Deicide doesn't make you many friends on Olympus. God Of War II finds Kratos at odds with Zeus and Athena, who conspire to strip the up-jumped Spartan of his powers. You can't really blame them for the backstab; the guy did smite Ares the last time he rubbed elbows with the gods. Luckily, the surly Greek still has an ally or two left in the pantheon. Gaia plucks our anti-hero from the clutches of Hades and sets him back on the path to vengeance—a road rife with mythological beasties, Tomb Raider-style puzzles, and epic action setpieces.
This sequel doesn't evolve the God Of War series so much as refine it. Where the first game occasionally felt like a bloody slog punctuated by the occasional boss battle, this outing moves at a dizzying clip. The game is paced like a quality, big-screen action flick, with narrative doled out in spurts between slayings. Polished to a near-blinding gleam, God Of War II is a gamer's game, brimming with mechanics lovingly swiped from influential console classics like Shenmue and Castlevania.