God Of War 1 [REPACK]
God of War is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). First released on March 22, 2005, for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) console, it is the first installment in the series of the same name and the third chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, it is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian gods. The goddess Athena tasks Kratos with killing Ares, the God of War and Kratos' former mentor who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and daughter. As Ares besieges Athens out of hatred for Athena, Kratos embarks on a quest to find the one object capable of stopping the god once and for all: Pandora's Box.
God of War 1
God of War sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide, making it the fourteenth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time. Regarded as one of the best action-adventure games for the platform, it won several "Game of the Year" awards. In 2009, entertainment website IGN named God of War the seventh-best PlayStation 2 game of all time. It has been highly praised for its graphics, sound, story, and gameplay and has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. The success of the game led to the development of eight more games and expansion into other media. The game and its first sequel, God of War II, were remastered and released in November 2009 as part of the God of War Collection, and in 2012, the remastered version was re-released as part of the God of War Saga, both for the PlayStation 3. A novelization of the game was published in May 2010, and a film adaptation had been in development for many years but was ultimately canceled.
Throughout the game world, the player finds green, blue, and red chests that contain orbs of the corresponding color. Green orbs replenish the player's health, blue orbs replenish magic, and red orbs provide experience for upgrading weapons and magic and replenish the Rage meter, which, if full, allows for the usage of the Rage of the Gods ability. Red orbs are also collected by killing foes and destroying certain inanimate objects.[3] The player can also find Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers that increase the length of the Health and Magic Meters, respectively.[4]
Kratos' main weapon is the Blades of Chaos: a pair of blades attached to chains wrapped around the character's wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung in various maneuvers. Later in the game, Kratos acquires a secondary weapon called the Blade of Artemis: a large sword that offers alternative combat options.[5] Kratos also learns to use four magical abilities which allow him to kill individual and multiple targets: Zeus' Fury (which allows him to throw lightning bolts at distant targets), Medusa's Gaze, Poseidon's Rage, and Army of Hades.[6] A relic called Poseidon's Trident allows Kratos to breathe underwater and navigate through this environment.[4] Early in the game, Kratos acquires a special ability called Rage of the Gods, which provides temporary invulnerability and increased attack damage.[7]
In combat, a quick time event (QTE) is initiated when the player has weakened a strong foe. The player performs a sequence of actions on the game controller shortly after an image of its circle button appears as an on-screen prompt. This allows for limited control of Kratos during a QTE cinematic sequence, which, if successful, ends the battle; failure usually results in damaging Kratos.[8] Similar in function is a quick time sex mini-game that occurs when Kratos encounters female twins; this became a regular feature throughout the series until God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010).[9]
God of War is set in an alternate version of ancient Greece populated by the Olympian gods, Titans, and other Greek mythological beings. With the exception of flashbacks, the events of the game are set between those of the games Chains of Olympus (2008) and Ghost of Sparta (2010). There are six locations explored, including fictional versions of the real-world Aegean Sea and Athens, and fictional locations such as the Desert of Lost Souls, the Temple of Pandora, the Underworld, and a brief scene on Mount Olympus.[11]
The Aegean Sea setting includes a mass of shipwrecked vessels.[11] Athens is a war-torn city under assault by Ares, the God of War;[12] beyond the city is the Desert of Lost Souls, a vast and windy desert of ancient ruins. The majority of the game occurs in Pandora's Temple, which is chained to the back of the Titan Cronos, who crawls through the desert.[13] The massive temple, constructed by the architect Pathos Verdes III, is filled with traps and monsters, and has three sections dedicated to the Titan Atlas and gods Poseidon and Hades, respectively.[14] The Underworld is a fiery realm with spiked pillars full of souls and flaming versions of previously encountered enemies. Athens is the scene of the final battle before a denouement on Mount Olympus in the God of War's throne room.[11]
The protagonist of the game is Kratos (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), a Spartan warrior who serves the Olympian gods. Other characters include a host of Greek gods, such as Athena (Carole Ruggier), the Goddess of Wisdom and Kratos' ally and mentor; Ares (Steven Blum), the God of War and main antagonist; Poseidon (Fred Tatasciore), the God of the Sea; Aphrodite (Carole Ruggier), the Goddess of Love and Sexuality; Zeus (Paul Eiding), the King of the Gods; Artemis (Claudia Black), the Goddess of the Hunt; and Hades (Nolan North), the God of the Underworld. Several of the gods aid Kratos with magic or weapons. Minor characters include the Oracle of Athens (Susan Blakeslee), the gravedigger (Paul Eiding), the body burner (Christopher Corey Smith), and the boat captain (Keith Ferguson). Other characters appear in flashbacks, including Kratos' wife Lysandra (Gwendoline Yeo), his daughter Calliope, the Barbarian King, and a Village Oracle (Susan Blakeslee). The game is narrated by Linda Hunt.[15][16]
Kratos is a warrior who serves the Greek gods of Olympus. Flashbacks reveal that he was once a successful but bloodthirsty captain in the Spartan army and led his men to several victories before being defeated by a barbarian king. Facing death, Kratos called on the God of War, Ares, whom he promised to serve if the god would spare his men and provide the power to destroy their enemies. Ares agreed and bonded the Blades of Chaos, a pair of chained blades forged in the depths of Tartarus, to his new servant. Kratos, equipped with the blades, then decapitated the barbarian king.[17]
Kratos waged war at the behest of Ares, eventually leading an attack on a village occupied by worshipers of Athena. Unknown to Kratos, Ares had secretly transported Kratos' wife and daughter to the village; during his frenzied attack on its temple, Kratos accidentally killed them in a blind fury. Although Ares believed this act would free Kratos to become the perfect warrior, the horrified and saddened Spartan instead renounced his pledge of servitude to the god and swore vengeance against him. The oracle of the destroyed village cursed Kratos by bonding the ashes of his dead family to his skin, turning it ash-white and earning him the nickname, "Ghost of Sparta". Plagued by nightmares of his horrible deed, Kratos vowed to serve the other gods in hope of ridding himself of the visions.[17]
Sony's Santa Monica Studio began development of God of War in 2002, under the working title Dark Odyssey,[18] and unveiled it two years later at SCEA Santa Monica Gamers' Day 2004.[19] Game director and creator David Jaffe said that while the idea for God of War was his own, the concept owed a debt to Capcom because he had played Onimusha and said "let's do that with Greek Mythology". He was inspired in part by the 1981 feature film, Clash of the Titans, saying, "the real high concept for me was ... merging it with Heavy Metal magazine". He said he liked both "the kids stuff ... with Greek Mythology" and the idea of adding more adult themes such as sex and violence.[20] The development team gave themselves "lots of freedom" to modify the myths, and Jaffe said they took the "coolest aspects of the subject" and wrote a story using those elements.[21] Director of visual development and lead concept artist, Charlie Wen, drew inspiration from classic films like Clash of the Titans as well as more contemporary films, such as Gladiator (2000), for tonal inspiration to lead the visual design of Kratos, other characters, and the world of God of War.[22]
Jaffe confirmed the game would be a cinematic presentation. He said that at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), they got to see where players were having issues with the camera system and said, "we are doing extensive focus tests, and using data compiled from E3, to find and fix the problem areas" of the cameras. He said he had the confidence that the team would fix the problems before the game's release. However, he said if players "hate cinematic camera systems, nothing we can do will help you like the God of War cameras".[21] For about three months during early development, Jaffe had seriously considered doing the game from the first-person perspective. This consideration came from the Dreamcast game Maken X as he said it was one of the "few games where I saw melee combat done well in a first-person perspective". After seeing presentations of Ico and Devil May Cry at a D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, Jaffe and lead programmer Tim Moss ultimately decided to focus on the third-person camera as Jaffe felt the first-person view would not have the "kind of emotion and combat and character building that I was hoping to do".[28]
The demo of God of War, entitled God of War: The Hydra Battle, was released on January 1, 2005. It featured Kratos battling various opponents and ended with a portion of the Hydra battle that opens the main game.[29] The game was released on March 22 in North America,[30] July 8 in the United Kingdom, and November 17 in Japan.[31] By the end of July, it was the sixth-best-selling game of 2005 up to that point.[32] On March 1, 2006, it became available in the PlayStation 2 lineup of Greatest Hits.[33][31] By July 2006, the game had sold 1 million copies and earned $43 million in the United States alone. Next Generation ranked it as the 50th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country.[34] In June 2012, Sony reported that the game sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide.[35] 041b061a72