Godlike

By Kristan Reed Published 11 July, 2005

The God Of War team speaks.

You might have guessed by now that we liked God Of War. A lot. For want of better superlatives, it's simply a great game. A classic game that's near enough the best PS2 action adventure of all time, and is therefore something you should buy as our review goes to some length to point out.

God Of War is not, in the words of game director David Jaffe, "just another hackandslash", and nor is it exactly original. But if you're going to pay homage to the likes of Onimusha, Tomb Raider, and Another World then the only way to answer your critics is to be better than all of them. The nodding realisation after 15 hours with God Of War is that the reason it's so bloody good is that it excels in every area you can think of. Whether it's combat, puzzling, storyline, control system, camera system visuals, or audio, Sony Santa Monica's three-year labour of love is a masterpiece of PS2 game development.

And just prior to its European launch we were fortunate enough to meet three of the key members of the God Of War team; David Jaffe, (game director/ lead designer), Brit-in-exile Tim Moss (lead programmer), and Shannon Studstill (producer).

Eurogamer: Whose original concept was God Of War?

David Jaffe: It was mine. Actually it was Capcom's because I played Onimusha and said 'let's do that with Greek Mythology' [laughs].

Eurogamer: What inspired you to use Greek Mythology as the basis for the game? Do you have a passion for that?

David Jaffe: I do, I loved it in school, I loved Clash of the Titans and all the [Ray] Harryhausen stuff. The real high concept for me was taking Clash of the Titans and merging it with Heavy Metal magazine. What I liked was the kids stuff you get with Greek Mythology; monsters and giant set pieces and the fantasy. But then I liked the idea of taking that and sort of merging it with the sex and the violence and more of the adult stuff.

I haven't really seen that vibe, not only in games, but it used to be such a prevalent theme in books in the '70s and '80s and in movies and things like that. But lately - at least in America - things have become so politically correct that I was really jazzed about doing that was more a throwback to that more animalistic, kind of brutal Conan The Barbarian kind of vibe.

Eurogamer: What was your role on the game? What does a game director do in real terms?

David Jaffe: It's kind of my overall responsibility to sort out the player's experience; the creative vision, working with the team to take my initial vision and work with them to add to it and improve it. All of the creative content was really my responsibility, and then these guys facilitated that and actually made that come to life. The way I define it is I decide what the ball is, Shannon keeps the ball rolling and Tim makes sure that players actually experience the ball.

Eurogamer: What did you do before God Of War?

'Godlike' Screenshot 1

Having a polite conversation was never going to be easy.

David Jaffe: I worked on a the Twisted Metal series [arena-based vehicle combat] , which I realise is more of an American thing.

Eurogamer: Nothing like this, basically.

David Jaffe: No nothing like this. Tim worked on Kinetica, and Shannon did too.

Eurogamer: Did you really expect the huge amount of critical acclaim that God Of War has had?

David Jaffe: You know what, it depended on the day. I'd go over to Shannon's office sometimes, and I'd be like 'dude we f***ing rock, we're so awesome!', and then within three hours I'd be like, 'we're so f***ed, this game sucks, we need more time', and so, you know, you oscillate back and forth based on what you've seen on Tim's monitor or something like that!

Shannon Studstill: Depends where you're talking from. It took a while. It didn't happen in the first year...

David Jaffe: You see, I always knew what the game was. Part of it, that's good for me as a director, it's part of my job - but it was also a bad thing in that I don't think I probably communicated as well as I could have done with other people. So for the first year and a half Shannon was like 'dude, the team don't know what the game is, we don't have a game', and I was like, 'dude, I have it, I'm just too busy working on it to communicate it!' There were moments when I really felt we had something really cool, but those were followed by moments of sheer 'I'm going to get fired, this is going to totally f*** up!'

Tim Moss: By the time we got to the end we were pretty sure it was going to be a good game. We were still having fun playing it while we were finishing it, and that's a very good sign.

Eurogamer: The critical acclaim is beyond doubt, but how has the public responded? How has it sold in the US?

'Godlike' Screenshot 2

More soul(s) than James Brown.

David Jaffe: So far from what I can reveal - which aren't specifics - are that it has sold really well but it hasn't been Gran Turismo. But what's cool about it is, so far, it hasn't had the drop that a lot of other games do.

We're still selling really good units every week, so it seems that the kind of word of mouth is really working for us. We're getting the demo out there, and people playing it are telling their friends and stuff, so I think we're going to be selling for a long long time. Ultimately when we cross the finish line we'll actually have a really really good selling game, but it's not like Gran Turismo, which I think did half a million units in the first week.

Eurogamer: You'd expect that though...

David Jaffe: would, but you know, there's the ego side of me that's like, 'damn! I want that!' We didn't get that.

Eurogamer: Do you think God Of War will do well in Europe?

David Jaffe: You know what? Tim would be the better person to answer that, I'd be curious to hear his answer. I think we have a good shot in Europe.

The biggest inspirations for this game were Flashback and - as you guys called it - Another World, but I've always felt that the European audience tend to warm up more to the puzzles and the integrated storytelling and the action and more of the whole experience, so I'm hoping that - not just the press - but Sony marketing and all that can really communicate to the European audience that this is not just a hackandslash game, but that it really has a lot in common with some of those games I just referenced. I feel we can really - if we can communicate that message - we'll do okay.

Tim Moss: I only have anecdotal evidence. A copy went to my brother, who's normally an enormous cynic when it comes to videogames and he really liked it and played it and rang me up after spending the entire night playing it, so if he likes it, I'm kinda confident it'll go down reasonably well!

David Jaffe: It's tough to know how we're going to do there too, because you guys rate harder. Like, we're getting 10s and 9.5s, and then I saw Edge magazine's review and they gave us 8, and I was like 'oh f*** man, we got an 8', and someone said, 'no, no, an 8 is really good for the UK, 8 is good for Edge', so I was like 'okay, I'll take that'. I dunno, we'll see. I'm very excited to see how we do.

Eurogamer: You do realise you've got to make God Of War games for the next five years...?

'Godlike' Screenshot 3

Kratos would be a mean Javelin thrower.

David Jaffe: Errrr, that's these guys (points at Tim and Shannon). I'm just kind of hanging out on the sidelines and cheering. I've moved on, so...

Eurogamer: Are you working on something new already?

David Jaffe: Actually I'm in a really fun process. I'm working with a new developer just coming up with 30 ideas, and we'll see which one sticks to the wall. In the meanwhile I'm working on God Of War's, you know, possible future instalments, but not on the level I was involved on this.

Eurogamer: Presumably, whatever your next project will be will move onto next generation technology?

David Jaffe: I...you know what's funny? No. I saw PS3 along with everybody else and I was just telling these guys I was so thrilled. But I want to play games on PS3: I don't want to make games on PS3. I'm dying to work on PSP. I love the PSP, so that's really what I'm designing for right now.

Eurogamer: A similar sort of combat-heavy game?

David Jaffe: No, no, we don't know what the game is yet, so honestly it's more just trying to figure out what the team's passion is, what we generally fall in love with for a couple of years. Some of it's combat driven now, some of it's totally different. Like I said, there's like 20 ideas and we're just trying to pick one which one we think is going to be fun to do, so I don't even know at this point.

Eurogamer: How did you manage - straight off the bat - to get such incredible technology?

Tim Moss: It was actually based on the Kinetica engine, the engine was written from scratch at the Santa Monica studio for the PS2, and we finished Kinetica in about 2001, and then we took a look at our technology and we knew which kind of game we were going to make, and we decided what we were going to change about our engine and how we could make that work for a third person game, and had good animation support and good effects.

Eurogamer: Is this as good as you can get on a PS2?

'Godlike' Screenshot 4

Harvesting souls has never been so satisfying.

Tim Moss: You can always be better, but we're very happy with it. It's pretty much as good as we ever wanted to do on a PS2, and it allowed us to make the game we always wanted, which is really the main objective of making any engine. The engine is only as good as the game you make with it.

Eurogamer: It's an incredible looking game, and one of the lucky few to take advantage of Progressive Scan on the PS2

Tim Moss: Unfortunately Progressive Scan is not on the European version. There are some technical reasons, in that it requires a larger screen buffer - which you can't really do on the PS2 very successfully, so unfortunately we took it out.

Eurogamer: Thank you.

God Of War is out now. We awarded it 9/10.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (74) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Wash #1 7 years ago

    "giving this and ico 8 and halo 10"

    mebe because Halos that damn good ;)

  • #2 7 years ago

    This game rools... You MUST buy it.. You owe it to your Playstation....

    It's just fucking rocks! Thank you Mr jaffe, Mr Studstill and Mr Ross!

    PS: Let me know if you want me to play test the next one!

  • drumbaby #3 7 years ago

    Edge?

    Edge?

    Edge gave HL2 a 10...a 10 if you please.

    Pap.

  • Xerx3s #4 7 years ago

    "giving this and ico 8 and halo 10"

    mebe because Halos that damn good ;)

    No, Halo IS just that damn good :)

    Edge magazine does move in mysterious ways, sometimes. :)

  • #5 7 years ago

    Hehe, it's funny reading the over zealous comments the legacy Playstation fans write when you get a half decent game.

    8/10 is about right for a very linear, very short and ultimately very generic hack 'n' slasher no matter how well polished it is.

    And I was right, Ninja Gaiden has way more depth. :p

    Rent this game, don't buy it, you're doing your wallet an injustice.

  • Tweakmonkey #6 7 years ago

    I respect Edge magazine a lot, although I find EG reviews more entertaining to read.

  • davyuk #7 7 years ago

    They seem like nice guys. I would have loved to have heard how they got such visuals out of the lil' black box. Quite a feat from what I've seen so far.

    The old 'are Edge being controversial or honest' question too. I've never had a problem with Edge scores, and 8 for GoW is no different. GoW is standing on the shoulders of Onumusha and DMC, and the score reflects that. It brings some decent visuals and gameplay to the table, but it's too close to the Japanese hack'n'slashers to deserve a 9, let alone a 10.

    If GoW gets a 10, then what do you give truly original games?

  • Tweakmonkey #8 7 years ago

    it's funny reading the over zealous comments Xbox fans write when you get a half decent game

    True :-)

  • JHuxley #9 7 years ago

    "8 is a good Edge score people. It's about as much as an unoriginal game can get. Nothing wrong with being unoriginal."

    So how, may I ask, was Halo original? I don't want to add fuel to the fire, but originality is not the only clause for a 10/10 score.

  • #10 7 years ago

    Hehe Krudster!

    As much as I empathise with Jaffe and his team for their hard work and as much as they deserve their just rewards for their technical achievements and dedication. The people still need to be aware of the passed over truths.

    Yes the game is good! As good as a polished Hack 'n' Slasher can be though.

    It still fall shorts in areas, it still has some flaws, and despite your quoted 12 - 15 hours, it really doesn't last that long. 8 hours would be a better average for a first run.

    Trust me, rent it or at least wait until it's budget price if you want your moneys worth, buy it outright if you want a short lived hack 'n' slasher.

  • krudster #11 7 years ago

    Whether it deserves 8,9 or 10, the over-riding point is it's probably the best action game on any platform available for release this summer. If someone can think of any better that have been released in the past couple of months or for the next few months, let me see 'em!

  • #12 7 years ago

    Balor, you HAVE a PS2... Stop festering in your own need to backup your sence of self-pride and get the game insted of drolling on about how 'right' you think you are... If you secretly havn't already.

    It really is a beautiful game to see, as well as play. It's got to be the most polished game I've seen for a LONG time.

    All this self-fulfilling is just denying yourself the best console game I've played this year so far.

    It's not like there's much to play on xbox live at the moment anyway (what with all those exploits/cheats found for Halo 2 and BF) and the miserable disapointment that is conker. So put down your green controller and and pick up the dual shock...

  • Pike #13 7 years ago

    @ Krudster: Battlefield 2?

  • ST.. #14 7 years ago

    Ummm did you really thank him for taking out prog scan?

  • Feanor #15 7 years ago

    Before you take anything Balor says seriously, remember this is the guy who claimed God of War "bombed".

    "How has it sold in the US?

    David Jaffe: So far from what I can reveal - which aren't specifics - are that it has sold really well but it hasn't been Gran Turismo."

    Sold really well says the game's creator, bombed says random fanboy.... who should we believe?

  • speedjack #16 7 years ago

    Fantastic game.

    I can't fault it.

    Just finished the Hydra battle which is stunning and I normally HATE boss encounters.

    The fact that this is all being rendered on a PS2 is mindblowing.

  • #17 7 years ago

    Djini, I've bought and played God of War and I've said it's good but it's also going back to GAME on Friday to be traded for Killer 7. I wouldn't exactly call a game with a camera that too many times works against you rather than with you, amongst other issues fully polished, but I respect your opinion, even if you don't repsect mine.

    I'm glad you're enjoying the game, it's not the best console game I've played this year, there has been plenty better. You're right about the Xbox aswell, it's certainly lacking in the quality releases this month, but it's the summer so it's to be exepected that some people might not be interested in videogames so much. :p

    Being that I haven't made the game, I've no reason to save face. The fact is that according to the last set of NPD figures the game had only shifted 500,000 in the US. Find them and review them yourselves, I posted the link once before.

    This only goes to re-inforce two things, A) I'm right and the majority of American PS2 owners don't think this game is worth buying at full price. or B) I'm wrong and the majority of American PS2 owners are wrong aswell.

    As good as games like this may or may not be sadly they hardly ever sell as well as they perhaps should. :(
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 14:31

  • Feanor #18 7 years ago

    500,000 units sold in three months is not a bomb. You were totally wrong to claim that God of War bombed. Your credibility is shot. End of story.

    "This only goes to re-inforce two things, A) I'm right and the majority of American PS2 owners don't think this game is worth buying at full price."

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but the majority of the American PS2 owners don't buy ANY single game at full price. Majority = at least 51%.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 14:43

  • Tweakmonkey #19 7 years ago

    As good as games like this may or may not be sadly they hardly ever sell as well as they perhaps should. :(

    Why the sad face Balor? You are the only person (possibly in the world) suggesting to not buy it!

  • Wash #20 7 years ago

    "500,000 units sold in three months is not a bomb! How stupid are you?"

    i didnt think it was either, how many ps2s sold in NA?

  • #21 7 years ago

    Fen, Balor is saying that it 'bombed' because the MAJORITY of American PS2 owners did not buy it...

    See, according to Balor, if less than 50% of owners do not buy it (ie: the majority) it 'bombs'....

    Makes perfect sence to me... *blink* o_O

    /checks into mental home

  • Feanor #22 7 years ago

    32.86 million PS2's had been sold in America at the end of 2004. So since God of War has not sold 16.76 million copies, it's a bomb. :)

  • IronGiant #23 7 years ago

    "Djini, I've bought and played God of War and I've said it's good but it's also going back to GAME on Friday to be traded for Killer 7"

    Ahh so you're going to buy an on rails shooter that's heavy on style and lacking in gameplay and length, right. Did you play GOW to completion?

    "I wouldn't exactly call a game with a camera that too many times works against you rather than with you, amongst other issues fully polished, but I respect your opinion, even if you don't repsect mine. "

    Funny that i thought the camera worked just great, much more helpful than Ninja Gaiden's where at times you get attacked by an enemy you cannot see.
    The problem isn't respecting your opinion it's the fact that due to you constantly spouting bullshit you have no-one's respect.

    "Being that I haven't made the game, I've no reason to save face. The fact is that according to the last set of NPD figures the game had only shifted 500,000 in the US. Find them and review them yourselves, I posted the link once before."

    Half a million sold in 3 months is very impressive.

  • Wash #24 7 years ago

    "Half a million sold in 3 months is very impressive."

    Well, i wouldnt say very impressive. It's solid. Considering the user base and critical acclaim of the game... a couple of million would be very impressive.

  • Lutz #25 7 years ago

    Critical acclaim is one thing.

    Marketing is another.

  • IronGiant #26 7 years ago

    It's an action adventure that isn't made by EA and hasn't got a movie licence attached to it.. i'd say half a million is impressive. Any ideas how many units Ninja Gaiden sold?

  • #27 7 years ago

    Hehe! :)

    I don't know what you call an exclusive game that's been in development for over 3 years and only manages to sell 500,000 in 3 months, but it's certainly not a hit.

    The sad face is because some of the games in the Hack 'n' Slash pigeon hole 'probably' deserve to do better. :)

    I don't know for sure, but I hazard a guess that the PS2 is probably touching 25-30 million units in the USA these days.

    Cheers for the review on Killer 7 Irongiant, I trust you have played the game though? But yes it's going back for Killer 7, which in turn will could end up back in GAME unless what I've read about the game is true!

    You see, that's exactly the issue I had with GoW, infact any game that uses the fixed camera approach, there's always that crossover point where the camera fucks off to a stupid angle round some corner obscuring your view of the enemy, far too many times I lost track or got pissed about during the transitions.

    Ninja Gaiden on the other hand, had an excellent camera that at a flick of the button would instantly focus over your shoulder.

    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 15:10

  • Lutz #28 7 years ago

    IIRC 32m PS2's in the USA ATM.

    I'd say 500,000 is a bit low ATM, but I'm pretty certain you can expect this to sell a couple of million by the end of the year.

  • #29 7 years ago

    IronG's right.

    No Film Licence, not carpet bombing marketing... People just don't know it's out...

    Compare that to 'Juiced' or any of the other massively advertised games that are basically crap... romping it's way in the charts, and it's shit... But because it got in front of enough 'eyes' through advertising...

  • Tweakmonkey #30 7 years ago

    Sales figures are a complete red herring and in all probability, if this was an Xbox exclusive then the sales figures would probably be up there with it's top sellers, due to there not being so many games available. In reality, PS2 owners are spoilt for choice, and without a massive advertising campaign the ignorant masses remain ignorant.

  • krudster #31 7 years ago

    All fingers should point in Sony's direction on the subject of marketing. Who knows why certain games get so massively advertised and others get sod all? I tried to ask the team themselves, but they really didn't have any control over it. I know if I was in charge of Sony's ad spend, I'd damn well make sure a game as good as this got maximum exposure. Not just through TV advertising, but all the way down the chain to making sure mags are aware how big it is. How many front cover features did we see on this game in the build up to release? Even preview coverage was suspiciously low key over here. Demented.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 15:34

  • krudster #32 7 years ago

    I too thought the camera was almost always spot-on. Oh well, can't please everyone.

  • Derblington #33 7 years ago

    I've only seen one ad for this and it's a shared ad with Tekken 5.

  • Lutz #34 7 years ago

    Agreed on the Camera. I've only had one bit which erked me with the camera, and it wasn't in combat either.

  • Heds #35 7 years ago

    The advertisement thing really annoys me. Quantum Redshift was another case in point, it was a great racer in the style of WipEout, but MS didn't bother to market it. At all. As a result Curly Monsters went bust.

    Though maybe that was a good thing in the long run, as Martin Linklater went back to Sony Liverpool to help on WipEout Pure...

    Why don't these publishers market games that have this much promise? GoW deserves to shift loads.

  • Feanor #36 7 years ago

    "I don't know what you call an exclusive game that's been in development for over 3 years and only manages to sell 500,000 in 3 months, but it's certainly not a hit."

    You said it bombed. Now you say it's not a hit. Quit while you're behind.

    You say it's an exclusive game like that should make it have higher sales. By definition, a platform exclusive game limits its potential sales compared to multi-platform titles.

    In any event, I think Devil May Cry 3 is a better game than God of War. If you need a hack-n-slash game that lasts 30-40 hours then get that instead.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 15:59

  • #37 7 years ago

    How do you advertise a game that is fundamentally just about gratiously, carving, slicing, hacking, slashing in a very macabre fashion humans and monsters?

    Kids certainly should not be made aware of games like this. Lest I suspect that should anyone dare to, Jack Thompson / Daily Mail and the like would have a field day.

  • JP #38 7 years ago

    "Edge is a great mag which sidelines all the kiddy crap for a serious view of games in general."

    Yes, because there's NOTHING "kiddie" about a game that really gets off on tits and gore, and has a stereotypical brooding anti-hero who looks like a pro wrestler. Nope, I'm sure little candyassed 11-13 year old aspirational consumers want nothing to do with that.

    Nope, that's MUCH more mature than games that are simply well-designed and appeal to more kinds of players. Stupid "kiddie" stuff.

    Grow up.

  • Tweakmonkey #39 7 years ago

    Ah Balor - you really crack me up. Go crawl back under your bridge.

    And JP - are you Balor's b*tch or what? Did you just come up with that angle yourself or did Balor tell you what to say?
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 16:04

  • #40 7 years ago

    I can see Balor 'doing an arnie' soon...

    Looks like JP just registered to come here and post that...
    Edited by 2 at 11/07/05 @ 16:15

  • #41 7 years ago

    Cheers for the heads up Feanor, I'll be sure to pick up Devil May Cry 3 one day. Everything I've heard leads me to believe that it has righted the wrongs of Devil May Cry 2 and that it is better than GoW.

    "Ah Balor - you really crack me up. Go crawl back under your bridge."

    What's up with you? And why do you insistantly try to insult? It' a bit strange. ANd what do you sugest, we make aware and let kids play God of War? A great parent you'll be.

  • Tweakmonkey #42 7 years ago

    /puts on tardproof earmuffs and safety glasses

  • Derblington #43 7 years ago

    Kids being aware of it isn't a problem. If they walk into GAME they're going to be aware of it. It needs marketing and parents need to not buy it for their kids.

    Alternitively don't market it and it won't sell as well. It doesn't bother me as I already have it. It obviously doesn't bother Sony either so why are you guys arguing about it?

  • #44 7 years ago

    "I can see Balor 'doing an arnie' soon..."

    If you're implying, that by having an opinion that differs from your own means that I should expect a weeks ban, then so be it. :)

    What I find even more intriguing is the amount of people who dismiss what I say as pointless bullshit etc, yet are strangely compelled to insistantly reply to every post I make.

    Obssesive much? :p

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #45 7 years ago

    If you're implying, that by having an opinion that differs from your own means that I should expect a weeks ban, then so be it.

    Easy, you know that wasn't what happened.

  • IronGiant #46 7 years ago

    "What I find even more intriguing is the amount of people who dismiss what I say as pointless bullshit etc"

    Priceless. Go redress the balance of gaming somewhere else.
    Edited by 1 at 11/07/05 @ 16:29

  • #47 7 years ago

    I know. But was has Arnie being banned got to do with me was my point. :/

    "Priceless."

    Haha! Rest my case. :p



  • IronGiant #48 7 years ago

    Ah it worked, thank fuck for that..

  • darkmistx #49 7 years ago

    Haha, if this game was on Xbox he'd be saying it was best thing ever. :)

  • JHuxley #50 7 years ago

    "How do you advertise a game that is fundamentally just about gratiously, carving, slicing, hacking, slashing in a very macabre fashion humans and monsters?"

    You may as well be asking 'how do you advertise Devil May Cry?'. Ridiculous.

  • IronGiant #51 7 years ago

    He sure would.. you see he's the self appointed redresser of the gaming balance here on EG, incredibly as soon as something Sony related get's praise he tries to be negative about it. Hence nobody take his opinion seriously at all, though it is mildly amusing feeding him.

  • Pirotic #52 7 years ago

    Picked up God of War a few days ago, one of the most enjoyable games i've played in a long time. infact just thinking about it makes me want to go home and pick up the pad, a very rare thing so congrats to the dev team and make a bloody PSP version :D

  • drumbaby #53 7 years ago

    "In any event, I think Devil May Cry 3 is a better game than God of War. If you need a hack-n-slash game that lasts 30-40 hours then get that instead. "

    I'd agree in so far as DMC 3's combat is light years ahead of GoW's, and its replayability too for that matter. 60 hours and counting. :)

    GoW though was/ is easily one of the best story-driven adventure romps on PS2. One of the best games EVAH, to be sure :)

  • Tweakmonkey #54 7 years ago

    Obssesive much? :p

    It's just good fun :-)

    /hugs Balor

  • mattigan #55 7 years ago

    "How do you advertise a game that is fundamentally just about gratiously, carving, slicing, hacking, slashing in a very macabre fashion humans and monsters?"

    Errrrrrrr HELLLLLOOOOOOOO

    POP: Warrior Within didn't do to shabby a job

  • Shrimp #56 7 years ago

    Great. The comments thread for an Interview about a PS2 game turns into yet another chest-beating fanboy fest. Cheers Balor.

  • captain-future #57 7 years ago

    not a Itagaki yet a fun read. seems a to be a sensible chap ;-)

  • Feanor #58 7 years ago

    Hey, drumbaby, you should check out this DMC 3 Royal Guard guide:

    http://www.ntsc-uk.com/feature.php?fea=TechniqueDMC3

    I never had the patience or skill to get the hang of Royal Guard, but it's amazing to read/see just how far a truly dedicated gamer can go with it.

  • valli #59 7 years ago

    Great. The comments thread for an Interview about a PS2 game turns into yet another chest-beating fanboy fest. Cheers Balor.

    Indeed. The mongtard's been on my ignore list for a while now, where he belongs.

  • beep #60 7 years ago

    My only peeves with God of War is the tendency to button mash. The fighting looks good but lacks the impact of something like Ninja Gaiden, where every hit looks like it hit and so forth.

    I have however, only played it for twenty minutes, and it certainly left a better first impression on me than when I first played Ninja Gaiden (which didn't impress me at all initially, but has since become my favourite Xbox game).

  • drumbaby #61 7 years ago

    Hey, drumbaby, you should check out this DMC 3 Royal Guard guide:

    http://www.ntsc-uk.com/feature.php?fea=TechniqueDMC3

    I never had the patience or skill to get the hang of Royal Guard, but it's amazing to read/see just how far a truly dedicated gamer can go with it.

    It's scary, isn't it? I mean you can go through the entire game totally unscathed if your timing is up to it...There's some great videos floating around of some ridiculously skillful RG DMD boss fights. :)

  • Lutz #62 7 years ago

    beep: At the beginning most of the moves etc are locked out. Within an hour you should have the next lot unlocked. When you get into the emat of the game you won't be button mashing for long if you want to survive much.

  • Genji #63 7 years ago

    "How do you advertise a game that is fundamentally just about gratiously, carving, slicing, hacking, slashing in a very macabre fashion humans and monsters?

    Kids certainly should not be made aware of games like this. Lest I suspect that should anyone dare to, Jack Thompson / Daily Mail and the like would have a field day"

    http://www.pluggedinonline.com/extrafeatures/a0002217. html

    Food for thought. And don't worry, people just use the word "fanboy" to describe anyone that doesn't like the games that they like. Let us know how Killer 7 turns out.

  • Tweakmonkey #64 7 years ago

    http://www.pluggedinonline.com/extrafeatures/a0002217. html

    Meh.

  • zErOb_cOOl #65 7 years ago

    Huxley:
    "So how, may I ask, was Halo original? I don't want to add fuel to the fire, but originality is not the only clause for a 10/10 score."

    Touchez Huxley. Halo is to first person shooters, what God of War is to action adventure games.

    Also somebody mentioned GOW being linear...and Halo's corridor battles aren't?!

  • Derblington #66 7 years ago

    Halo is slightly more original and less rigid that GoW. They both deserve 9's though imo.

  • Lutz #67 7 years ago

    Halo is slightly more original and less rigid that GoW. They both deserve 9's though imo.
    Erm... I'd say it's the other way around on the originality stakes anyway. IMO. :)

  • Derblington #68 7 years ago

    How so Lutz?

    GoW based on Greek Myth so they haven't even had to design characters/story for the most part. There is only one way through the game and only one to deal with enemies as you're always stuck in tiny little rooms. You only need one combo to do anything (S,S,T).

    Halo has story elements from other things but crafted in a unique-ish way, characters are all brand new. Enemies need to be dealt with in different ways, often with different weapons, and although there's only one way to complete the game you have big enough rooms/areas to deal with enemies with many different tactics.
    Edited by 1 at 12/07/05 @ 11:38

  • Lutz #69 7 years ago

    You're right, for a lot of the story they've plundered history/myth, but they've used it in a way I've not seen before. Halo? Another space scenario. Got enough of them. OK, Halo itself was semi-origional, being based on Ringworld or similar, but the Covenant, the "equivilant enemy soldier as stong as our hero" guys, the "twists". Seen them all before. The characters are hardly new, MC is very generic. Cortana is more original, but a super computer isn't the most original thought out there. And the marines, and in part the flood, were almost cut and pasted directly out of Aliens. Yeah, GoW is pretty generic too, but I'd say it's also touching an era that hasn't be used that much. There might also only be one way through the game, but most games are like this, especially Halo. Expect briefly on level 2 (Halo itself) it's all linear, just like most games. Halo combines a lot of things from a lot of places, adds in it's own little touch and away you go. Brilliant mind. GoW does have SOME touches of originality. You're playing, essentially, a bad guy for once. You can murder innocents. The blades are unique ish. Yeah, it's been done before, but not to the degree of Halo.

    And S,S,T won't get you through GoW. ;)
    In fact I hardly use that now, T,T,S and T,T,T are much better, as is L1+T.

    :D

  • Goodfella #70 7 years ago

    8/10 is about right for a very linear, very short and ultimately very generic hack 'n' slasher no matter how well polished it is.

    And I was right, Ninja Gaiden has way more depth. :p

    You could have just said all those things without using 'very' before each word, that's exaggerating to stress a point.

    It's certainly not very short, I clocked 11 hours on my first go and I more or less ran through the game, and it seemed a lot longer so I'm happy with the length. I would say it's no more linear than Ninja Gaiden either (and I'm not biased as I love NG too). Generic, maybe but I found it one hell of an enjoyable generic game if that's the case.

    As for the camera issue, I didn't really have any problems except for the odd occasion when I back tracked, even then it wasn't remotely frustrating, it's a game that pushes you forwards, and doesn't have the player wandering around aimlessly wondering where to go or what to do next for the most part.

    And to say Ninja Gaiden has WAY more depth, that's another exaggeration, it may have more depth in the combat but not in other areas.


    Edited by 1 at 12/07/05 @ 13:29

  • mustardkid #71 7 years ago

    ... and besides this has got tits in it and halo hasn't

  • Liggur #72 7 years ago

    ... and besides this has got tits in it and halo hasn't

    Apart from the Players :)
    There is only 4 types of opponant in Halo. :p
    ..and the Ringworld is taken straight from Larry Niven's Ringworld saga anyway.

  • Lutz #73 7 years ago

    Liggur: Without breaking it down into ranks there's 13 enemies in Halo 2, not 4:

    Grunts
    Jackels
    Elites
    Hunter
    Brute
    Drone
    Prophet
    Pod
    Carrier
    Human Flood
    Elite Flood
    Sentinal
    Super Sentinal

  • rosst #74 7 years ago

    Superb , just the kind of balls out game I like!