God of War II

The developers of the 2005 PS2 blockbuster God of War could have easily thrown together a mediocre sequel and sold a zillion copies on the name alone. Instead, they refined the formula and amped up the intensity from the triple-espresso level into the crystal-meth zone. Extending the scope of the series’s bloody reinvention of Greek mythology, the new game has warlord-turned-deity Kratos facing a fresh roster of classical heavyweights (Perseus, Icarus and Atlas among them) in a series of epic battles that are tests of smarts as well as reflexes. Easily among the most polished and lovingly detailed games ever released for the aging PS2, God of War II establishes a new benchmark for unrelenting action gameplay against which titles for today’s more powerful systems will be measured for years to come.—Andrew Johnston