When I think about the best franchises or IPs in videogames not only today, but in gaming history, on my short list would definitely be Sony’s God of War. Originally a system-seller epic for the PS2, the franchise has since gone on to produce five additional full games, but to date none of them have appeared on the Vita. While we can continue to look forward to the Vita and PS4 getting their own God of War (GoW) exclusives just as the PS2, PS3, and PSP have had, today’s release of the God of War Collection on Vita is a welcome news for Vita owners. By the way, the porting of these two GoW games to the Vita was handled by Sanzaru Games, the same outfit that put the Sly Cooper Collection together.
I first reviewed the original GoW for an old online outlet that no longer exists some nine years ago now — hard to believe it’s been that long. At the time I scored it something like a 9.7/10, and two years later, I would score the sequel a 9.6/10, two of the highest scores I’ve ever posted. Of course, the scores themselves are just one reference point. What led me to those scores is what matters, and that was the incredibly engaging gameplay that these two games possessed. GoW and GoW II defined AAA production, having achieved excellence in all aspects of game design from the story, how the story was presented, the action, controls, level design, AI, graphics, the list goes on. What’s even more telling is that, since I first played these two games nine and seven years ago, revisiting them for probably the fifth and third time respectively now on the Vita, I am still enamored with the experience of both. That’s a testament to their quality that only the best of the best games have. It’s the type of quality that is, for me, is above and beyond the measurables and into the hard to explain, yet unmistakeable realm of sentimental attachment.
I’ve played through the original three or four times now, including once on God Mode (damn was that hard). With GoW II, I’ve only been through it twice up to now, although I’m roughly seventy-five percent through it again now on the Vita and re-visiting it has been a joyful experience. It’s been many years now since I have had the time to replay through games more than once and get into level editing and all that stuff. Since then, the GoW series might actually be the only series I have made time to replay through more than once. The first two or so hours of GoW and GoW II feel a little bit worn to me, mainly I think because of the Hydra and Colossus fights, but beyond those opening acts, the experience still feels pretty fresh or at the very least, fun. And sure, Kratos’ constant smoldering rage as seen and heard in the cutscenes isn’t nearly as potent to me as it used to be, and I’ve seen it enough between these two games and the others in the series that it’s a bit tiresome. That said, playing through his revenge tales remains, most importantly, fun and engaging.
Being able to pause and turn off the action with the Vita, only to come back a day day later and instantly resume where I was, has been a hell of a treat. That’s not something I could comfortably do with the games on other systems. The portability and instant on/off benefits of the Vita are actually the biggest advantages that the Collection provides on the Vita. As far as controls, there have been some changes, mainly to deal with the lack of an L2 and R2. The rear pad is used instead; so for chests, doors, and cranks, you walk up to them, note the small visual pop-up cue in the lower left corner of the screen, and then press and hold a single finger on the rear pad. The Rage of the Gods and Rage of the Titans, as well as abilities like the Amulet of Fates, are activated by tapping their respective icon on the front screen. These changes to the control scheme were necessary and practical, and they function just fine in actual use. However, I did have some control snags that are, I suppose, a blend of my own mistakes and of the nit-pick variety. In some frantic combat sequences, I would sometimes, inadvertantly, press the Power button. This mistake would not break the game or cause it to freeze, fortunately, but it was a rare nuisance nonetheless. This mistake was due of course to me rapidly moving my fingers about and slipping, but I thought it worth mentioning as I don’t think I’ll be alone in this minor issue. Secondly, and this is more of me just complaining, but I would have liked to have seen the QTEs in which you have to rotate the analog sticks either removed or fine-tuned. Performing them isn’t hard, it’s just more of a nuisance than pressing the face buttons. Also, and I realize this is too deep of a core design issue to fix with a compilation release like the Collection, but it would have been interesting had the gameplay mechanics in which Kratos simply pulls a switch or rotates a crank or solves one of those moving object puzzles been changed to something more satisfying and interactive.
Gameplay and controls discussion aside, the presentation quality is pretty good. The in-game graphics — not the cutscenes — are enhanced from their original state, but the source material on these is still dated and obviously PS2-era, so keep your expectations a bit tempered in terms of graphical fidelity. Framerates and load times are all great though, and the voiceovers, effects, and awesome soundtrack are all intact. The soundtracks for the series are one of their strongest pros, which is saying a hell of a lot considering how amazing the games are in other, typically far more prestigous ways. Each game supports four separate save slots, too. Oh, you cannot switch between GoW and GoW II without closing out the entire game, by the way, although I don’t think many will gripe about that. Trophy support is included for both games, and I liked that they are unlocked at not-always-predictable areas in the story.
And with that, on to the summary…