Game Hunter reviews, talks, discusses and ponders video games, gaming consoles, technology and other related topics. Join me, Chad Hunter, journalist and gamer, as we take in-depth looks into a world that's more than just fun and games.
We Hunted - God of War: Origins
Good god – God of War: Origins – Did We Need It?
Olympian gods, demi-gods and sex games, we’ve seen it all in Sony’s critically-acclaimed God of War series. The trilogy saw life on the PS2, the PS3 and further adventures on the PSP. Now, those recent handheld kill-filled epics of Kratos have been remastered and placed on the PS3. The question that is worthy of mythological proportions is: did we need God of War: Origins?
Yes.
God of War: Origins (GoW:O) puts both God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta onto one disc for the PS3. GoW: Chains of Olympus has Kratos searching for the missing sun as darkness plunges across the land. While he continues his quest, the ghost of Sparta will do battle with the Persephone, the powers of the underworld and decide if he will stay in the afterlife with his long-lost daughter. GoW: Ghost of Sparta sees the demigod anti-hero continue his war against mythical beasts and monsters while suffering the most harrowing of family reunions.
Fans of the series will find Origins a worthwhile purchase. If gamers already have them on the PSP, it is debatable whether or not this disc needs to be added to their home repertoire.
The collection has remastered graphics and playability in high definition and 3D support viewing. The disc also has full PSN trophy support and bonus content including a new combat arena and Kratos skin. No matter what, these grouped myths of Kratos are worth telling…and playing.
Top 5 Dick Moves of Kratos
SPOILER WARNING & Mature Reading
Taken from God of War 1, 2 and 3
Gamers and fans of the God of War series know that Kratos is an asshole. He’s arrogant, mean-spirited and ruthless: he’s a dick. Throughout the series, the God of War has done some downright despicable things and these are GameHunter’s top Five Dick Moves of Kratos, the God of War.
5. Dropping the Captain into the Hydra - Yes, the captain of the ship has been swallowed by the Hydra. Kratos dives into the beast’s maw to retrieve a key around the captain’s neck. Finding the sailor hanging on, just on the brink of the gullet of the beast, Kratos lifts him up. Only to snatch the key from his neck and drop him deep into the monster’s throat. Damn, Kratos, really?
4. Burning the Soldier - When fulfilling a sacrificial request, Kratos finds a soldier trapped in a cage. After pushing the cage uphill, battling undead minions and listening to the soldier’s pleas for his life, the Ghost of Sparta still pushes the soldier into the fire sacrifice: immolating him alive. Kratos is truly a jackass.
3. Burning Persephone’s Lover in Hades - Because our main man loves fire, while in Hades, Kratos encounters a bound soul who loves Persephone and offers his help. Rather than find a safe way to free the soul from thorny vines, Kratos beats a fire-breathing beast into submission and rides it to bellow flame onto the vines. The vines burn and the love-lorn soul burns in screaming agony. Kratos gets his help alright, by killing him. The God of War loves a good roast, even if someone is in it.
2. Using the Poseiden Princess - This was cold as ice. Kratos saves a nubile, half-nude princess of Poseiden (whom Kratos had just violently beat to death),and leads her through a maze of monsters and beasts. Keeping her alive…only to chain her to a trap mechanism. Once it activates, the mechanism attempts to reset itself but JAMS on the princess, crushing her to death and allowing Kratos to pass through a gated door. Spartan, you are a bastard.
1. Killing your Wife and Daughter - The ultimate jerk move, Kratos, in a blood-fury (sure) slaughters a room full of people, cutting down his own wife and daughter. Most deadbeat dads just leave their families but our Ghost of Sparta has to kill his! Sure he goes on about it in his softer moments of the series but let’s face it: Kratos is a jackass, a bully and yes, a bad dad on top of it.
There you have it, the Top Five Dick Moves of Kratos. He’s not the guy you want after you but he’s probably not the guy you want helping you either.
So what are you top fives? Let us know!
Honorable Mentions:
Sleeping with Aphrodite, Hephasteus’ wife, then killing him
Kratos - Why we love the Anti-Hero
Once upon a time, our heroes were noble and brave, throwing themselves into harm’s way for the sake of others. They were white-knighted, shiny sword and galloping steed all rolled up into one. This translation of a hero eventually found itself onto video game consoles where the protagonist was a digitized white hat, regardless of being a plumber fighting turtles or a spaceship fighting marching alien waves.
But somewhere along the way, our heroes changed. In pop culture, they popped claws from their knuckles, they wielded justice from a .44 magnum and they went from blinding white to gritty gray. We left the red caped heroes and embraced the dark anti-hero. In our games, we did the same. We left the plumber and the yellow dot with a smile for the grizzled assassin and the troubled past warrior. Of these ranks, no greater anti-hero can we find then God of War’s Kratos.
Why do we love Kratos? He is arrogant, mean, selfish and without morals or with little regard for them. He would have been a boss you were fighting in the games of yesteryear; much less the hero of the game.
Kratos, and the anti-hero, allow us to do what we cannot do elsewhere. Kratos speaks to the primal force in all of us: the pursuit of vengeance, the reckless abandon and the sex mini-game!
After a day of being civilized, there is something to be said about the chance to rip apart gorgons with bloody fervor and tear into the immortal forces high above you. Have we as a society become more bloodthirsty? Some would say yes but the answer is no. Compare modern day society with that of ancient Rome. Citizens cried out for blood regularly in the battles of the gladiators. Compare modern day society to that of the kingdoms and empires of Egypt, China, Japan and so on. Whole cities were slaughtered by a king or queen’s whims. Man has always been the same creature.
But perhaps the anti-hero gives us release? Perhaps the anti-hero dives into the unpredictable and unknown gray that is howling in us. We all know what Samus is going to do, save the universe from the Metroids. We all know what Mario is going to do, jump on turtles and save the princess. But Kratos? Who knows if he saves someone to save them or to use them as fodder or throw them into a trap, allowing him passage?
Kratos is, for we the gamers, not so much an anti-hero as he is something else: a channel and a conduit. We get to push off our cave crawling and club swinging tendencies onto him. And we do this with the Wolverines, the Punishers and the Sam Fishers of the gaming world. Kratos is one of many of our civilized excuses to be less than civilized. The Ghost of Sparta and his ilk gives us intrigue not into their lives and minds but into our own.
Long live the God of War.
QuickReview - God of War 3
Why QuickReview God of War 3? Because it’s awesome and there are dozens of reviews everywhere saying the same thing. Sony’s final epic in the trilogy is large, expansive and entertaining.
Return to the role of Kratos, the Spartan-turned-God-turned-mortal-turned-who knows what, and deliver your bladed fury on a road of vengeance. God of War 3 features beautiful graphics,
improved gameplay and a worthy storyline. GoW3 will find itself amongst the pantheon of video game classics and most likely a contender for Game of the Year.
We Hunted - God of War Collection
Granted, I’m a little slow getting on the PS3 bandwagon but I’m getting there! While the reviews may be a little dated, they are definitely worthwhile starting with Sony’s God of War Collection.
Originally debuting on the PS2, the God of War series chronicles the adventures of the Greek anti-hero Kratos who pursues his vengeance against the gods of Olympus while hacking, slashing and tearing through hordes of mythological monsters and legends. The God of War series is well known for its mature content including blood-filled combat, some suggestive themes and nudity as well as its celebrity filled voice cast and detailed storyline.
While the later versions of the PS3 are not backwards compatible with earlier PS2 games, Sony has bound the two games together on one disc, remastered the graphics and released them for the approximate cost of both games together. Inside, you’ll also find a code to download the equally amazing demo for the upcoming God of War 3.
God of War is a must for the “guy’s guy” gamer. It’s a brutal ride for that anti-hero in all of us. It’s not about saving dwarfs or stopping dragons or finding cures for mutant viruses. God of War is about getting yours and cutting down any minotaur, harpy or demigod who gets in your way. The Olympians themselves are petty, small and in need of a good smack-down. Are you the Spartan to do it?
Go out, get the God of War Collection and enjoy a visit to Olympus.
