I am writing this BLOG because I am simply in awe at this PS2 title.
It all started when I was playing God of War, Chains of Olympus on Nathaniels PSP, back before Nathaniel was the owner. I had never touched a God of War game before. But because I really thought the red PSP looked cool, and the ratings called it the best PSP game to every be made, I thought it was a must play.
Well...Chains of Olympus gave me HOURS AND HOURS of joy. It was (and still is, by the way) absolutely THE best handheld game I'd ever played. I liked it for the same reasons I will discuss later, but boy was I impressed.
Well, as you all know, I am one of the many people on this website that have the most advanced gaming system on the planet. The PS3. It has graphics galore and the ability to have some very intense, very FUN games. Since I was one of those MORONS that just HAD to have it the moment it came out, I played over $800 for my system. But one of the plusses is that it is backwards compatible. And actually, this was a lot of the appeal to buying a Playstation that was backwards compatible because look at the HUGE library of used games I could enjoy!!! WOW!!! Savings galore!
Yeah...that sounds real good on paper...but to be totally honest, I would prefer to have Nathaniel's version with the HUGE hard drive and not backwards compatible because I am a graphics hound. If I'm going to play a game, gosh darn it, I'm going to buy the PS3 version. At least...that's what I thought...
Hunter has had a GREAT time playing used PS2 games. He is currently playing resident evil 4 and LOVING it...and the graphics aren't that bad...I've actually helped him solve a couple puzzles on it and it's pretty cool. It's not the Resident Evil 5 that came out for PS3...but it keeps Hunter happy and the price point of $9 was much better than $59. So it's worked out well.
But hey...let's face it. I shelled out that dough for ME. MY needs. MY wants. MY ENJOYMENT. So I don't need backwards compatibility. It's basically a useless feature for me. Or that was before God of War, Chains of Olympus.
I liked that so much, and when I found out that God of War III was coming out for the PS3, I thought...???You know what would be cool?...If I played GOW and GOW II before the third one came out...then I'd have enjoyed the whole series...but would I enjoy a PS2 title? Would it be fun? Well...for $9 how could I lose right? This was some time ago.
In the meantime, I solved Orange Box (Portal, Half Life 2 and expansion), Fear, Fear 2, Tiger Woods 2008. I had been meaning to actually get back to some of the other games I've purchased, but with work and other things, it's been hard to get back to.
But after I solved, and sold back, Fear 2, I saw the ad for the PS3 GOW III pre-order and remember my goal to try all three. So I came home and cracked that bad boy open. This was a few weeks ago.
I found that the gameplay that I loved Chains of Olympus, is faithfully replicated in GOW...actually I know I have that in reverse, but to MY timeline...what I just said makes total sense.
What's to like? AWESOME hack and slash with combos that aren't too difficult to memorize, magic that is powerful, the ability to upgrade both, the greek mythology, which I've always found interesting, and the puzzles...OHHHHH...the glorious puzzles...I LOVE puzzles, and a few of them involve a sexual nature, which is a great break from the serious puzzles and the non-stop hack and slash action.
The hack and slash is VERY entertaining because of the combos and, when you have your enemy groggy enough, it puts a symbol above the head of the enemy ???a circle??? you go up to him and push the circle. Kratos will either do a brutal finishing move, or will bring up a series of ???match the button presses or joystick moves??? that will bring up a series of brutal moves and will eventually brutally kill your enemy. The part that makes this SO FUN..is that I can actually do it. No major memorization...just a timing button press game.
And the story is SO engaging!!! SO engaging!! And WONDERFUL and varied. I keep thinking I'm getting closer to the end...and I am...but the game keeps going and going...what a GREAT game!!!
I went out and bought GOW II for $17 at Target...new...so as soon as I finish the first one, I can roll right into the second one. I can't wait!
If you haven't tried a GOW...it's a MUST PLAY!!!
