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Battle the Colossus in God of War 2

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-a-big-boy dept.

Kotaku has a writeup on what it's like to battle the Colossus in the latest demo for God of War 2. The epic boss battle that sets the stage for the game recalls the incredible Hydra sequence at the start of the first God of War title. One can only hope that the designers plan to kick off every GoW game with an intense fight scene. Kotaku's Brian Crecente on what it is like to face the beast: "There's much rolling about and trying to dodge giant-sweepy arms, and of course dispatching of normal-sized bad guys. Finally, you can hump it over to a nearby ballista which you can use to first attack the big statue guy and then to launch yourself on to him. Once you mount the statue, the battle turns into timed button pushes which do some amazing bits of damage and really flexes the graphics muscles of the Playstation 2. My favorite bit here was the eye-gouging. You gotta love that." To see the game in action, GameVideos can accomodate you in a three part series of moving pictures.

37 comments

  1. Bonk the Zonk! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its Zonk... and its a thinly veiled ad that tries to take the form of an article... Somehow I'm just not surprised...

  2. wording... by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finally, you can hump it over to a nearby ballista which you can use to first attack the big statue guy and then to launch yourself on to him. Once you mount the statue

    Is this God of War: Brokeback edition?

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:wording... by patio11 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Funny? Whats so strange about cocking a ballista then mounting the shaft and using it to penetrate the big guy? I must have missed the joke.

      --
      Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
    2. Re:wording... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Thought it would have hit you right in the face.

  3. oh boy! by deathtopaulw · · Score: 1

    a colossus! ...already fought 16 of these in one of my 3 favorite games of all time!

    1. Re:oh boy! by ZetSabre · · Score: 3, Informative

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_rhodes

  4. Nice to see... by Skreems · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Nice to see that this is out for the PS2. Yet another awesome new game to validate my $120 PS2 purchase this Christmas :-)

    --
    Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
    The Urban Hippie
    1. Re:Nice to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you made the jump to color TV yet?

    2. Re:Nice to see... by Analein · · Score: 0
      I'm still having lots of fun with my Xbox and will purchase a PS2 soon. Early adopters get to deal with high prices, few games, lots of bugs, crappy DRM and other cool things. I'll buy a PS2, mod it, hook it onto my Scart Plug and play on my low tech non-HD television set. Saves me the money for some quality beer and inviting some friends for pizza and games.

      So it's like: Have fun while burning your money, I'll go have fun instead.

    3. Re:Nice to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People with money to burn can do both. Sactimonious poor people suck.

    4. Re:Nice to see... by GuyverDH · · Score: 1

      Which is why there are phrases such as:
      More money than brains.
      More money than common sense.
      Too stupid to live.

      --
      Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
    5. Re:Nice to see... by GuyverDH · · Score: 1

      Oh - and BTW - just to prove the "More money that brains." - it's "sanctimonious" you pinhead.

      --
      Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
    6. Re:Nice to see... by Skreems · · Score: 1

      Have you made the jump to color TV yet?
      Because I don't feel like dropping $700 on the glorified space heater that is the PS3? Or because I was busy playing XBox and Gamecube and PC games instead of PS2 until recently? That's funny. You're funny.
      --
      Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
      The Urban Hippie
  5. Upcoming stories... by PresidentEnder · · Score: 4, Funny
    "What it's like to battle Lavos in Chrono Trigger"

    "What it's like to jump on Bowser's head repeatedly"

    "What it's like to move around the world map in Twilight Princess"

    "What it's like to click the ace of spades in MS Solitaire"

    --
    I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
    1. Re:Upcoming stories... by StikyPad · · Score: 3, Funny

      "What it's like to click the ace of spades in MS Solitaire"

      I hope they don't forget to put up a big **SPOILER WARNING** for that one.

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    2. Re:Upcoming stories... by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "What it's like to jump on Bowser's head repeatedly"

      Is there any Mario game where that isn't fatal?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    3. Re:Upcoming stories... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Nope.

    4. Re:Upcoming stories... by Headcase88 · · Score: 1

      *thinks hard*

      NSMB if you're Mega!

      (also it's never fatal unless you're small)[/pendantic]

      --
      "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
    5. Re:Upcoming stories... by Manmademan · · Score: 1

      offtopic, but I think it's worth the karma burn.

      I went out of my way to do this in the original SMB on NES. Why? Because hitting bowser's head AND the axe that cuts the bridge simultaneously while "super" triggers the bug that allows the "small mario with fireballs" trick.

      you stay "super" when this happens but from then on, Mushrooms shrink you, getting hit by enemies enlarges you, and "tiny" mario can cast fireballs. A great way to get some more mileage out of an old game.

      even more fun than the "minus world" bugs, IMHO

  6. GoW2 by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 0, Troll

    So basicly they took a game concept and made it 1 boss battle. How.. unintresting.

    --
    I like muppets.
    1. Re:GoW2 by thevoice99 · · Score: 1

      Theres video of it on gametrailers.com. Its actually quite interesting as it merges a big boss battle into an entire level.

  7. Not a Rhodes scholar, are you? by Bieeanda · · Score: 3, Informative

    Given that the setting and trappings of God of War are Classical greek, chances are that he's fighting the original colossus.

    1. Re:Not a Rhodes scholar, are you? by vonPoonBurGer · · Score: 1

      The Colossus depicted may be original, but the sadly the game mechanic is not.

  8. Not sharing the enthusiasm by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One can only hope that the designers plan to kick off every GoW game with an intense fight scene...

    I, for one, hope that there aren't sufficiently more God of War games to bear out a theory like this. I have nothing against GoW in particular, but _any_ series will get stagnant after a finite number of outings. I'd rather see the developers focus their energies on something new and different--sure, OK. THAT can have an intense fight kick it off, too, if that's what matters to people.

    1. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by cgenman · · Score: 1

      You wouldn't believe how often developers get this wrong. Why do movies know to start you off with the most gripping scene they can, but videogames start you as a weakling slashing at moving gobs of slime and, if you're lucky, bugs.

      God of War 1 kicked things off right with an amazing battle against a gigantic hydra on a sinking ship. Metroid gives you most of the weapons in the game to play with, before breaking them all. NFS: Most Wanted gave you the best car in the game.

      Give the players a big bang to start things off right. You can do the whole "buildup" thing once you've got their attention.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    2. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by Eivind · · Score: 1
      Final Fantasy X also did this excellently. (avoiding the "let's swat butterflies for an hour first" crap)

      It was breathtaking. Sin attacks. There are sinspawn. Then a boss shows up. You're overwhelmed, scared, no fucking idea what goes on in this cruel world. Confused.

      Later (much later) you understand that actually, it's hard to actually die to a boss whose sole attack has the effect of halving your hp. But those few first hours are amazing. The game only started calming down once you got to Luca. Up until then it's pretty much a headlong rush.

      Ok, so the second time you play the game it's freaking annoying that there appear to be no way of skipping the long movie-sequences. They're well-done, at the time the game came out among the best made. but you've seen them...

    3. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      FFX gets around the butterflies in the typical RPG fashion: The Mentor approach.

      A.K.A. "We're going to pair you up with this uber-ass-kicker for the first bit of the game, he's going to do all of the work, and then fuck off for the first 25% of the game while you swat butterflies. When you get him back, he'll be just another character (level-wise, at least. Auron was about the only good character in the bloody game)."

    4. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by ZorbaTHut · · Score: 1

      "Starting with an intense fight scene" is vague enough that I don't mind at all. It's not "start with an intense fight scene that involves a reptile inside a boat, where you swing around it and then have to attack it with a conveniently placed spear", it's just . . . "an intense fight scene".

      Considering that the game is about fighting, this is basically saying "I hope all the games start out strongly", and seriously I can't object to that.

      The classic Metroid series actually has a much, much more specific start - it always starts off with you exploring a relatively small area, attacking a boss, and then running away as the small area explodes around you. And that certainly hasn't gotten tired yet because, let's face it, it's fun. I can live with "an intense fight scene".

      (Hell, what's the alternative? A boring fight scene?)

      --
      Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
    5. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by Eivind · · Score: 1
      Nah. Auron wasn't much strong when you first met him. (if he had been he'd have made Tidus pointless) he was doing perhaps 1.5 times the damage of Tidus, but on the other hand he had lower agility. He also doesn't give much mentoring, unless you count "I hope you know how to use it".

    6. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad FF XII didn't start out that way. LOOONNNNGGGG movie sequences, the initial character was weak and.... (I can't bring myself to give any spoilers, even for the beginning), and the fighting style unusual.

      I'm a non-FFer, but I'd heard great reviews about the game, bought it for my daughter, and decided, "what the hell, I'll give it a try and see how it goes." The start was so long and confusing and the starting battle scenes were so weak and slow that I had real trouble moving on. I got over my initial issues with the battle style, but then I saw my daughter get one cut-scene after another with only barely a little bit of interactive play and I kind of gave up at that point. It looks like she's finally doing more now, but I'm not sure I'm willing to go through a couple more hours of "movie watching" in order to get to the "game."

      If it had started out with a big interactive battle, I might still be giving it the chance I hear it deserves, but I was so bored getting to any kind of real interactivity that I just gave up. I agree with the article and with your description of FFX. Start with a bang, if not for any other reason than to hook the newbies.

    7. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by gad_zuki! · · Score: 1

      What enthusiasm? This isnt an article its a fucking ad.

    8. Re:Not sharing the enthusiasm by Manmademan · · Score: 1

      I have nothing against GoW in particular, but _any_ series will get stagnant after a finite number of outings.

      it's not the numbers, it's what you DO with the franchise.

      not counting remakes, Metal Gear has had 6 Sequels in it's main series. (counting portable ops but not Snakes revenge or ACID) Final Fantasy has had 11. Dragon Quest has 7. Gran Turismo has 4 (counting HD.) Winning Eleven (Pro evolution Soccer) has about 9. Virtua fighter has had 4 highly rated sequels. Tekken's had around 5. Mario has had 6 or 7, and I've lost track of how many pokemon and shin megami tensei games there are.

      All of these series have done something to keep them fresh with each iteration and remain both consistently high selling AND critically acclaimed. In contrast there are other games like Deus Ex, Tenchu, or Syphon filter that tank after their first outing, or Megaman which seems to get new sequels every 8 months regardless of how good it is.

      Sequels in games aren't always a bad thing as long as the team geniunely seems interested in making a good gameplay experience, and not simply milking the franchise.

  9. Slow news day? by ap0 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Not to sound like a troll, but when does a preview for an upcoming game go on Slashdot?

    1. Re:Slow news day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Usually they reserve that honor for Duke Nukem Forever :)

    2. Re:Slow news day? by jbrader · · Score: 1

      Since it started being "News for Nerds".

      --
      You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
  10. Can't wait! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After seeing this demo I can't wait for March. GOW was an awesome game that I still pick up and play from time to time. I hope they offer the demo as a free download on the PSNetwork so I can play through it on my own.

    Everybody's piling on the PS3 right now but I think the smartest thing Sony every did was keep the PS2 going strong. Most people cannot afford a 360 let alone a PS3 but they can afford a $120.00 PS2 with probably 5 years worth of great games. IMO that's going to equal increased console sales in a year or two when the PS3 drops in price.