If Tarantino can do it, than so can Kratos

Destroy and re-imagine Greek mythology that is.

So with God of War III descending tomorrow, I figured this would be a good time to talk about the series to this point, minus Chains of Olympus...because I don't have a PSP to play it on, and it wasn't included in the Collection set.

So I never was interested in the series when it first came out on the PS2 back in 2005. It was on my radar, but having a full time relationship along with a full time job and a full time school career kind of put the time for PlayStation on the backburner. I still played it, but never as much as I did when I first got the system, or as much as my beloved Nintendo 64 before it. But as the word got out on God of War III, and with my new interest in playing my PlayStation 3, I figured it may be a good idea to brush up on the two now legendary games before playing the third. I was going to borrow the original PS2 versions from a friend a few months back, but Sony's brilliant idea of putting the games on one Blu-ray Disc, with updated HD graphics (for the most part) and trophies, kind of changed that plan quite rapidly.

God of War in all of its glory, is a masterpiece of action gaming. It was fun to play, it had an engaging story, and despite some rather increasingly annoying puzzles and climbing areas, it was a fantastic ride. It never really lost its momentum, and playing until odd hours of the evening were never an issue for me (unlike Bioshock, whose 4 AM playtimes were only because each level took up so much fucking time). I genuinely enjoyed almost every minute, and look forward to blasting through it for the 5 hour trophy. There was just something so inherent and easy in just dispatching enemies violently with magic and might, that it almost became addicting to keep going. It was a genuine surprise, and one that really made me wish I caught it way back when it was first released.

God of War II on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment. Not on the lines of being a terrible game, but just not being as fun as the first game. I enjoyed playing through parts of it, but the updated mechanics, and some of the new features (like swinging around and gliding with stolen wings) were more aggravating than fun. I nearly broke my controller in some instances. The story was still there (even with its cliffhanger of an ending, that would have really pissed me off had I played it back in 2007), but it felt like a footnote more than an actual followup. The first game was so self contained that it did not really need a sequel. Here, it just feels like overkill, like Sony had a surprise hit and wanted to up the ante, but not enough to make it feel like a totally new game. More like a version 2.0 (much like Modern Warfare 2, minus the initially awesome Spec Ops missions). But like the first game, it still had a very addicting portion, and I greatly enjoyed completing it.

But having played the two games, I can say that despite their being very similar, they still hold up quite well. They really were cut of a different breed from other PS2 games, and it shows in how well they come across being played on a PS3.

With God of War III, I just hope they bring it back to the basics. I've only sparingly read the glowing reviews, and have my Ultimate Edition preordered for pickup tomorrow, but I really want the game to be as enjoyable as Part 1. It can introduce new elements, but not let them take over the game or make it feel like Sony is overdoing it with how epic the game should feel. I have faith in the game, will likely kill it before the end of next week (opening up some time for Heavy Rain), but that is my hope. Will it happen? Likely not. But if the game is still fun, without being overly complicated and aggravating like some portions of God of War II, than I will be more than impressed.