God of War: My first real ps2 experience and the first game we clocked on the ps2

So, my neighbour from way down my road tells my mom and I that his son bought the wrong game and only realized when he got home that he already had it. We don't ask questions, we don't argue, we go along with viewing the game. We paid him a couple of bucks and left. "God of War" sounded like an interesting video game name. It was only the second game I had acquired for my ps2 (the first being Jak 3). Little did I know that this God of War disc was going to change so much in my gamer journey.

I put the mysterious disc into my ps2 console and watch the whole "The Gods of Olympus have abandoned me," speech and think not too much, but this guy does look sick cool, honestly.
Then I get to meet Kratos, the protagonist of this EPIC tale.

The God of War cover for the ps2 featuring Kratos holding Medusa's head

A little backstory before I begin: God of War was released on March 22nd 2005, developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Song Computer Entertainment. Only released for the ps2 at the time. But, later for the ps3 and ps Vita. It is loosely based on Greek Mythology and tells the story of our main guy, Kratos, being sent on a quest to find Pandora's box and defeat Ares; Kratos' former mentor who tricked him into killing his wife and daughter. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as the words I just used.

Oh god, the game opens with you fighting these scary rotting, undead Spartan soldiers. I wasn't ready for this but I'm here already and I have to get this right. The game threw me in the deep end real quick and since I used the keypad on the ps1, the joysticks were a whole different ballgame for me. At least, I had the prompts, square for light attacks and triangle for heavy ones. Okay, okay, I can do this. That was basically me through the whole game.

Playing God of War got me into Greek Mythology. Just imagine 10 year old me telling my 5th grade teacher all about the Greek gods and goddesses, to be honest, he was impressed. And to this day, I still enjoy reading me some good Greek Mythology information.

Back to the game. It was a real journey. I felt like I was Kratos. He's a character that has made mistakes in his past, he's done some really bad stuff but you feel sorry for him and then you get angry when he gets treated badly and then you get involved. Ripping heads from bodies, stabbing swords through chests and doing all other kinds of bloodthirsty things just come with the territory and there was something about Kratos' arrogance that was entertaining. He's all like, "You can't kill me, I'll come for you Ares, vengeance will be mine," and every word he says is something you want to make come true while playing.

I find it kind of hard deciding which enemies were my favourite. I know I HATE archers with a passion. Seeing as most of the creatures in this game are the undead, they fight pretty well for a bunch of dead guys. Minotaurs were really awesome and really overpowering, you were puny compared to them. Centaurs made an appearance in the Challenge of Hades, the creepy looking half man, half horse abominations.
I guess if I should choose a favourite enemy, it would be the Satyrs. Ugh, they were such skilled fighters. And I loved strategically fighting them when they popped up. Their swordsmanship was flawless, quick and agile. Harpies swooped down, screeching like old ladies.

Some of the enemies that you face off against

And then don't get me started on the 4 bosses the game had. The Hydra, Medusa, The Guardian of Pandora and Ares, the final boss battle which had 3 stages.
The Hydra had too many heads, I don't need to add anything else to that description. Medusa had a tail for miles and a gaze that literally turned you to stone. The Guardian of Pandora was a giant Minotaur that definitely left an impression. You had different stages to this fight and he changed his approach to killing you throughout. His fight always gives me an adrenaline rush.

The game's four bosses

Ares. Ares needs a paragraph all to himself because he's a real mother *insert word here.* His battle (not a fight, it was a battle) consisted of 3 stages. My mom and I split the stages according to our strengths. I did the first and last one and she did the second stage. I will mention that that stage had a whole bunch of Kratos Doppelgangers trying to kill Kratos while he tried keeping his wife and child 'alive' by hugging them and giving his health to them.

The game also has some awesome weapons and magic granted to you by the Gods of Olympus. Aphrodite, Athena, Zeus, Artemis, Poseidon and Hades make an appearance in the game to aid our Kratos. And a relic called Poseidon's Trident which lets him breathe underwater, and honestly, that was my favourite tidbit. 

And then the disc we bought from the neighbour got stuck at a cutscene halfway through the game, on the way to Pandora's temple and it didn't want to get past that part. When I checked the disc, it had a circular scratch on it which kinda looked 'man-made.' I was determined to continue our play of God of War so I asked a friend if he could lend me his, which he did. I got past the cutscene, played on a bit, saved and then retried my own disc and voila!, it had worked. So my mom and I were super happy about that. A few years later, I purchased a proper copy of the game from the game shop. 

I must mention that even my grandmother knew who Kratos was and my mom actually got her to purchase God of War 2 for us because she agreed that "we should get to play the next game after finishing the one we have." ( But that's for another post ;) )

I had some heavy powered help in God of War. Let me just set this whole scene straight, my mom and I play video games together. My mom loves God of War. And, we're two completely different gamers. I'm the strategist, I go in slowly, I evaluate the area, I find weaknesses, alternative ways to get things done and I block. Then, you have my mom, she's 120% in the room, kicking butts left, right and center without even thinking twice. She's never used the block button in God of War and I envy that, I don't even think she knows which button it is (she does, I asked her while writing this). God of War was the first game that showed me how different our gaming styles were. Sometimes hers worked better than mine and other times mine got us through an area better. That's why this game was made for both of us and that's why I am proud to say that we finished God of War together. 

To sum most of this post up, we LOVED God of War, its our favourite gaming franchise and I'd light my toe on fire to play the other titles I haven't gotten to yet. A PlayStation 4 would open all those doors for me. One day is one day. 

Escape Or Die Trying: A rundown of the most underrated game in freaking history

I bet not many of you have heard about a game called O.D.T, or rather, Escape Or Die Trying. Well, then you've come to the right place because this post will give you the rundown and of course, you'll get my thoughts.

The PlayStation cover for O.D.T

So, firstly, some background: O.D.T was designed and published by Psygnosis. It was released on the 31st of August 1998 for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It had a planned Nintendo 64 version but it got cancelled. The N64 version had another unlockable character, Mr. Bodybolt. 

Secret characters: Sophia Hawkins, Karma and Mr. Bodybolt

The plot goes like this: You play as one of 4 characters (there are also 2 unlockable characters, Stowaway Sophia Hawkins and Karma, the Ex-Deviant), Corporal Ike Hawkins, Cartographer Julia Chase, Chief Engineer Maxx Havok and Archbishop Solaar. You're on the Nautiflyus (an airship) with Captain Lamat and Marin (The pilot) transporting the Green Pearl back to Calli, the homeland of our heroes. The Green Pearl is a magical artifact that would hopefully heal the endemic Calli's people are facing. Due to time constraints, they were forced to fly over the Forbidden Zone and accidentally crash landed on a roof of a tower in the zone. The Captain and the Green Pearl are taken by Ah Puch, a super scary demon monster.

The Nautiflyus

Basically, you have 3 objectives:

• Collect gas canisters to refill the balloon of your ship, 
• Find and retrieve the Green Pearl and,
• Escape from the Forbidden Zone

In every level there in a final boss and every level feels different. There are different weapon ammo and cool spells that make the game interesting.

The 4 Main heroes of O.D.T

The Refinery, Gardens, Jails, Kitchens, Pools and Temple are the themes for the levels you face and the bosses are themed accordingly.

My favourite level was the Pools. The blue colours, the water (I love water in video games) and the fish wall patterns calmed me in a game filled with jumpscares. Well, jumpscares for me only actually.
My mom and I played this game together and I remember several times where I'd be watching her play, she'd head down a passage and where the light illuminates, I'd see movement, get a fright myself and grab hold of her shoulder and shout. She'd end up shouting as well and put the game on pause. I think that must've happened at least a million times. 

My Favourite level, The Pools

There were also these teal coloured monsters that wouldn't die even when they lay still on the ground and when you approached, they'd simply hop up and attack. And they'd make this scary groaning sound which kinda scared 6-7 year old me.
My least favourite level was the Kitchens. It had lots of jumping over lava, carcasses and spiders. And steamy warm chicken stood on every table. The boss at the end was also not cool. A monster wielding two butcher knives after playing a level filled with carcasses made me think I'd be a carcass soon too.

I did some research and found the bosses names in order; The Golem, The Prototype, The Treeman, Ek Ahau, Kisin, a Dragon and Ah Puch.

Ek Ahau was a cool dude. He was massive, with one arm and a deformed 'twin' stuck to his torso. He did these Kung-fu kicks and we literally nicknamed him Kung-fu Panda for that reason.
Being in a small room with this boss heavily stomping around after you was NOT a good thing.

And the Prototype had a funky move where if you had him walking into a corner, he'd turn the top half of his body around and suddenly he's facing you.
The Treeman had baby dinosaurs spewing from his chest, it was really annoying trying to fight a boss and also trying to keep the little rugrats from biting you.

My favourite character to play as was Ike. He balanced real well. Not too light or heavy in my hands. As a gamer, I can almost feel heavy and light characters in games. Julia was too light for me, one wrong flinch and she'd stroll off a ledge. Maxx was too heavy and I just never took to Solaar, honestly.

Some of the bosses and enemies you'll encounter

The array of enemies in the game fit into the environment, dinosaurs in the garden, bats in the open air outside and piranhas in the water. When you stood still in the water for too long, a piranha would take a chomp out of you. Them biting always sounded like they had false teeth rattling in their mouths. It was funny. 

This game brought me so much joy. As much as it was action packed, it had puzzle elements and it got my brain working. But I must admit dying over and over did frustrate me. When I got home early from school, you'd find me standing in my lounge, the controller in my hand, fighting the Dragon boss in the water level over and over. 

If I think about O.D.T objectively, I see few flaws. Better character back stories with more in game cutscenes could've strengthened the gameplay. More explanations to things. Back then, I loved the game for what it was. But if the game was remade as was then, today, critics would point out the same flaws. 

But, I think with a little creative flair and more backstory, the game could make it in today's gaming industry. I loved the game's layout and the impact the game had on my gaming journey is why, 100%, with no hesitation, Escape Or Die Trying makes it to my top favourite games of all time.

I thank my good friend, Lord Josh Allen, for the pictures I used in this post. He is a fellow O.D.T lover and has some great O.D.T related content on his Youtube and even has a Facebook group devoted to this amazing game, O.D.T Escape Or Die Trying.