God of War II is the sequel to the critically acclaimed God of War. It focuses on the main character from the first game, Kratos, who became the new God of War after defeating Ares in the first game. The plot of the game involves Kratos being tricked by Zeus into giving up his Godly powers and seeking vengeance. The mixture of original story and classic mythology give the game a strongly epic feeling, and combined with the game's extremely high production values God of War II becomes a rather breathtaking experience.

Educationally, God of War II does have a few things going for it. Classroom facts are presented throughout the game in the form of accurate depictions of stories and characters from classic mythology. The stories are told directly and simply so that any player is able to grasp them. The game also focuses on clever problem solving. The game presents many different types of problems to the player, ranging from very easy to much more difficult fare, and combat - particularly against the extremely impressive "boss" creatures - will present enjoyable problems over and over again.

Classroom facts in God of War II are centered on Greek mythology and the game does a highly impressive job of portraying mythological events accurately. In general the characters and events depicted in the game are accurate in terms of established mythology, and while the main plot of the game is original the background surrounding events of the game are pulled straight from classical mythology. Cutscenes and even bits of the gameplay itself help tell stories straight from Greek mythology in a way that any player will be able to understand.

The game features a small number of very basic charts, but they are not important to the framework of the game.

By the Player:

God of War II is an extremely linear title, giving few opportunities for the player to explore off the beaten path. Creativity from the player will be mostly limited to combat. There are a number of different weapons, magic spells and different combination attacks at Kratos' disposal at any given time, and as the game isn't set up so that a player must use specific weapons against specific enemies the player is generally free to decide which are his favorites and play in their own style.

By the Developer:

Seeing God of War II in action can be a breathtaking experience. Besides the incredible graphics and battle system, the game also intertwines epic stories from Greek mythology with an impressive original story helping to draw the player right into the action. Graphically, the game is some of the best stuff the PS2 has ever seen. In-game cutscenes and flashbacks are incredible in graphical quality.

While the gameplay in God of War II is based on a large number of action-platformers that came before it, nearly every level and challenge is executed perfectly. The game features a number of unique puzzles, and while these can become frustrating due to their difficulty they are still executed perfectly, and giving up will never seem like the right thing to do.

The mood of the game gets highly suspenseful, and the player will often grow anxious as they wait to see what will happen next. The soundtrack of the game is impressive as well, and every piece of music helps to set the mood of the part of the game that it is played during. Overall the production values of God of War II make it an aesthetically impressive and highly creative game.

Kratos will receive red orbs for defeating his enemies, and when he collects enough of these orbs he will be able to start spending them to enhance various attributes. The player will often be faced with a choice between multiple attributes to enhance and the choices will heavily affect the game.

People skills are not stressed in God of War II. Nearly anything that isn't Kratos only exists in the game to be killed by Kratos. The only time the player sees any real interaction between characters is during the game's impressive cutscenes, and there are no chances for the player to control any of these interactions throughout the game.

Problem solving is a definite strength of God of War II. A large number of the problems that the player is presented with involve standard platform-game problems, such as jumping or climbing to reach new areas. The game also includes some clever puzzles which can be challenging, and even frustrating in a few instances. In certain situations the player is challenged with time-based button-pressing "puzzles" in which they will have a limited amount of time to match a button sequence displayed on-screen.

Puzzles and challenges like these are abundant throughout the game and help keep the game fresh through to its conclusion and keep it from being a more mindless button-mashing action game.

God of War II is not a simulation game, but it simulates some events from Greek mythology.

Like its predecessor, God of War II has been praised by players and critics alike and is generally very highly reviewed.

The game includes four difficulty levels and standard audio-visual options.

God of War II received an M from the ESRB with descriptors for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Themes and Strong Language.