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Kratos is back and swinging the Blades of Athena. Next Spring, fans of God of War will get another dose of mythological goodness. God of War II is currently in development and I got a chance to play it at E3. New this go round is the ability for Kratos to use his chained blades as a grapple to aid him in crossing over large pits and such. The area in the E3 demo was a temple overgrown with vegetation and heavily guarded by skeletons, an enormous cyclops or two, and some undead creatures reminiscent of the original. Combat seems to be much the same, although I saw a new form of magic available - Bows of Wind. They function much like the lightning bolts in the original, but can be upgraded to do some major damage (although I didn't get to test this at the show). Kratos seems easier to control in his jumping about and clinging to ledges, but I found the grapple gave me a spot of trouble since currently, I am in the Tomb Raider zone when it comes to grappling and they function differently from one another.
I did find that when taking on the large cyclops, he had a little fiend that would jump up, ride him and attack you. Kill the little guy and you have a better shot with the cyclops. I was expecting to be forced to use the circle button to kill the cyclops, but it seemed I was able to slash away at him to dispatch him. The skeletons were quite wicked since once you "kill" them, reducing them to a pile of bones, they reconstruct and come back after you. Argh!
Although not present in the E3 demo, you'll be able to ride the mythical horse Pegasus as Kratos takes to the skies to locate the three Fates. This brings a whole new level of gameplay to the table as you'll have to balance your combat with, well, your balance.
Overall, expect more gorgeous areas to battle in, more amazing creatures of myth to fight and more twisted backstory than a whole season of Desperate Housewives. Look for this gem next Spring. |
