4
• God of War II Gametrailers.com preview
• God of War: City of Rhodes
• God of War II at MobyGames

v • d • e God of War video games

God of War • God of War II • God of War (PSP)