God of War 2 Impressions Roundup

Impressions from the sequel to a tale about a very angry man. From the IGN hands-on: "Though he's riding atop a Pegasus, the combat here looks to be nearly identical to what you'll find on the ground. A few demonic creatures atop gryphons soon catch up with Kratos and begin swarming about, trying to knock him off his winged transport. Lashing out with his blades (of Chaos or Athena's, we're not sure, as Sony is a little hesitant to make perfectly clear), Kratos takes them out one by one while his mount does the flying."

Comments

One game worthy of a movie

[DrXym]

If there is one game that is worthy of a movie, it is God of War. I don't play my PS2 too much (I prefer PC games), but God of War is one of those that I go back to again and again. It's easily one of the best games for the PS2 and consoles in general. Kratos is just such a badass character that the best bits of the game could be turned into a hyper-brutal Conan-esque movie with barely any treatment at all. Unlike Doom or other game conversions, the game's plot, music and set pieces are ideally suited for the big screen.

I wonder why the sequel isn't a PS3 title. Surely it would be appearing about the same time as the new platform making it a perfect candidate.

Re:One game worthy of a movie

[Skevin]

> the best bits of the game could be turned into a hyper-brutal
> Conan-esque movie with barely any treatment at all. Unlike
> Doom or other game conversions

You underestimate the horror that is the Hollywood Engine, my friend. (And I say this to you as someone works at Fox.) What the fans generally get upset about is the fact the movie conversion process fundamentally changes the background, nay, the entire universe in which the storyline is set. In the case of Doom, producers were afraid that the very concept of demons would offend the religious right, so they centered the plot around "genetic manipulation" drivel instead.
If we want to make God of War into a movie, we're going to give it the Doom treatment:

1) Kratos is not going to be a Spartan, but an American, with a capital A, which we all know means "from the US". Canadians, Mexicans, and Venzuelans need not apply for the title. On top of that, Kratos is going to be a commando, or a jet pilot, or common joe midwest farmer's son who dreams of leaving the planet to become an Imperial Storm Trooper.
2) There're no Greek gods or any of that mythology nonsense - we don't want to offend the religious mores of the current presidential administration. Having ancient and/or foreign gods might corrupt impressionable children who ought to be in a good Christian Church on Sunday anyway.
3) While on the topic of G*d, we can't name the movie, "G*d of War" - that would be offensive to our target audience. We're experimenting with "Lamb of War", "Savior of War", and "Lord of War". We like the last one, but Nicholas' lawyers are dangling the Sword of Damocles over our heads if we go anywhere near that one.
4) We're casting Angelina Jolie as Kratos. She has an excellent track record for portraying strong-willed video game characters on the silver screen, plus she was recently nominated The Vixen Most Likely To Be Mistaken For A Man of the year award.
5) One of our sponsors, Boston Hair Club for Men, has requested that Kratos not be bald. We will make sure he sports a mane of rich, dark, thick, smooth hair that cascades past his waistline when it is not billowing dramatically about during fight scenes.
6) Another sponsor, Microsoft, requests that we imply the original game is not available on any platform other than the XBox. In return, we are allowed to include cinematic sequences that show the main character unlocking Easter Eggs. Young viewers are encouraged to try any of these sequnces at home.
6b) ...except for the part where Kratos jumps off the cliff.
7) Kratos is not angry over a destiny denied him. He's angry about the World Trade Center. However, we're not going to portray our studio^H^H^H^H^H hero as hating every Muslim out there, just the fanatic fundamentalists. We will make this distinction by providing him a wise-cracking Arab sidekick name Mohammed "Momo" Habib, played by Ali G, who genuinely cares about Kratos' cause.
8) Kratos also will face off against evil file-sharers, who threaten to destroy the livelihood of everyone who has had any contribution to our^h^h^h intellectual property.

That's about it for our minor changes. Watch for G*d of War coming to a theater near you next summer.

Solomon Chang

I bought a PS2 just for God of War...

[Hamster Lover]

Until God of War came out I never really felt inclined to own a PS2. I got a chance to play it at EB and was completely wowed, so I bought a PS2. It certainly helped that a used PS2 with warranty was down to $129.

Besides a kick ass game that looks fantastic on a progressive TV, the behind the scenes material was better than most and pretty informative. I hope GOW2 is just more of the same.