Recently something good came to us, there are some games from the past generation that we would like to play, but we want the functionality of today’s games (online play, trophys, HD resolution and the like), however some of these games are a tad bit too big to be released in digital form. So apparently captain obvious made a call to Sony and reminded them they have blu ray disks and that stuffing said games on said disks with said functionality would probably be easy and convenient advertising if a sequel to said games was coming out soon.

Well a few months away from the god of war 3 release,kratos's first two adventures show up in HD for the low price of 40$. I always was intrigued by the idea of a collection like this , some last gen games really could use a revival or a second chance to win the gaming publics hearts over.

Well its review time, let's see how well the formula holds up.

I doubt anyone on this site doesn’t know about god of war but I’ll recap the first two games anyway( it is a review after all)


God of war 1 and 2 are (arguably) among the best games of last gen, the god of war puts you in the sandals of kratos (aka the angriest man ever) who is sent on a quest by the gods of Olympus to off the current god of war Aries, the gods want him dead because Aries has apparently had one to many and thinks a little favoritism shown toward his sister Athena is justification enough to wipe out all of Athens. However Zeus forbids the gods from going to war with each other, that's were you come in.


This is the guy who tells you the gods have terminated your employment, pray you never get fired should you be employed here.

However its evident early that you aren't doing this out of pure servitude to the gods, to keep spoilers to a minimum kratos wasn't born with white skin and blades seared into his flesh, and the tale behind how he got said skin and blades is what truly drives him, to kill the god of war. The story of god of war is one of the best ever told and unlike most other video game characters, actually justifies all the beheading you will be doing, as kratos has a good reason for being that damn angry.

Speaking of anger let's talk combat, the area where god of war truly shines, to put it frankly no one can kill like kratos, think mortal combat except almost every move is a fatality, from ripping them in half with brute strength to lopping heads off with your blades no enemy dies the same way and even the basic cannon fodder has variety among their demises, the attention to detail of each enemy and their deaths truly make god of war stand out above as maybe the best hack and slash to ever exist, however what makes it the best (for me anyway) is the way it deals with the age old action game problem, the dreaded CAMERA.

Having just come off of ninja gaiden sigma 2, I can safely remember why I loved games like devil may cry and ninja gaiden, but have to work up some tolerance before I play them. No one enjoys getting caught in the ass with a blade just because the camera got stuck on the wall. In action games bad cameras can make even the best games frustrating. God of war fixes this by taking control of the camera and always keeping it on the optimal view; they simply play test the hell out of each level to make sure the best view for kicking ass is used. Not to mention this frees up the joystick to be used for evading, a quick flick of the right stick rolls kratos in that direction, this is easily one of the best control scheme and camera ever in an action game (and I'll stand by that).

God of war 2 continues the story of kratos after he (spoilers ahead) kills Aries and becomes the god of war, Kratos not to pleased he still tormented by the nightmares of his past commands his Spartan army to go on an ass kicking spree, eventually he goes down to Rhodes to finish the job himself he finds that’s he been backstabbed by Zeus (who doesn’t want to share the same fate as Aries) And has his godly powers stolen and gets sent to Hades. By channeling the sheer might of his anger Kratos kicks his way out of hell and sets course to the sisters of fate so he can jump back in time to the moment of betrayal and teach Zeus that there is a price for pissing off Kratos.


Pictured: Someone about to get unemployed

Game play wise nothings really changed between god of war 1 and 2 and that’s a good thing considering they got it pretty much perfected in the first game, Another awesome story , more polish and bloody deaths were all that were needed, and that’s exactly what the sequel got.

So yeah improved functionality and slightly more responsive controls with HD resolution kind of make this a steal, However this being the holiday shopping season must point out that That this game isn’t for the kids. In case you’re a lost parent who’s just looking for a game for their kids and by some freak accident wound up on this blog (man your lost) know that big M (that stands for mature) is there for a reason, Nobody around here believes in shirts, women included, and did I mention that this game was about a Spartan who rips people in half. If you are a parent wondering if you should get this for you kid DON’T, go get him something with an E rating so I don’t have to read another “games are pure evil and corrupting our innocent children blah blah blah article” I’ve had enough of those for one year.

And Finally I would like to talk about the concept, while it kind of irked me a bit about re-buying PS2 games with added functionality at first but when I got my hand on the finished product I can say it was worth it. Now I eagerly await the day that the Xenosaga series, shadow off the colossus and Ico, all the ps2 ratchet and clanks games, Jak and Daxter games, and Final Fantasy 10 and 12 make it on a blu-ray disk. However Sega if for some weird reason your reading this and just got the idea of putting sonic adventure 1 and 2 , sonic heroes and shadow the hedgehog on 1 disk was a good idea understand I WILL BREAK DOWN THE DOOR TO YOUR OFFICE AND CRACK EVERYONE IN THE SKULL WITH A TIRE IRON UNTIL YOU REALIZE YOU SHOULD BE MAKING ANOTHER JET GRIND RADIO, AND ANOTHER CONSOLE VERSION OF VALKYRIA CHONICLES ALL WHILE PORTING YAKUZA 3 HERE TO THE STATES, glad we got that cleared up.