PixelReview

IGN recently posted a list of the top 25 Playstation 2 games of all time. These lists are always open for debate and everyone has their own opinions on who should be where with whose bucket, but there was one title that has been a cause of particular concern of mine for some time, and is particularly relevant with it’s sequel recently coming out with all the hype a mad marketing machine can muster. That game, is of course, IGN’s number 1 pick: God of War.

I have been playing through God of War over the last few days and am a substantial way through it. While the game is nearly flawless in everything it does, it baffles me how a game such as this could reach such high echelons as being regarded as the best game released on the console. The Playstation 2 has been home to some of the best games of recent memory, no doubt, with many games pushing the boundaries of what we class as a video game (especially outstanding since Sony seem reluctant to do so with their hardware). Games such as Shadow of the Colossus bringing such class, elegance and sublety, Okami with it’s vibrant style, Guitar Hero breaking new boundaries in the music genre and Rez creating an entire genre for itself and locking everyone else out. Even such stars as Katamari Damacy with its unique humour and play style, neither racing, brawling, shooting or jumping and yet it sent shockwaves throughout the industry with both game designers and fans bowing down before the mere mention of the creator, Takahashi Keita. I need not even mention a certain sandbox game by Rockstar Games.

Each of these games and countless others have opened the doors for other games to come through and explore new ways of playing games. God of War does none of these things. Indeed, God of War contains so many archaic game design choices it’s almost as if the designers are from the time period the game is itself set. For years before it games have been striving to break down boundaries and create new and diverse ways of playing in the digital arena and yet God of War seems adament to stick to game design choices such as invisible walls, constant wave of respawning enemies and magical barriers preventing advancement until said enemies are vanquished.

These are all choices that cause the player to question the world they are in and do nothing to advance the medium of video games. The hack and slash nature of the game is all well and good and executed brilliantly, but the real treat of the game, the boss battles, are so far and in between it is often forgotten that they even exist. Destroying the same few types of enemy, albeit constantly taking more damage and being swarmed by an increasing number, is a backwards step in game design.

And it is for this reason that I believe God of War should never be at the top of such a list. It blinds the player with beautiful graphics, excellent stories telling and over the top violence. While great programming, great animation and a good story all go hand in hand with great gaming, without gameplay that pushes the genre forward, how can such a game be heralded with such esteem?

Personally, I know once I finish the game I will never pick it up again. It offers no reason to want to play through the massive quest again when I know I’m basically faced with hunreds and hundreds of drones waiting for me to try out a new combination of moves on them.

This isn’t to say I dislike the game. I am having tremendous fun with it and can absolutely understand why people might class it as their favourite PS2 game (although it is far from it for myself), but to class it as the greatest shows a lack of understanding of the importance of innovation and embracing new concepts. To allow invisible walls to be given so much praise is to give designers the ability to be sloppy and lazy. Is this how we want the Playstation 2 to be remembered, or is it better to remember it for the machine that housed some of the most innovative software this industry has ever seen?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 5:41 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.