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It's a new console game. Has anyone tried it? IGN about creamed themselves over it and I'm kind of curious about it myself. (They gave it a 9.8  )

review here (http://ps2.ign.com/articles/596/596778p1.html)

Edited to remove smiley

That should say '9.8' Riggs inadvertantly made a smiley.

Early Reader reviews have it at 9.6, these things usually start high and come down after a while.

PS2?

No Thank You.

Everyone I know who has played the demo has been creaming themself. I'll be picking it up if it's out on shelves before the PSP.

Couldn't agree more. And IGN will give a toothy blowjob a 9.8 for enough cash.

I was very disappointed when I learned GameSpy merged with IGN...I always thought IGN was full of bullshit fanboi losers.

Only Sites in Bold Count towards the Average Ratio
Site Name / Link Quality Date Rating Ratio
GameSpot    3/21/2005  9.3 out of 10  93.0% 
IGN    3/18/2005  9.8 out of 10  98.0% 
Game Informer     4/1/2005  10 out of 10  100.0% 
Electronic Gaming Monthly     3/21/2005  9.83 out of 10  98.3% 
Playstation Magazine     3/21/2005  5 out of 5  100.0% 
1UP    3/20/2005  10 out of 10  100.0% 
Play Magazine     4/1/2005  9.5 out of 10  95.0% 

It's getting better marks than near anything out. Ever. Across the board. I'm sorry, but I don't think this one is about cashola. No one can afford THAT MUCH MARKETING. Particularly for a title with no installed fanbase.

 :wink:

Well, hell, I'm going to pick this up in about 8 hours. Apparently it's robot jesus. And I can't say no to robot jesus, can I?

THE POWER OF ROBOT CHRIST COMPELS YOU!

Played the game for about an hour just now.

It is indeed as great as everyone is saying.

Anyone who likes action games and has a PS2 needs to go buy this game right now.

Except that it's sold out everywhere.

EB's got about 100 a piece. I'm about 3 chapters in. It is as good as everyone says.

Jesus Christ. . is this game crafted from ambrosia or something?  Suddenly all my gamer friends won't shut up about it, and most of them haven't even played it.  GameRankings has summarily declared it the greatest electronic entertainment experience that has ever occured or will ever occur.  Cathedrals around the world are filled with the strains of joyful weeping in a sign of impending Rapture.

I just played Demon Stone, so I'm pretty dubious on the whole third person action RPG thing.  Also, I hated PoP.  I'm not holding out hope for God of War.

What the hell compelled you to play Demon Stone!? Christ, that's like intentionally picking the worst thing possible and basing your opinion of everything else related to it based on that.

I'm guessing this is only PS2. Which means I'm screwed. I hate consoles.

It's stupid day for me, so I want to know what this game compares to? As in, what other game is close to the gameplay?

Ninja Gaiden + Killer Instinct + Castlevania = love God of War

Then I'm very glad my neighbor has my PS2 (the multi tap doesn't work on his new design PS2) and is paying me rent.  Not only am I unable to play God of War while I have a metric fuckload of school work to do, but I should be able to afford to buy the sucker if I save the rent dough.

And the bastard got the game and is playing it and telling me how I have to get it.  While he has my PS2.  Bastard.

Ninja vampires for teh win.

This game is nuts. It's probably as good as everyone says it is.

Some comedy though, when you die 5 times at the same point it asks you if you'd like to switch to easy mode.

TAKE THAT.

It's okay...9.8 is a fucking purchased rating though. Look, the story is cool but the controls are nothing new and if I have to play one more hack&slash in which I absorb souls I'm gonna puke. I'd give it a 7...it's a decent game but 9.8?! Ahkay.

So, you're saying that they took the time to buy out ALL (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/919864.asp) of the review places? For some odd reason I can't help but think that's absolutely absurd.

It's not nearly as absurd as you think. Dave Halverson of PLAY Magazine talks about this all the time and has noted how his magazine has lost "exclusive" pics and/or game access because they would not promise a happy review. It happens. I didn't say every review was bought...checking....nope I didn't say that.

(http://www.f13.net/staff/shockeye/tinfoilhat.jpg)

Haha...I like that...mind if I steal it?

Go right ahead. I found it on Google.

JJPasadena: The game is just that good. I thought it was odd that every place gave it a rating of Better than Jesus. Until I played it.

^ thats cool--I never said it was a bad game--I can see why it might have looked like I implied that. I played GoW and I liked it. I just wouldn't rate it 9.8 which puts it in some pretty remarkable company. WHo knows, maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind while I played.

Aloha
JJ

Did you beat it? I've had 3 different people say that they played it in Best Buy or something and that it sucked, and was just another hack and slash game.

I mean, if you've not pushed that caged centaurion guy up to the burners and sacrificed him, you've not played it enough.

I can't imagine the demo or the game being playable in any store. It deserves the M rating.

I'm on the challenge of Poseiden now and it hurts to stop playing but Cerebrus is whooping my ass. I don't like falling back on the lightning power to dominate but I might have to.

Kill the smaller ones before they become full size. They then vomit out even more little ones and the whole process repeats itself. Go apeshit with lightning, killing as many of the little ones as you can.

It's funny, people hear about it and think 'meh, action game, i've played thousands i'll pass' or 'bought off the review sites, no way the game is that good. plus it's an action game, and ive played a million'. It's amazing what a little bit of polish and playtesting will do to a game.

Game of the year.

No, this year is tough as balls.

Resident Evil 4
Cold Fear (which will be the underdog, granted, but also a sleeper hit)
God of War
Jade Empire (HOPEFULLY)
Katamari Damacy 2: Everybody's Favorite Katamari
Lumines

There's just a whole slew of good games this year. I'd keep going but it's a long list and you get the idea. It is the best PS2 game up to this point though. It also makes me less angry about Soul Caliber III being a ps2 exclusive.

Poseiden's Challenge will go down as one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time. From the cerebruses to the nyads to the spiked tunnel, etc etc etc (trying not to spoil) - the entire area is just perfect. Everything about it.

Just got to the upper levels of Pandora's temple. And you know what?

THE GAME JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER. Whoever the lead designer of this was, he deserves mad fame.

I picked this game up yesterday, after reading this thread and a few other reviews of it.

Goddamn is this game good.

I'm sitll in the beginning parts (Athens town square area) and I've already upgraded my weapons a couple times.  The information on gamefaqs is kind of short on strategy stuff, like if there are any tradeoffs to be made in power selection.   You people in the late game, how far have you upgraded your powers?  And which ones do you like most/least?

I have 4 powers upgraded to max. I don't want to tell you what they are because it'll spoil the surprise. I've already got all the powers though and you'll be able to upgrade them all to max by the end of the game. I'd suggest upgrading Blades of Chaos to level 4 before you get to the upper levels of Pandora's Temple though.

Don't read any of the strats or anything going into it, you'll get more out of it that way. Upgrade the weapons as you see the need to. The blades of chaos may be the starting weapon, but damn if they aren't cool. (in most games your starting weapon sucks. that is of course if you can get more weapons. not the case in god of war. The later stuff is also good, just in different ways.)

Just finished the game. Lots of unlockables when you're done, god mode unlocks as well which leads to 4 more unlockables. Including seperate costumes. But really, the best unlockable of all comes after story mode.

You get to watch all the cinematics in a continuous video. If only every game with a story like this had that as a bonus.

Oh, and a couple of the treasures point towards a sequel. Yes, plz, now, more.

Game of the Year.

Grrr.  I saw this game over at my neighbor's house the other day.  And then I keep reading how much it rules.  I'm so glad he's still renting my PS2, because these writing assignments would NEVER get done.  Hell, I'm moving at a glacial pace as it is.

I shouldn't read this thread.  It's just going to taunt me.

Color me fanboi for this game. It should be game of the year.

I'm playing through Pandora's Temple. The action and puzzles are brilliantly balanced and paced. 

After beating the game on normal, I went ahead and tried god mode.

I died on the first group of skeletons. I think my time with God of War is done. But it's the first $50 game I've bought in a while on a whim and it was worth EVERY penny. Hell, if games continue to stay that good, I'll pay $60. Between RE4, Phantom Dust (particularly at $20), Lumines and God of War, 2005 is noiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

At this point I should not have to say that this game is a fucking must-buy.  I told my friend that he had to buy a PS2 today and play this game.  If they port this to PSP, Sony will be able to purchase Nintendo outright the very next week.  Robot Jesus, indeed.  It's not just an action game, either.  You got your puzzles, and I'm not talking about thinly-veiled block-sliding junk from Soulreaver.  Someone already mentioned pushing the caged centurion up the ramp to roast him alive; not your usual block puzzle when your "block" is pleading for its life as you fight off an onslaught of monsters, slowly getting your hapless victim closer to hideous death.  That's just one puzzle, too.  Hell, the fights are somewhat a puzzle, too; boss fights even more so.  Just try to tell me that getting the special kill on a minotaur doesn't make you smile.

Kratos has got to be one of the best action-game protagonists ever.  He has an actual, compelling story that does not involve him being the prince of anything, or out to avenge his momma's death, or the kid with latent powers, or any other tired old chestnut.  He starts off as a badass, and when the going gets supernatural he kicks it up eight or nine notches.  Plus he has sex with two women at once, and sticks his tongue down the throat of some nyads.  Even better, no elves or dwarves anywhere: this is all Greek myth junk but without Harry Hamlin and The Penguin.  I also like the art style in the cut scenes.  The naked breasts are actually not gratuitous, either (IMO), fitting in with the setting very well and are not overdone at all.  Not that you see a whole lot of women.  I'm not going to spoil the story for you, just avoid gamefaqs.com and play it.

I have not finished it yet (job, wife, baby, etc) but it just gets better and better.  I upgraded the Blades first and have not looked back.  To me, that's what it's all about.  I do occasionally appreciate a ranged attack, but it's more fun to run in and beat the shit out of them.  To that point, if you are having a problem with an area or monster, practice and/or think about it more.  Kratos isn't the reason you are losing.

If I did not already have one, I would buy a PS2 to play this game.

I can remember ONE area, a very short jumping puzzle where the camera was a good reason to lose. Other than that, it's true. Can't be something? It's your fault as a player for sucking.


Yep. Though, Katamari Damacy was already a compelling enough reason to get one.

So is this game really really really the second coming of robot jesus?  Could I just rent a PS2 and play this and katamari damanci enough to make me happy?  (I'm a cheap bastard/poor student).  Any other ridiculously excellent games for PS2?  I don't mean 85%, cool game type of deal.  I mean 95%, if you don't play this you're a total dumbfuck type of deal.

And is buying used PS2's dangerous business?  I know that a few of my friends have had defective units which manifested itself over a length of time.

I have a PS-2 collecting a nice, artistic layer of dust but this thread is really tempting me to disrupt it's geriatric slumber to check this game out.  I even went so far as to stare at the box at Super-Target the other day but then the though of all the shit I have to do over the next few weeks brought me to my senses.

Except ofr us Europeans. Curse you, Sony, for torturing us so! *shakes tiny fist*

But there's Ico, Rez, VF4 Evolution, Disgaea...

It seems Euros get the ass-end of gaming releases constantly. If you get everyone speaking English as a standard, this would be a lot easier.

There are soooooooooo many Japanese games I want to play. I shouldn't be *surprised* when stuff like Katamari comes out here. It's just insulting.

There's no reason for the continental divide on games anyway. All game should be region free and have english and japanese as language choices.

I know most European games have MANY lanaguage options on them. I don't see the goddamn problem here.

This game is so good it makes playing Jade Empire painful. If anyone is going to buy a PS2 for this, I have an extra one, still new in box. I'll send it to you for $150 shipped.

If I didn't say it, someone would. You can walk into EB and buy a new PS2 in box, one of the slim ones, for $150.

And pay tax.

If you buy mine, I'll include a present (http://www.clearxbox.com/site/pages/prods/pstwo_gc.html) for free.

It's one of the slim ones. Not hot, I promise.

Have you ever played Devil May Cry 1/2/3? If you have and you liked that series you'll like God of War. If you didn't like it then depending on the reasons it may be a more iffy rental.

Speaking of the camera in God or War I must say I'm very impressed with it especially given you can't control it, though I've only just started playing so I haven't come across that puzzle schild is referring to. In contrast, the camera in Ninja Gaiden is driving me crazy. Yes I know you can reset it with the right trigger but I shouldn't have to do that every time I move into a different area. Gah! The other problem is I keep trying to use the right thumb stick to control the camera since that's the default in so many games and that screws things up even worse.

Something strange is happening. Not that I don't like the game. I've had it on rental for a week now -- but I've only played it twice. I can tell it's a great game....Seems even better than Ninja Gaiden.

Yet, my interest in gaming has totally died as of late. I can't even muster myself to get interested in this. Usually I only get this way when I've got my mind on the opposite sex -- but that isn't the case now.

Would you like to try the game on easy mode?

Not even that would help. It's like I hate games now...or something.

I went through the exact same thing about 13 months ago. MtGO and some shitty books snapped me out of it.

I was incredibly close to buying a PS2 the other day, but I didn't want a used one for 120 bucks when a new one was only 150.  Then the guy at EB said something strange:  he said that the slim ones over heat all the time and get fried.

So I said thanks for the tip and walked out.

He's lying, I've left mine on for days at a time. Longest play session was like 5 or 6 hours, playing GTA SA and God of War.

The slim PS2 doesn't have a exhaust fan like the original design did to pull hot air out of the case -- it only has a smaller internal fan to push the hot air out of the case (there's no opening in the case above where the fan is). I can definitely see that there might be issues if you don't have good air circulation around the case. There is less to cool, though, in the new design since the power supply has been moved outside.

Pic of new PS2 internals:
http://www.saeedk786.cwc.net/scej30.jpg

Now, when you guys say, you cannot control the camra, is it stuck behind the chracter, or is it a fixed camra like Rygar or Devil May Cry? Or maybe a hybrid like Prince of Persa?

I really am not fond of the fixed camra style.

Completely fixed. But it's perfect about 99.999999% of the time. I have no lasting complaints of the camera.

Bummer.

If you're looking for an excuse to not play the game, that's a terrible one.

Actually, I really would like to play this game. I just have a thing about fixed camra games. They irrationally annoy me. I will probably end up picking up this game, I'm just not going to rush out and grab it ASAP now.

I hate to play devil's advocate, but here goes...

I got tired of reading all the great stuff about this game and had to voice my opinion on it. All God of War is is devil may cry with greek mythology graphics overhaul and some boobs here and there. I think the only thing that sets it apart is the finisher combos. Personally, paying 50$ to push some button patterns means crap to me. (Especially considering how god damn repetative that shit is.) I've played it maybe an hour and a half since i bought it a few weeks ago and am just simply bored with it. (What is worse is knowing i wasted 50$ that could have been put to better use... like another game i would play for a few minutes and forget about.) Graphics are good and all, audio too, but this game is nothing i haven't seen before.

But in all honesty, there is some neat stuff here and there, but its just the same mob grinding in all DMC clones, story line is weak in my opinion.

The only thing the game has going for it in my opinion is the tits... a giant leap for console gaming.

Nekon, I think you're alone on this one.

I figured as much, i'm pretty much the poster child for finding any and everything bad/boring/stupid about a game, and having that outweigh any positives. I can't really think of any game i've played in the past few years where i've said "wow, thats really cool, i haven't seen anything like this before!" The meat in the game industry is getting stale beyond all belief to me, someone needs to freshen it up!

eh, I got the same vibe as Nekon. Granted, I am his roommate so it's highly probably that his opinion has inadvertantly rubbed off on me, but whatever.

The game does look rather nice, but it didn't really seem to be anything particularly groundbreaking. It seems to me to just be a refinement of the Devil May Cry/Ninja Gaiden/etc. game, though at least it is in a somewhat fresh context (even though my Latin geek knowledge of Greek + Roman mythology makes me gnash my teeth when thinking of the story).

As JJPasadena said on the first page of this thread, it seems like just another glitzy action game where you absorb the souls of your enemies to gain more power. I've already done that in quite a number of other games. The combat didn't feel as rich or complex as Ninja Gaiden, but that's largely a matter of personal preference.

It's often said around here that games such as WoW and EQ2 probably feel like pretty good games if it's your first MMO, but if you've been around the block a few times, it's not so exciting - it's just a few new things strapped onto a basic gameplay formula that's been burned into your brain for years. God of War seems like a well-made game(as do WoW/EQ2), it just doesn't particularly excite me anymore.

That was pretty much anything and everything i could have wanted to say but couldn't get it in writing.

Silent != nonexistant.

Having beaten DMC2/3 and Ninja Gaiden, and the Hurricane pack, I'm going to disagree with you.

This game is lightyears beyond Devil May Cry, but if you can't see that in 90 minutes of playing I'm afraid you're beyond help.

Ninja Gaiden is a good comparison, but the story, camera, and controls are better in GoW. I don't really think you, or anyone, can get away with the "it's repetitive!" excuse. Every game is repetitive. Every game.

I'm not saying it's a shit game because it's repetitive (relative to other games). It is a pretty good game, for sure. I'm just saying I don't see why it's being treated like robot Jesus when it's an evolutionary step rather than anything particularly new.

To go back to my WoW comparison - by quality standards, WoW has significant advantage over previous iterations of the PvE-based MMORPG. Yes it's a quality game, but it's not different or new enough that I'm going to flip the fuck out over it. That's how I feel about GoW.

Alright. Here's the thing, up until now most people still regarded Mario as the penultimate platformer.

In truth, God of War is more like Zelda. But it's better than Zelda + Mario.

It's raised the bar. It's better, stronger, faster.

God of War will cure your affliction.  I can only think of one time when the camera could have been a hair better, but in general moving it would only have served to help me hop to another platform a tiny bit easier or allowed me to see an area the designer didn't want me to see.  GoW not only set a new bar for fixed camera use, it also delivers a kick to the ball sack of any other game's fixed camera implementation by making it look so easy to do it right.  I swear, as long as you don't forget and hit the R stick, you'll be fine.

I think it is a lot like Castlevania, myself, if I were to compare it to some other game.  I realize that might draw fire, but it's the truth.  Not as much like DMC, especially since Dante is as original as anything coming out of Japan.

If you are just tired of games in general, this is not your cure.  The cure for being bored with snowboarding is to spend a day on skis, you know.

I'm not tryin to start a flame or anything, but better then Zelda? What kind of blashphemy is that?

I never said I didn't think it was a good game, it just doesn't seem to me as anything barrier breaking, like Gong mentioned about WoW. Mechanically and graphically i'll say its a good game and physics are handled well. (As well as a fantasy can be.) It just isn't anything new, thats all i'm trying to say. If you love those kinds of games, then by all means go for it and more power to you. I am just stingy with giving it any praise as being something revolutionary to the platform game style.

It's better than Zelda. Zelda hasn't broken any barriers since the ORIGINAL TITLE. Or at least no barriers as big as allowing you to save your games. I get the same amount of enjoyment out of the original NES title that I do Windwaker or Ocarina. God of War has a more mature story, MUCH deeper gameplay, and above all - rejuvenated the platformer genre (for me at least). I never said it was revolutionary. If I did, I lapsed. It just happens to be the best platformer for this generation and any. And that's saying a lot from me, I'm a total whore for Mario 3.

Nekon, you guys need to sit down and finish the game, then talk about barriers and what's been broken and what hasn't. Where did you quit? After the Hydra?

I quit after arriving in the desert and watched my friend (not gong) play for a few hours.

I'm trying to figure out why it's robochrist, too.

Reading through here, it seems it's CONSOLE robochrist. Which would certainly explain my total ambivalence about the title.

Just remember that Robot Jesus is essentially an improved version of the original.  You still get your beloved Son of God, only now with laser eyes and armpit rockets, immunity to thorny crowns, and more attitude than Poochy.  Same with God of War... it's still a console game, for Robot-Christ's sake.  What do you fuckers want?  If you want a solid console video game that is a lot of fun and has top-notch quality and polish, play God of War.  If you want something that won't be invented for ten years, or something with wormsign the likes of which not even God has seen, or if you hate fucking jumping, then you might want to avoid this title.  There's a lot of jumping.

Damn this game is going to take me forever to finish, I am so lame. I'm still trying to push the damned box down the ship in the beginning and the archers keep busting it apart. Yeah, I know I can kick it and I can figure out when I should kick it, but damn I suck at this game.

Wise fwom da gwave!

My brother lent me this on Halloween and I've been playing it when the kids were in bed.  Jesbus but it's a wonderful game, I've never had as much fun in any action scrollers but this one just grabbed me.  The upgrades, moves, combos and story telling are all fantastic, and anyone who hasn't played it yet but has a PS2 really, really should.

So my real reason for rezzing this is I just can't get past the Challenge of Atlas. I didn't have a single problem with any part up until here.  Fucking timed kill-thousands-of-fucking-monster bits.  I've almosed wussed-out a few times when it's asked if I wanted to go to an easier difficulty.  :heartbreak:  Anyone have any tips for how they managed this bit?  I've almost broken the controller a few times now, and I've gotten angry enough my wife told me it was time to turn off the PS2. Heh.

I finally got to try it on a friends PS2 (after building him a dual core pc to keep him occupied).
Nice and violent, but balancing on beams sucks as entertainment and I quit i discust after spending 30 minutes pushing a fucking crate across a ships deck... I've just wasted two fucking huge hydras, but a bunch of guys with arrows keeps ruining my trusted crate.
Crates in computer games always signal sucky moments, but that crate is the WORST CRATE EVER!





... now I'm playing Civ4 (on a my own new dual core AMD box with SLI... talk about unused potential, but Civ prevents me from installing any of the games, that would actually push the pc to its limits.)

Kick the crate and it doesn't go BOOM.  The truly sucky crate comes later when you have to kick it on to a button then run behind a door before it closes.  However, even that was a piece of cake compared to "kill a hundred zombiemen and armored zombiemen before the moving wall crushes you! Haha! By the waay, they grab and interrupt!" ARGH

Key to that area is the SWORD. My first time through I used the blazing whip stuff just because it was fucking awesome, and I had trouble in that same exact spot. Took me awhile.

My second playthrough I just maxed sword ASAP and man, I beat that thing with probably 15 seconds to spare. So try that. Keep in mind when you change to the sword, the O button becomes another attack instead of a grab, so you have a lot of extra combos to use with the O button tossed into the mix. Some of them you can keep up constantly.

Ok, so next question is how do you max the sword.  I need 3500 orbs and I'm only sitting on 1500 at this point.  It'd be easier to hit level 3 of Poseidon's Rage (AOE Magic) than it would be to hit level 2 of the sword right now, even if I had  orbs..

What I meant by 'max swords' - my second play through I spent ZERO orbs until I unlocked the sword. Then I dumped them all in sword, and continued to until it was maxed. Might be too late now. I don't really remember what the best level 0 combo was for sword, it might not be enough for that part.

The blazing move that I whored to pass that part is where you flip up and whip the chains out and bring them straight down, hitting people directly in front of you. Hard to aim it while you're getting slapped around on the bridge though.

I had everything except Medusa's Gaze and the Zeus spell maxed out by the end of the game.

Poseiden's Thunder is the most broken thing in the game. It can beat anything. It's the first thing you should max out.

When I eveacuated from Hurricane Rita, I took along my PS2 since I wasn't sure how long I'd be gone. A friend in Dallas loaned me his copy of GoW and I played through the first level and partially into the second level at his place. At the beginning of the second level is a minigame thing where you have sex with those 2 chicks off screen. That was quite awkward to do when your wife is standing next to you, especially when she already doesn't like the game because of all the blood.

After the hurricane was gone and we were heading back to Houston, the wife asks "So, did you have sex with any other women?"

Classic.  Oh, and sorry. =)

He could at least answer the question...  :evil:

PREDICTION SUCCESSFUL!

http://bestof.ign.com/2005/ps2/24.html

edit: oops, jumped the gun. I guess they announce the overall winner next week. Civ4 vs RE4 vs Jade Empire (haha) vs God of War.

All excellent, except the (haha) in my opinion. Played and loved the other 3. THEY ARE ALL WINNERS GUYS, IT'S LIKE T-BALL.

I haven't played God of War, or Civ 4, but I can safely say I don't think any of those games hold a candle to RE4. I KNOW Jade Empire doesn't.

Haemish, you're wrong.

Edit: Let me be more through. RE4 is the best survival horror game I've ever played. It was the rebirth of a genre. God of War is the best platformer I've ever played. It was better than all the marios and castlevanias and sonics of years past. It, however, was a genre that didn't need rebirth. Innovation nudges RE4 above God of War, but gameplay, storyline, and graphics certainly do not. They're on par with eachother.