God of War 2 -- Final Opinion.

I have completed God of War 2. It's predominantly the same game as before, only ratcheted up more than a few notches. The combat remains the same. You'll level your weapons and magic from the collected red orbs that appear from red chests and enemies. The combat is flawed in the same way it was in the first game. The enemies can start attacking you from within your own combo. Something you're not able to do in the reverse. Even the smallest most insignificant enemy can trip you up. That might not seem like a big deal but when there are three or four major enemies and seven or eight lesser ones all trying to kill you, you'll be finding yourself unfairly bounced around more times than you can count. The art design is gorgeous.  The graphics are impressive. As I said in the initial impression, too much so. They are clearly beyond the capabilities of the PlayStation 2. It results in very frequent and hideously ugly vertical synchronization tearing. As also mentioned in the initial impression, the game is going out of it's way to offer up the most intense gaming experience possible. And again, I feel it's to the point of being too much. It's from one oh my freaking god scenario into another into another into another the whole game through. It actually has an overall numbing effect in my opinion. The original had a couple of great boss battles and it led into what's arguably the most disappointing final boss battle in history.  God of War 2's last boss is much better than that of the original. Although it's still less than compared to most of the bosses before it. I can say however that God of War 2 easily has some of the greatest boss encounters you will ever have. They are immense, impressive multistage affairs. More than a few of them employ the Zelda tactic of being part boss battle and part puzzle. Although here the puzzles are tougher and far more devious. The other true strong point of God of War 2 is the story and its use of Greek mythology. Almost all of the key titans, most of the major gods of Mount Olympus, the Fates, and the more prominent figures all make key and interesting appearances. Most of them you end up fighting. Fans of the movie Clash of the Titans are in for a true treat when it comes to the events that concern Perseus. God of War 2's story is a classic tale from Greek Mythology, albeit a bastardized version. Overall the positives of the Greek mythology and the story and graphics and killer boss battles outweigh the somewhat cheap and frustrating combat and the forced feeling intensity to make God of War 2 a must play title. I'm giving God of War 2 a 9.