Click the image for the God of War II video review.

The highly anticipated sequel God of War II is sweeping the gaming world with maximum carnage, bloody battles and glowing reviews. TwitchGuru's Rob Wright and Travis Meacham discussed God of War II and discovered they had different takes on the game. One editor feels the game was good but not as great as the original God of War, while the other considers it one of the best sequels of all time and in some respects even better than the first title. Here's the debate as it played out over text chats and e-mail:

View God of War II Slide Show (10 images)

Intercepted Skype Chat

Travis: did you beat God of War II?

Rob: almost.

Rob: How about you?

Travis: not yet.

Travis: I have no idea how close I am.

Rob: tell me where you are.

Travis: I think the last major boss I fought was Perseus...

Rob: ah, you're getting close.

Travis: ...which was awesome, by the way.

Rob: yes, Harry Hamlin is the man. Not really...but still.

Travis: I thought it was cool to take such a heroic character and make Kratos fight him.

Rob: and freakin' kill him, too.

Travis: it's taking me a bit longer because I'm playing with the hardest difficulty setting unlocked.

Rob: why?

Travis: it unlocks more bonus stuff.

Rob: oh, you're one of those guys.

Travis: and it only feels really harder on those boss fights.

Travis: it's interesting that they did this whole thing at the end of the first game where you unlocked this secret story about Kratos' brother. But they went a totally different way for the sequel.

Rob: what about the stupid sex mini-game? Was it "harder" there, too?

Travis: did I miss the mini-game? Maybe I haven't gotten to it yet.

Rob: it's at the beginning.

Travis: oh sh*t.

Rob: it's totally stupid. In a bad way.

Travis: during the Colossus thing?

Rob: yup. More double team action, plus a marble statue peeing fountain.

Travis: sexy.

Rob: Guess what the marble statue does when you, uh, finish?

Travis: ...[pause]

Rob: Come on. Use your imagination. Peeing fountain statue....work with me...

Travis: I can imagine several things, none of which seem appropriate for a video game.

Rob: water comes spraying out of his "spear of destiny," so to speak.

Travis: ahh.

Rob: [as Nipsy Russell would say]...right.

The late great Nipsey Russell

Editor's Note: Rob and Travis resumed their discussion a few days later over e-mail.

Rob: Okay, I've played God of War II for about a week and I'm at the end already. I have some rather conflicted feelings about this one, and I'm afraid to release them. So I need you to break the ice. Do it.

Travis: I love these games, and God of War II is exactly what I wanted it to be; it's just more of the first game. If there's a problem, it's that both games start with these tutorial levels that are so awesome that they eclipse anything else the game has to offer. The Colossus level in God of War II is better than most games by itself.

Rob: Really? Wow, I think I'm in the minority on this one. I'll start by saying that God of War is absolutely one of the best console games of all-time. So admittedly, I'm probably setting the bar a little high-as I'm prone to do. I wrote about the Colossus level for the God of War preview a few weeks ago, and it was pretty amazing. But after playing 10-plus hours of God of War II, I felt a tinge of disappointment. And I think it's exactly because the game is so much like the first and God of War II turned out to be exactly what I expected. It just didn't excite me consistently the same way the first one did. I don't know, maybe I'm being too hard on it. I just don't think God of War II deserves all these near perfect review scores.

Travis: I disagree with any game getting a perfect review score because there is always something that, in hindsight, could have been handled better. What I like about God of War II, though, is that it frequently takes an already ridiculous videogame scenario and ramps it up a notch or two. It's almost like the developers are saying, "Here's how other games would do, and here's how God of War does it." For instance, there is a jumping puzzle (swinging to be precise) later in the game at the Crossing of the Lowlands. It's obvious what you have to do when you see it, but when you get into it the music changes to a spectacular action rhythm and the pillars that you need to swing from start to come apart and fall down under Kratos' weight. It's a short little action scene, but it's a good representation of the overall God of War II package: third-person console action that you know and love, but bigger and better.

Join our discussion on this topic