God of War II retains the same elements from its predecessor and improves upon it. Something i thought impossible.
Story: The story takes place a couple of years after the first game. Kratos had become the new God of war and had begun endless wars and the Gods had grown weary of his brutal warfare. As Kratos decided to lead the Spartans to Rhodes, Athena begged him to stop the madness he had created. Kratos ignored her and went to Rhodes in person to assist his Spartan army. Moments later, an eagle descended from Olympus and robbed Kratos of his Godly size and some of his powers, and brought the gigantic Colossus of Rhodes statue to life. After an unending battle with the statue, Zeus offers the Blade of Olympus to Kratos but to use it, Kratos has to drain his godly powers into the blade. After winning the battle, the hand of the defeated statue hits Kratos when falling and draining his powers into the sword had rendered Kratos mortal. The eagle then appears again and changes into Zeus himself. Zeus betrays Kratos and kills him, throwing Kratos to the Underworld. There he is saved by the Titan Gaia, ever present Mother of Earth. Gaia saves him from death and helps him start a journey to the Sisters of Fate to travel back in time to the point where Zeus killed him.
Gameplay: The gameplay is essentially the same as the first game but why change it when the first game had perfected the action game gameplay. If it ain't broken don't fix it. But this sequel has added other combat features, such as weapons, which can be upgraded. At one point in the game you also obtain a special rock with which you can use to slow down time at certain points in the game. The hidden chests are also much better hidden than before. When i played it i had to use a walkthrough to find them all.
Sound: Voice acting is top-notch and every voice can be taken seriously. The music is brilliant and very epic, fitting the scene splendidly.
Graphics: As i said in the beginning of this review, God of War II pushed the PS2 of its limits. You will see lighting effects, better than nearly every single game of the 6th generation. The game also has tons of purely epic moments. At one point you try to reach the surface by climbing on the gigantic Titan Atlas.
Replay Value: After beating the game you unlock Titan mode, which is similar to God mode in the first game. You can also try to beat the Challenge of the Titans which is similar to the Challenge of the Gods in the first game. One thing that was not in the first game are the unlockable skins. These costumes boost your stats and some skins even change you to another character like Athena and Hercules. And how could i forget the Bonus Play. In Bonus Play you can replay the entire game with all the abilities and weapons you had when you finished it. In Bonus Play you can also wield the Blade of Olympus which is upgradable. You can also use (and find if you hadn't done that already) the Urns of Power which grant you for instance 10x on Red Orbs or greater combo numbers. The Urns can be found hidden within the game and also as rewards for beating the Challenge of the Titans.
Overall, God of War II is an improvement upon the already masterful God of War and is one of the greatest games on the PS2. In fact many have given it the title of "THE greatest game on the PS2". It's that good. If you have a PS2, get this game at all costs.
Story- 9/10
Gameplay- 9,5/10
Sound- 9,5/10
Graphics- 9,5/10
Replay Value- 9/10
Overall- 9,5/10