Lawrence.com

God of War: Collection would be better served if it was called God of War: PS2 Collection, because that's precisely what it is. And while it does omit God of War: Chains of Olympus — the stellar PSP game — it does present the PS2 games remastered in high definition 720p and retail for reasonable $39.99. That's a fair price for two of the finest action games ever made, making it the ultimate stocking stuffer. (Read our reviews of the original God of War and God of War II.)

So what do you get for your money besides the angriest anti-hero this side of Snake Plissken?

You get:

• A locked in 60 frames per second for silky smooth gameplay,

• Anti-aliasing to smooth out jagged edges and give the games a smoother overall appearance,

• Better textures that have been redone and brought up to HD resolution,

• Trophy support,

• Access to the God of War 3 demo.

In other words, God of War: Collection is the Star Wars: Special Edition of the gaming world. And just like SW:SE, it has it's own share of problems, although in the case of GoW:C the problems are minor.

One problem is that while the in-game graphics have been spiffed up to look nice and pretty on an HDTV, some of the cut-scenes have not. Or to be more precise, the cut-scenes that use in-game assets to mask loading look downright awful. Especially the cut-scenes in the first God of War where the graphics are more dated. On the other hand the professionally done CG cut-scenes look awesome in HD, which just makes the in-game scenes look even worse. It's strange because in the manual it specifically mentions the fact that the cinematics have been remastered "where able." Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K, my friends.

My complaints are:

The wall climbing and combat in God of War II can be a bit glitchy. I had a hard time getting Kratos to swing his blades while climbing out of Hades towards the beginning of the game. It's not a game-breaking glitch or anything, but it can be a little annoying.

Another nitpick is that the game only supports 720p, and not 1080p. That's just strange.

Also, despite all of the attention paid to the graphics, the sound was left behind. No 5.1, just stereo surround. It sounds fine, but it would have been nice of them to buff it up a bit since the GoW games contain really good, fully orchestrated soundtracks. Oh well.

Other than that, it's clear sailing throughout.

Both games benefit from their new coat of graphical paint. But GoW II still takes the cake, graphically speaking. It looks outstanding, coming close to a first generation PS3 title at times. The first GoW also benefits from the resolution bump, in fact it probably benefits the most from the re-done textures and anti-aliasing, seeing as how it's graphics are more dated and in desperate need of an upgrade.

The move to a locked-in 60 fps is the biggest improvement from a gameplay perspective. Having a consistent 60 fps makes the game smoother and faster than it has ever been before. Kratos swings his blades with a responsiveness that few other action games can match even now, years after their release. After playing GoW this way, you will never want to go back. It feels like that's how it always should have been.

If you are a hardcore fan of the series, you probably already got your copy when stores opened today. If you just bought a PS3 slim and need your GoW fix, here you go. If you own a PS3 that can play PS2 games, know that this collection is the definitive versions of the PS2 GoW games and you can part with your old copies with confidence.

And if you have yet to play a GoW game? (Where have you been??) Then this is a must buy.

Graphics: 7.0

Sound: 5.0

First Play: 10.0

Multiplayer: N/A

Replay Value: 6.0

Gameplay: 9.0



Overall: 8.0