I, despite having owned a PS2 and now owning a PS3, am ashamed to say that I have never played a God of War game before in my life. This is partly because I've only turned 18, but also because back when I had a PS2 I didn't read reviews and whatnot, and didn't know what was "hip" and "cool" on the market at the time.

Now, I've been looking at possibly getting the God of War Collections for the PS3... (for those of you who don't know, its basically God of War I and II remastered in HD for the PS3) but I've just realised there might be a small problem...

You see, I'm currently studying Ancient History for my A levels, specifically around Athens and Sparta and whatnot. So my question is this: as a student of those historical times, will the complete lack of historical accuracy in God of War annoy me?

I'm just curious, cause I've heard its a good game series... but due my background I might find it incredibly annoying that certain parts of the game kinda say "screw you" to the annals of history. Does anyone have an opinion on the matter? Thanks for any help anyone can give me! :)

Also, no flames please, keep discussion civil... heated, if it has to, but civil nonetheless.

oh by the way, I study the political/real life side of Athens and such (for example, the Peloponnesian Wars), so I doubt that the whole mythological thing will bother me too much. So what I'm asking is whether other parts of it (such as Kratos being a Spartan general, etc) will annoy me?

Did you like 300?

Chipperz:
Did you like 300?

I haven't watched it lol, I think it was sort of historically accurate-ish though...

I hated God of War. I don't know why, but whenever I was playing it, I just felt bored and wanted to play something else. I'm probably one of the 2% of gamers who didn't like God of War, though.

Simalacrum:

Chipperz:
Did you like 300?

I haven't watched it lol, I think it was sort of historically accurate-ish though...

Ahh, see, I was gonna offer the same ideas I gave one of my mates that can't watch 300 because of the "historical innacuracies" - treat it as someone telling the story, and you'll be fine. I'm fairly certain that the Spartans at Thermopalye(sp) didn't face off against 12-foot tall Persian ogre-things in nothing but capes and leather Y-fronts, but I'm also fairly certain that if you were going to retell it and make yourself sound badass, they'd creep in.

Same note - if you treat God of War as a Spartan "embelleshing" his exploits to include slaughtering mythical creatures (all of them), meeting/fighting gods (most of them) and breaking every face he comes across, then there's a strong case for historical accuracy.

Simalacrum:

Chipperz:
Did you like 300?

I haven't watched it lol, I think it was sort of historically accurate-ish though...

The Immortals were not actually monsters.

(just pulling your leg ;) )

Just play it, so what if it isn't historically accurate? When I play Medal of Honour I don't get angry because its nothing at all like the war.

Since when does historical accuracy matter in a video game about fighting gods?

If you are very into historical accuracy, then yes, it will annoy you.

If you are into a slight variation on mythology, that creates an awesome greek legend/god tale, then it will not.

You have little to lose from buying them, i thought the button bashing would annoy me, but it didn't.

It's pretty important to know that 300 is accurate in that there were spartans and persians at thermopylae everything else is pretty much made up.

I loved God of War I. Best adventrure game I've ever played. Visceral combat, great scenery, brutal kills, quick time events that make you feel like your input matters, even more destructive violence and a story is kind of in there between the whole if it moves it has to die gameplay.

I wouldn't worry about historical inaccuracies as one of the opening scenes involves a Ares stomping on Athens. That's not a figure of speech or a euphemism, Ares is PHYSICALLY stomping on Athens. If you can take issue with that concept with regard to greek history you'll never make it past the first level. If you can say "wow that's pretty awesome", while brutalising minotaur after minotaur and annihilating everything that appears in front of you (I can only think of one instance in which Kratos actually saves someone and even then it was purely because he needed to do so the further his own goals) you'll be fine. If you have the option rent or borrow it first, if you aren't into the game by the end of the first segment (e.g. the end of the boat sequece), give up because it's like 8 or so hours of that with still great puzzles.

God of War II I have to admit is something I'm a little conflicted over (You've come to the end of the world, I think we can settle the history aspect with that statement) still a great game but the first had a better feel. Puzzles still fun and interesting, scenery still beautiful and expansive, enemies multidinous and brutally dispatched, story is a bit deeper and a lot more characters... I can't think of a single person you save, pretty sure you kill EVERYONE.

If you feel you can suspend belief you'll have a great time, if not you'll just rage quit because those kinds of columns would never have been part of the frontispiece of that kind of building in the supposed era.

If historically inaccurate things bother you, then yes. But you don't go see a sci-fi movie for a lesson in logic, now do you?

manythings:
It's pretty important to know that 300 is accurate in that there were spartans and persians at thermopylae everything else is pretty much made up.

I loved God of War I. Best adventrure game I've ever played. Visceral combat, great scenery, brutal kills, quick time events that make you feel like your input matters, even more destructive violence and a story is kind of in there between the whole if it moves it has to die gameplay.

I wouldn't worry about historical inaccuracies as one of the opening scenes involves a Ares stomping on Athens. That's not a figure of speech or a euphemism, Ares is PHYSICALLY stomping on Athens. If you can take issue with that concept with regard to greek history you'll never make it past the first level. If you can say "wow that's pretty awesome", while brutalising minotaur after minotaur and annihilating everything that appears in front of you (I can only think of one instance in which Kratos actually saves someone and even then it was purely because he needed to do so the further his own goals) you'll be fine. If you have the option rent or borrow it first, if you aren't into the game by the end of the first segment (e.g. the end of the boat sequece), give up because it's like 8 or so hours of that with still great puzzles.

God of War II I have to admit is something I'm a little conflicted over (You've come to the end of the world, I think we can settle the history aspect with that statement) still a great game but the first had a better feel. Puzzles still fun and interesting, scenery still beautiful and expansive, enemies multidinous and brutally dispatched, story is a bit deeper and a lot more characters... I can't think of a single person you save, pretty sure you kill EVERYONE.

If you feel you can suspend belief you'll have a great time, if not you'll just rage quit because those kinds of columns would never have been part of the frontispiece of that kind of building in the supposed era.

This. It's accurate in the sense that all the gods that are there do what they should, but not much else. The games are amazing though.

BaldursBananaSoap:

manythings:
It's pretty important to know that 300 is accurate in that there were spartans and persians at thermopylae everything else is pretty much made up.

I loved God of War I. Best adventrure game I've ever played. Visceral combat, great scenery, brutal kills, quick time events that make you feel like your input matters, even more destructive violence and a story is kind of in there between the whole if it moves it has to die gameplay.

I wouldn't worry about historical inaccuracies as one of the opening scenes involves a Ares stomping on Athens. That's not a figure of speech or a euphemism, Ares is PHYSICALLY stomping on Athens. If you can take issue with that concept with regard to greek history you'll never make it past the first level. If you can say "wow that's pretty awesome", while brutalising minotaur after minotaur and annihilating everything that appears in front of you (I can only think of one instance in which Kratos actually saves someone and even then it was purely because he needed to do so the further his own goals) you'll be fine. If you have the option rent or borrow it first, if you aren't into the game by the end of the first segment (e.g. the end of the boat sequece), give up because it's like 8 or so hours of that with still great puzzles.

God of War II I have to admit is something I'm a little conflicted over (You've come to the end of the world, I think we can settle the history aspect with that statement) still a great game but the first had a better feel. Puzzles still fun and interesting, scenery still beautiful and expansive, enemies multidinous and brutally dispatched, story is a bit deeper and a lot more characters... I can't think of a single person you save, pretty sure you kill EVERYONE.

If you feel you can suspend belief you'll have a great time, if not you'll just rage quit because those kinds of columns would never have been part of the frontispiece of that kind of building in the supposed era.

This. It's accurate in the sense that all the gods that are there do what they should, but not much else. The games are amazing though.

Spoiler: Click to View

Can Kratos do a Heavy nom nom nom? You'll just have to wait and see...

God of War is a very stylised game that includes a large number of mythological references, more as a nod to the diversity of Greek mythology than as an attempt at being historically accurate. It's like they thought of as many characters, creatures and stories as possible from Greek mythology and tried to see how they could fit them all in.

There is no pretence of historical accuracy at all in this game (given that the game is based on a group of mythical characters this should be obvious). If you are the sort of person who cannot stand this then you are the sort of person who would find all computer games stupid because they are unrealistic. Apparently you are not this sort of person so you should like it fine.

If you by "historical accuracy" you actually mean "mythological accuracy" then you need to go soak your head. Myths vary widely from telling to telling, so don't expect much verisimilitude in GoW. They are a lot of brutal fun though.

It shouldn't annoy you. Just enjoy the game as is, the gods actually have pretty accurate personalities even if what is going on fits no where in mythological history. Just have fun with it and ignore all the historical inaccuracies while you take down a hydra and fight legions of the undead.