God Of War 3 looks like a 'first generation PlayStation 4 title', according to one enthusiastic US journalist. Curious, then, that God of War Collection - comprising the orginal PS2 games, repackaged on one handy blu-ray disc and remastered in HD - looks like a PlayStation 2.5 game. It may be a purely cosmetic overhaul - astutely handled by Bluepoint Games, the developer behind PSN's Blast Factor - but Kratos' PS2 adventures have lost little of their brutal substance.
Twice as nice The disc comes with the brilliant God Of War and the even better God Of War II, except the visuals are delivered in 720P. Nothing has been lost in translation from the PS2 version to PS3, so it plays exactly the same. For the uninitiated, GOW set the benchmark for hack and slash ultra-violence, twinned to epic screen-size boss battles. Oh, and anti-hero Kratos is a mad man.
Armed with the Blades of Chaos (read: massive slicey blades) and coated with - in a plot twist that goes to some way to explaining why he's so furious - the ashes of his scorched family, he wades through harpies, minotaurs, screaming sirens and most other mythical beasts you care to mention.
He's also packing magic spells including Poseidon's Rage (GOW) - an electric blast radius that fries all within it or Typhon's Bane - basically a glorified bow and arrow. In GOW he's a mortal working with the Gods to knock Ares - the original God Of War - down a peg or two. Problem is, Ares stands taller than Peter Crouch at the top of the Empire State building, which is pretty tall. Thus begins an adventure through Athens and down to Hades in search of the tools to eff him up.
In GOW II, Kratos is tricked into relinquishing all his powers by the vengeful Gods so he teams up with the Titans to teach his old holy chums a lesson in revenge. Across both games you'll kill thousands of enemies without batting an eye-lid. OK, maybe you'll wince a little when he pulls an archer apart with his bare hands.
Apart from the glossy visuals, both games being on one disc and the obligatory Trophies, God Of War Collection doesn't contain anything else you could call new. But it's not like we expected new levels, weapons and a custom soundtrack. Hell no. What we want, and what we're pretty sure you'll agree with when you play it, is a stunning reminder of why God Of War made such an impact on PS2 in the first place.
From the opening moments of both games, you can't help but marvel at the beauty - and scale - of the environments; revelling in glee at the undimmed, visceral, brutality of Kratos' attacks. Countless games have tried and failed to match the epic scale and stylish kills of God Of War since it first appeared in 2005 and they've all been left bloody-nosed.
There's a clutch of games on PS3 in 2010 that are still aiming for that magic formula with Sega's Bayonetta and EA's Dante's Inferno the front-runners. But while God Of War Collection highlights how some of the visuals haven't aged well (especially the untouched cut-scenes) these HD remakes still play great and don't feel out of place on PS3. For us, the opening to God Of War II, where you methodically take down a giant angry statue, stills ranks as one of the greatest openers in any game we've played. And with this collector's edition's spit and polish, it looks even better than before.
What we didn't remember about either game, is how hard they are. It seems unlikely that Sony would've advised Bluepoint Games to up the ante in terms of difficulty, but there's a Trophy specifically called Getting My Ass Kicked, which is a bronze award for dying so many times that you're offered Easy mode. We don't remember the beasts being so tricky to dispatch of first time around, especially the super-strength minotaurs. But we see this extra difficulty as a new challenge for us to enjoy, and absolutely not a steady decrease in our gaming skills.
One slightly annoying thing about God Of War Collection is that once you enter either game's menu, you can't simply drop out and fire up the other one without quitting out all the way to the XMB. It may just be a flaw in the version that we're playing but it's pretty grating if you fancy a change halfway through. Another gripe is the fact that the challenge rooms aren't unlocked from the off.
These bastard-hard rooms consist of special challenges like firing a giant stake into as many undead creatures as you can in a set time limit. Or fling as many enemies off a flying platform as possible with your throwing skills. But alas, you'll have to work Kratos' grey dangly bits to get them.
Play catch up If you're in any doubt about God Of War's importance to gaming, let alone the PlayStation brand, here's the perfect chance to get acquainted with the titles that pushed PS2 to its limits - uniting arcane, but precise, Japanese play dynamics to Western accessibility and production bombast.
Hopefully, the UK will get a slice of the action before God Of War III hits in 2010 - rumour is GOW Collection will launch in Feb, with GOW3 in April. While we advise you to wait rather than import it (the game' s already out in the US and runs on a UK PS3); you won't be disappointed with Kratos' HD adventures.
That ashen grey look was meant for 720P. A hulking reinvention? By Zeus' ragged beard, no - but you'll sure like Kratos when he's angry.
Nathan Irvine
// Overview
Verdict
Overall Nothing new but two of PS2's finest offerings in full HD.
It looks like Europe is getting the shaft from Sony. This will probably only be on sale here in teh God of war 3 collectors edtion for over 100 quid. They think they can ripp you off and you'll take it. Well just import it for 30 from somewhere like Axelmusic and you'\ll have it by next week. I got Demon's Souls from them no problem.
If you are interested videogamesplus.ca have it for $30 (Canadian) works out about £21 inc postage. Its on backorder at the moment but they are very good... Used them loads before - normally deliver in less than a week.
Yes, your UK PS3 will run US or Japanese games, it's the TV that can cause issues.
Refresh rates on CRT TVs were 50Hz in Europe and 60Hz in the US, but flatscreens don't refresh that way so there shouldn't be any problem.
I'm tempted to pick this up from VideoGamesPlus myself. I sort of feel like a heretic having never played a God of War game. It's in my cart, I just need to hit that button
Yes the American copy will run fine on your PS3. I picked up the imported copy from a local store which imports last week. The not being able to quit back to the main menu is not a flaw unfortunately, so you will have to quit to the XMB whenever you want to switch to the other game. I did notice a couple of nagging faults with this which to my recollection where never in the PS2 version. One being glitches in the game which have involved falling through the scenery once or twice and Kratos somehow levitating at a platforms edge before actually grabbing hold of it. The other being twitchy weapon switching, many times I have tried to switch instantaneously to my secondary weapon with the result of Kratos just slashing away. As for the difficulty of the game I can't help but feel they made it easier. Ares took me just two tries to defeat and as for the challenge modes I got through them pretty easily. One trophy issue that I am very puzzled about is the fact there isn't a trophy for doing either game on any other difficulty other than the one you do first time. That won't be a problem for anybody other than trophy obsessed people though.
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had mine for a few months now.
