Micro-Review: God of War Collection (PS3)

Written by Jim Squires

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 14:00

Re-packaging two of Sony's most popular games from last generation mere months before the next sequel is released? That's marketing genius, right there. But remastering the games in HD, putting a healthy dose of PS3 polish on the whole offering? Now that's a product I can get behind.

God of War Collection features the PS2 games God of War and God of War II remastered in HD. The key word in that sentence is "remastered." Maybe it's just a testament to the visual triumph that the first two God of War games accomplished, but there's very little here that makes you feel like you're just playing an upscaled PS2 game. There are definitely some PS3 games on the market that don't look this good. That's not to say that this thing is a graphical powerhouse on the PS3, it's just that I was taken aback by how good these games still look. Cleaning them up and making them PS3-friendly just goes to remind us of how gorgeous these games really were.

While it's easy to forget that these were ever PS2 games, every now and then you're given a reminder that sticks out like a sore thumb. For example: Kratos climbing animation feels unnatural and looks frightfully unrealistic. Or the cinematics that -- for whatever reason -- don't appear to have undergone any HD cleanup whatsoever. It's a strange world where the in-game graphics greatly outshine the cinematics, but thanks to the strange combination of HD gameplay and seemingly-SD cinematics, that's exactly what's happening here.

In addition to the two games, you're also getting an exclusive code that will let you download a playable demo for God of War III. (Why this didn't ship on the disc, I'll never know.) God of War demos have a reputation for giving you far more than you might expect and leaving you on an enragingly brilliant cliffhanger, and this one is no different. It offers up a neat comparison when you look at it after the HD clean-ups, and serves as a hell of a reminder of what the PS3 can do.

In terms of additional content, God of War Collection is severely lacking. The God of War Collection is debuting at a budget price of only $39.99, and it shows in the no frills bonus content. You can access some "making of" videos for God of War II and... that's it. But then again, the collection offers up trophy support, giving old school God of War fans who might be sitting on the fence a good reason to jump back in. As a trophy whore myself, this was a more than welcome addition. Alongside the gorgeous HD clean-up, trophies definitely seem to be the biggest draw. It just would have been nice to see some fresh new exclusive bonus materials. Maybe some interviews with David Jaffe, or some concept art that never made the cut. Just something to whet our appetities and get us more entranced in the mythos.

It would have also been great to see the PSP-only Chains of Olympus get a cleaned-up home console adaptation in this package. I know how ridiculous a thought this is, but still -- Chains of Olympus was the best God of War to date. We would have loved to see what a big-budget version of the game might have looked like. If not that, maybe they could have included it as a PS3-to-PSP install. A retail transfer situation like this would be a first to my knowledge, but given the PS3-to-PSP nature of select PSN content it's not out of the realm of possibility. Regardless of how lofty our hopes might have been, the lack of Chains of Olympus love makes us sad pandas.

Despite our nitpicky complaints, it all comes down to two things: HD polish and trophy support. Add in the demo, and you've got a supremely good value. Hell -- the PS2 versions of these games still retail at $19.99 a pop. If you loved God of War the first time and are psyched about the upcoming God of War III, picking up this package is a no-brainer.

7/10