God of War 2 - March 13th

[Bad_Boy]

If you don't know it already, I'm a huge fan of the first God of War. Easily one of my favorite games of last generation, and as you all know that game now has a sequel coming. According to IGN, March 13th as you can see by the title.

The game will come in a two disc package.

2 Disc Box set:

Full Image HERE.

The second disc will include a number of bonuses including a full-length, behind-the-scenes documentary that was filmed over the entirety of the game's development, starting with the very first playtest.

Those with PS3's will probably be glad to know this game will be optimized for HD, so BC video issues should not be a problem.
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3155700

#2 - It's Being HD Optimized: As many players have upgraded to HDTVs since the original God of War shipped, God of War 2's programming team has spent quite a bit of time on making sure the game looks solid if players run it in high definition. "We're aware that there's a lot more HDTVs in the marketplace than there necessarily was a couple years ago," says Moss. "We spent a lot of time on making the resolution a bit higher, making sure art looks really nice on TVs, progressive scan -- all that kind of stuff."

IGN has some new GOW2 hands on. It's pretty filled with spoilers so dont click if you are worried about that sort of thing, but basically it tells a lot about the first level. But it also tells about some of the weapons and powers you might see during the course of the game. Anyways heres the link.
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/755/755391p1.html

Some interesting things...

Should you need a little extra help through the game, a number of unlockable mini-games are at your disposal. Challenge of the Gods has returned, along with a new battle mode that lets you put whatever creatures you want into an arena to fight. Both of these now tie directly into your save game, so if you go and earn some red orbs in any of the extra modes, you'll have them when you load back up your main game. This allows you to upgrade your character outside of the game in case you get stuck on a really tricky part, as well as provide a more cohesive feel to the whole package.

The Challenge of the Gods has been tweaked a bit since last time out. It's still said to be incredibly difficult, but the rules have changed a bit. For one, each challenge now has some sort of ranking system attached to it, allowing you to pass the challenge if you complete the lowest ranking, while still giving you the biggest rewards for perfecting the challenge. As well, you'll be able to save your progress after each challenge. Nope, you won't have to leave your system on for days at a time anymore, thankfully.

Theres some images and video on the page as well.
Images: http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/811/811719/imgs_1.html (january 12th images are from the 1st level)
Video: http://media.ps2.ign.com/media/811/811719/vids_1.html (Dev interview from Cory Barlog is also there)

If you missed the e3 demo, you probably want check out some videos here. Especially the trailer..
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?fs=1&id=2567

If you own a ps2 or have access to a ps2, and you havent played the first game yet, you really should rent it or buy it (should be pretty cheap these days). A truely epic game that has great combat, puzzles, graphics, and a interesting story. GOW2 doesnt come for a couple months so theres still time.

ok im done.

 

[Rolf N]

Oh yes! Yes!! Yummy!

 

[Fu3lFr3nzy]

The 2 disc box set art cover looks nice

The ratings for both boxes made me lol. 1 Disc has RP while 2 Disc has M?

oooook....

 

[Bad_Boy]

The 2 disc box set art cover looks nice

The ratings for both boxes made me lol. 1 Disc has RP while 2 Disc has M?

oooook....

heh, actually I think there might only be one kind of boxset for this game, which is the 2 disc set. I can't find the 1 disc set on ebgames so maybe that was just a decision made recently to put the game only on 2 discs and not offer a special edition or 1 disc set. Maybe I should edit that if somebody can confirm.

 

[Rolf N]

The two-set cover is better anyway. Kratos doesn't look nearly enough enraged on the first one

 

[Bad_Boy]

The two-set cover is better anyway. Kratos doesn't look nearly enough enraged on the first one

True. He looks more 'on a mission' as well.

 

[Sankari]

Awesome! This is one of the best looking PS2 games, no doubt. If only I didn't sell my PS2 away. *Bangs his head to the desk* God damn it! It was too early to sell it because there were plenty of good titles coming up.

This game makes me scared what these devs will be able to pull off with PS3 and God of war 3...

 

[Bad_Boy]

This game makes me scared what these devs will be able to pull off with PS3 and God of war 3...

Agreed. I have a feeling GOW3 wont be released until 2009 at the earliest. That is if they dont grab an engine from another developer, but I think I would rather have a custom engine from Sony Santa Monica.

Kinda makes you glad they decided to push it on the PS2 for GOW2, I dont think I could have waited that long for my next kratos fix.

 

[DieH@rd]

In the IGN video interview, that dev mentioned that 2 disc set is DEFAULT. It seems that there will be no 1disc set.

And the game looks awesome!

 

[Bad_Boy]

In the IGN video interview, that dev mentioned that 2 disc set is DEFAULT. It seems that there will be no 1disc set.

Thanks, I'll edit.

 

[London Geezer]

Wow, those videos.... I think GOW2 will be the last PS2 game i'll get, unless we get a few other surprises... and my god PS2 is definitely going out with a bang...
Look at the amount of particles in that snowy video!!! And the shading on that golden giant... and all the other things i can't be bothered to list now... Amazing. On PS2, that is just amazing.

 

[aselto]

Too bad next-gen has already begun and it's hard to be wowed by anything on PS2 (excluding Okami). To be honest I wasn't that impressed with GoW1 in 2005 too, maybe because the game was all grey.

 

[LogisticX]

Too bad next-gen has already begun and it's hard to be wowed by anything on PS2 (excluding Okami). To be honest I wasn't that impressed with GoW1 in 2005 too, maybe because the game was all grey.

Obviously you didn't play the whole game...

 

[aselto]

Oh wait, the desert when Kratos leaves for Pandora's Box was more yellow and brown than gray. Sorry I didn't mention it. I actually almost finished the game on God difficulty level, I failed to defend Kratos's family. But I completed the game on normal (it was called Hero?) difficulty level.

 

[London Geezer]

Then maybe your TV has a bit of a problem displaying colours when connected to your PS2, cause God of War was most definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, not "all grey". Or maybe it's just your eyes.

 

[inefficient]

I picked up the censored Japanese version of GoW today to try it on my PS3. Censoring boobs is one thing. But not being able to kill villagers for life! It makes certain sections of the game just stupid hard! It took me a couple freaking hours just to clear Athens's Town Square. 3 cyclops to kill with not even a full life bar and all those useless screaming people just getting in the way. It's totally f's up the game play. No wonder it only sold some ~15,000 copies.

 

[almighty]

March 13th, my 21st Birthday

 

[aselto]

Then maybe your TV has a bit of a problem displaying colours when connected to your PS2, cause God of War was most definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, not "all grey". Or maybe it's just your eyes.

I just played through some checkpoints later in the game (I didn't delete all saves) and it seems I was wrong - for some reason I remembered the game and its mood as generally gray. Though I still can't say I am amazed by graphics.

 

[Mr. Domino]

The last part of GoW was the most beautiful imo, when you walk trough the portal and see that golden building (can't remember the name) glimmering in the sun, wow, my jaw fell open.

 

[babcat]

Now we just need the game with PS3 graphics.