Kratos may not be gaming's most charismatic protagonist but it turns out he has a surprising knack for multiplayer as well as single-player action, in one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 3.

A noticeably improved combat system and more interesting story; Multiplayer is substantial, innovative, and imaginative; Fantastic graphics

The core campaign experience is the same as it's always been; Occasional camera problems and overuse of QTEs; The level of gore often seems tasteless and unnecessary

Thanks to top-notch mechanics and the deep well that is Greek mythology, Ascension is a winner. It may not be the absolute best God of War game, but it's certainly worthy of the moniker.

The series' signature combat, puzzles, and boss battles return intact, bolstered by some new items; There are some amazing setpieces; The new multiplayer mode is surprisingly good

The promptless minigames don't work well; There are some small camera problems; The story isn't up to the series' high standard; It's all a bit familiar

Well with the promise of a sequel (that was teased before your eyes in the extras section of the game which required you to beat the game over and over until you unlocked all the teasers) you were kept waiting forever and ever to see if you will ever return to the killing fields of the ancient...

Deicide doesn't make you many friends on Olympus. God Of War II finds Kratos at odds with Zeus and Athena, who conspire to strip the up-jumped Spartan of his powers. You can't really blame them for the backstab; the guy did smite Ares the last time he rubbed elbows with the gods.

The sense of scale is off the charts; From the opening brawl with the towering Colossus of Rhodes to the Island of Creation-a sprawling mega-level which takes a good half of the game to traverse

Many tasks and altercations are resolved by jamming on a single button as fast as possible.

It's hard to imagine a better swan song for the PlayStation 2 than God of War II. Though it's not destined to be the very last game for the system, it doesn't seem likely that anything else will come along in the coming months to trump what God of War II achieves.

More of the gory; over-the-top action you've come to expect from this series; Fantastically paced; with some ingenious puzzle designs; Scale of some of the levels is unbelievably massive; Superb graphics and sound; Several more bosses than the first game

Combat is overly straightforward at times and still prone to button mashing; Ending leaves you hanging

Everyone tries not to judge a game by the first hour. But no one wants to wade through a syrup of slow tutorials, tedious conversations and dull cutscenes either. Great as games like Metal Gear Solid and Okami are, they could learn a lot about how to start off a game from God of War II .

first off it is a review of the demo they got from the company which you can get with your preorder andthen its a preview so its both second people that gave this lower than an eight must not have played the first GOW and if they did didnt try it on god mode or you would understand what god of war...

by far the best ps2 game ever made this proves just what the ps2 can do if games was to be like that on the ps2 all the time there would be no need for a ps3 take a look this will blow you away the graphics are fantastic

Superb from start to finish. With game releases quietening down now until Xmas, this should be on every PS2 owner's wishlist.

It's Ray Harryhausen with a $20 million budget and access to the most sophisticated CG technology in town; it borders on Zelda levels of brilliance in terms of puzzles, and offers some of the most satisfying combat you'll ever find in an action title.