God of War (updated with more detail)

You are a Spartan General named Kratos. In a brutal battle against a group of barbarians, the Spartans are totally getting slaughtered, and Kratos, on the verge of getting served, calls out to Ares, the God of War, and sells his soul to him for savior. Kratos then becomes his slave and is bound in chains in Hades. Kratos uses these chains with blades at the ends as his weapons througout the game. (Later in the game you also have the option of switching the the powerful Blades of Artemis). Ares then sends Kratos out to do his bidding, causing destruction on earth. Ares causes Kratos to accidentally kill his wife and child. Covered in their ashes, he earns the name "Ghost of Sparta" (that's why he's all grey). He renounces Ares, and is plagued with nightmares. (you know, oh-man-I-sold-my-soul-to-the-god-of-war-and-then-he-made-me-kill-my-family kind of nightmares.) The only way to ever be at peace is for Kratos to commit the ultimate crime, to kill a god. (But don't you kind of think Kratos deserves to have nightmares? I mean, he sold his soul. Everyone knows soul selling=eternal damnation. And before that, he was a murderous and wicked army general without mercy, and his only punishment is a couple of nightmares? No fair. I live a pious life of prayer and worship, and I'm having nightmares all the fucking time! And there's no gods to kill anymore.)

I haven't finished the game yet, but so far it has been, dare I say?...Guitar Hero Fun. The puzzles and battles are challenging, clever and varied. Some sections are pretty damn hard, but for the most part, it's got a really smooth curve as you make your way through. (well, okay, the thing is, this is sort of the first game of this kind that I've really played. I'm in the process of cultivating that video game logic (ie, they show you this because you need to pick it up later, or notice how this looks different from that because it's significant) so I have had a 3rd party advisory once or twice, but for the average gamer, it's probably challenging, but certainly managable...come on, I just got PS2. Before that it was Super Nintendo all the way, and I was a Donkey Kong/Super Mario kind of girl. Not a lot of puzzle solving there. I'm working on it though. I'm sure I'm getting better.) This is not the kind of game you sit down for a half an hour for; no, you need a good 2 hours minimum to devote, because once you get going, it's impossible to stop. Last night I play for 3 hours, reluctantly turned it off to go to bed, and then 10 minutes later turned it right back on. You just have to know what's next. And even though I already know the whole story, I find the little video bits inbetween that explain the tale to be pretty captivating. Some parts have great animation/storytelling techniques.

The music, also is excellent. There was a part I played last night where the music was so dramatic I thought I was in Braveheart, or any Mel Gibson movie for that matter. But not in a bad way, it was just surprising in a video game and it did actually make me feel sort of intense whilst playing. The siren's song is haunting and pretty, just the way I'd imagine them to sound. Some battle scenes sound like the music in the South Park episode with the Devil's son, like an o choir singing, "Dominus. Reptus." or something like that. Sound effects too, are above and beyond. Just crisp and appropriate for the action. Again with the magics, Posiden's Rage has a fierce electric crackling, and Medusa's stare sounds like a choir of dead people going, "oooooo". The Gorgons let out an earpiercing scream when you rip their heads off, even the sound of Kratos sliding down a rope sounds like hands getting ropeburn.

Basically it's awesome, even though I'm brutally murdering people in my dreams lately because of constant bloodshed I'm causing. (not that I wasn't brutally murdering people in my dreams before God of War, it's just more often now. And a little more messy.) In the behind the scenes section, the nerdy nerd guy in charge says they wanted the game to be the most brutal game there is, and I think they accomplished it. You should probably go buy it if you haven't already played, because it's only $20 at Best Buy right now. What a deal. Plus, there's boobies in it. You like boobies, right? (And when you get to the part with the two chicks in the bed, be sure to get down on their asses and press R2 a bunch...you totally bang them out for orbs (money with which to buy better blades). You bang them out so hard you knock the vase off the table, and you can tell by their moans that you're really good in bed. Sweet!)