God of War (video game)

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God of War
The North American box art, depicting Kratos overlooking Mount Olympus
Developer(s)	SCE Studios Santa Monica
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	David Jaffe
Engine	Kinetica
Aspect ratio	16:9 / 4:3
Native resolution	480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release date	NA March 22, 2005 EU June 21, 2005
Genre(s)	Hack and slash, action adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18 CERO: 18+ ESRB: Mature OFLC: MA15+ OFLC: R16+ PEGI: 18+ USK: 18
Media	DVD-9
Input methods	Game controller

God of War is a video game for the PlayStation 2 console released on March 22, 2005. As an action-adventure game based on Greek mythology, God of War was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica division.

It was very well received by critics and fans alike and was the recipient of many awards, including "Game of the Year" honours from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. In 2007, IGN named God of War as the greatest PlayStation 2 game of all time, on their Top 25 PS2 Games list.^[1] The game is now available in the PlayStation 2's lineup of Greatest Hits. A sequel titled God of War II was released March 13, 2007. A prequel, exclusive on the PlayStation Portable, titled God of War: Chains of Olympus, was released on March 4, 2008.

[edit] Plot

The game begins with Kratos on the tallest cliff in Greece, lamenting that the gods have abandoned him; hopeless, he throws himself off the cliff into the waves below. The game then shifts to events of the past through flashbacks to describe Kratos' history, and the events of three weeks prior.

Once a young and ambitious Spartan captain, Kratos became a servant to the gods more than ten years in the game's past when, facing a barbarian horde in a battle he could not win, Kratos offered his life in exchange for salvation from a massacre; Ares heeded his plea and used his power to save Kratos and his men. He then granted Kratos great power and also the "Blades of Chaos", short-bladed swords connected by long, whip-like chains, seared to Kratos' arms. Ares instructed Kratos to rebuild his army and use it to conquer much of Greece, as a display of devotion and piety to Ares. In one village which worshipped the goddess Athena, Kratos in his bloodlust broke into the village's temple and slaughtered all the people inside, only to realize later that he had killed his wife and daughter in his frenzy- a scheme by Ares to transform Kratos into the manifestation of death itself. Kratos renounced his service to Ares and began to wander the Aegean Sea, offering to serve the other gods of Olympus to gain redemption for his sins, earning the pseudonym of 'The Ghost of Sparta' for his past deeds, and being constantly tormented by nightmares of what he had done.

Three weeks prior to the present, Poseidon asks Kratos to kill the Hydra who the god claims has been terrorizing his seas for far too long. Shortly after killing the Hydra, Kratos learns from Athena that Ares is moving a numberless army of monsters and undead soldiers to take Athens and requests that,as the gods can't intervene, Kratos stop him, saying that the death of Ares is the last thing Kratos must do to win absolution. Arriving at the war-torn city, Kratos fights his way to the temple of Athena, where he learns from the Oracle there that the only way to defeat Ares is to use Pandora's Box. She explains that it gives a mortal the power to kill a god, and that the Box is presently locked deep inside the Temple of Pandora by the gods, to prevent any gaining its power. The Temple is located on the back of the Titan Cronus as he wanders the Desert of Lost Souls. Kratos travels across the Desert and successfully enters the Temple to retrieve Pandora's Box, circumventing the deadly booby traps and monsters that guard the Temple, but this event does not go unnoticed by Ares. As Kratos drags Pandora's Box towards the exit of the temple, Ares rips of the top of a mountian and throws it towards the temple, impaling Kratos and sending him to the Underworld.

As Kratos falls through the Underworld, he grabs onto a ledge and begins to work his way through the Underworld to a certain location. He manages to return to the world of the living by climbing out from the depths of the Underworld with the help of a gravedigger that he met earlier on in the game. After escaping, Kratos returns to the destroyed Athens to find Ares yelling at Mount Olympus, asserting his superiority and threatening the Gods with Pandora's Box, but Kratos is able to retrieve the Box and use its power to grow to the size of Ares. The two engage in a furious swordfight: when Kratos proves superior, Ares uses images of Kratos' family against him to try and destroy Kratos' will to fight: instead, Kratos beats the army of monsters Ares sends at him. In a fury, Ares strips Kratos of the Blades of Chaos, and uses them to murder Kratos's family.

Kratos discovers the Blade of the Gods, a sword serving as a giant bridge within Athens, and uses it to fight back. After another vicious duel, Kratos wins and finishes off Ares despite his desperate pleas for mercy. The Gods congratulate Kratos, but though they can forgive his sins, they cannot remove Kratos' nightmares of the past. Kratos realizes his work has been for nothing, and wanders to a cliff overlooking the Aegean Sea, and then throws himself into it, the point where the game begins. However, Athena appears at the last moment, telling Kratos that they cannot let one die that has done a great service, and offers him the vacated throne of the God of War in Olympus. Kratos becomes the God of War and watches over soldiers for all of eternity,but there is still more to the story of The God Of War. The second installment of the game goes more in depth to what happened after Kratos became the G.O.W.

[edit] Gameplay

A special symbol appears above the heads of enemies that are weakened, allowing the player to initiate a special attack sequence for larger rewards.

God of War is a third-person action video game, focused on the player using melee attacks, magic abilities, and combinations of the two to defeat foes. The player controls Kratos' movements, including jumping, swimming, and climbing, as well as his attacks. Kratos' primary weapon is the Blades of Chaos, which can be used in a number of different types of attacks, varying in power, speed, and range of damage. Throughout the game, Kratos also gains the abilities of several magical artifacts, such as the head of Medusa that can be used to turn foes into stone. Damaging and killing an enemy will release one of three types of orbs: red orbs can be redeemed to power up Kratos' attacks, and green and blue orbs immediately restore Kratos' health and magic, respectively. As the player fights, a meter reflecting the "Rage of the Gods" begins to fill; when the meter is full, the player can activate the power to temporarily increase Kratos' attack power. Should Kratos lose all his health, the game is over, but the player has the option of restarting at the last checkpoint; the game will also offer the player the opportunity to attempt the game at a lower difficulty level if they have restarted from the same checkpoint several times in a row.

When certain enemies, in particular certain boss battles and larger foes, are low in health, the player can initiate a special Quick-Time Events|killing sequence as indicated by a marker over the enemy's head. This starts a sequence of moves by Kratos that will display a controller button or an analog-stick action briefly on the screen during the attack; the player must hit that button or move the analog stick as indicated within a short time for the killing sequence to continue, otherwise the sequence will be broken and the enemy will grab Kratos and toss him away. However, if the player successfully responds to each sequence, then Kratos will finish off the enemy in a bloody and spectacular fashion, and gain a higher yield of orbs. Most bosses can only be killed using these "fatality" minigames, increasing the cinematic feel of the game.

In addition to the melee aspects of the game, the player will also need to solve environmental puzzles, such as sliding boxes or statues around to depress switches, turning levels to open doors, or similar moves. Chests are scattered about the levels, and can be opened to reveal orbs, gorgon eyes, or phoenix feathers, the latter two which can be collected to expand Kratos' health and magic capacity, respectively. Destructible environmental objects can also be broken to retrieve red orbs. Each of Kratos' abilities can be improved using the red orbs; each of the abilities have several levels that improves that ability's effectiveness as well as introducing new combination moves the player can use.

Most of the foes in the game are inspired by creatures from Greek mythology, including Medusa, the Minotaur, and the Lernaean Hydra, among others.

[edit] Cultural impact

[edit] Critical reception

God of War received strong praise from gaming critics. The game was praised for its strong gameplay, graphics, and sound. A CNN review stated that ""God of War" is the type of game that makes you remember why you play games in the first place."^[9] Reviews did find that some of the puzzle and platforming aspects, particularly while escaping Hades, were not as strong as the rest of the game.

[edit] Film

A film adaptation was announced in 2005.^[10] Creator David Jaffe confirmed that a completed script had been penned by David Self and would be sending it out to an unspecified "huge-name director." Jaffe also expressed interest in seeing actor Djimon Hounsou in the role of the protagonist, Kratos. "You'd have to get past the fact that Djimon is African and Kratos is Greek, but in terms of the way he looks and his acting ability and his physique — I can't think of a better choice."^[11]

Furthermore, on Comic-con 2007 Game Head's Geoff Keighley introduced creator of God of War, David Jaffe to infamous film-director, Uwe Boll. David was asked by Geoff "Would you really let him direct God of War?", David answers "If it was my call you ask me? Truthfully? No, I would not." Uwe replied "Wait until you see Postal, then you judge." David also confirmed that Universal Studios is behind the making of the God of War movie and that he has no idea "Where it's at".^[12] However, no word can be found of this movie recently, until May 2008, when it was suggested that Brett Ratner can direct the film^[13].

[edit] Awards

The game has won over a dozen "Game of the Year Awards".^[14] In 2007, God of War was named best PlayStation 2 Action game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the PlayStation 2's long lifespan.^[1]

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Kratos was also parodied as "Kratos Jones" in a segment that aired on G4 advertising the (fake) E3 Grindhouse. He has also been parioded trying a dating service and appeared in a (fake) episode of Cops in Xplay.

• He has also been parodied in several webcomics: in VG Cats, comic 151 parodies the Oracle of Athens' revealing clothing which heavily distracts Kratos and the second part of comic 221 shows Kratos on the cover of a book titled If I Did It, Here's How It Happened, the joke being that the title is similar to the cancelled book of O. J. Simpson, who was accused, but found not guilty of killing his wife and Kratos having actually committed mariticide; in Penny Arcade, he goes to therapy in order to change his brutal nature.

• In the game itself, during a cutscene where in Kratos slaughters the inhabitants of Athena's temple, one of his victims emits the Wilhelm scream as he is struck to the ground.

• The Wilhelm scream is also heard when the soldier keeping the bridge closed in Athens is slain.

• A child prodigy version of David Jaffe tries to pitch the game to a video game company in the 80's in the TV show Code Monkeys

• The Simpsons Game has a level parodying the Hydra boss fight, but with dolphins. The level is called The God of Wharf, in reference to the level setting. A billboard of Kratos selling a hot drink is present.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• GodofWar.com
• Official European Site
• Metacritic Reviews
• God of War at the Open Directory Project
• God of War (video game) at the Internet Movie Database