• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Ranking the God of War games

EmptySpace said:
ascension did better things than 3. puzzles were way better. sub-weapons felt unique instead of derivatives of the chains. both had stupid stories. camera during epic moments could've been handled better. mini-bosses were great. final boss was way, way better. sense of adventure was better. time manipulation was great. can't even believe people were actually stuck in that one section. yes, you had to try more than once to get through it, but if you actually died 40 times then you must have sucked so much or you've been relying on sq-sq-tr combo far too much.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you. Something about Ascension just felt off
 
God of War 2 - Most epic feeling game. Large scale adventure with lots of variety in weapons, enemies and scenery.
God of War : Ghost of Sparta - Great story with great gameplay. Felt like the true spiritual sequel to God of War 2.
God of War Ascension - Arguably the tightest combat in the series and the kicked up difficulty was appreciated. The snake train set piece was great and I enjoyed the multiplayer.
God of War 1 - Very tight and condensed experience.
God of War : Chains of Olympus - A fun prequel to the first game with some neat weapons. the gauntlet and sun shield were neat.
God of War 3 - No weapon variety, no location variety, and worst of all the game pisses away all the story that God of War 1 and 2 had been building toward all these years to focus on fucking Pandora's Box. Kratos becomes a one note character and displays none of the development present in the other games.

This is by far my favorite video game franchise. With the exception of God of War 3, they are all really fantastic games with neat stories.
 
Mine:
God of War 2
God of War 3
God of War : Ghost of Sparta
God of War : Chains of Olympus
God of War 1
God of War Ascension (Wow, So I was trying to remember something remarkable about this game and I forgot completely everything, combat, story, weapons,etc)
 
GoW 2 was the best, easily. Follow by 3 and the PSP titles,

People saying GoW1, must have forgotten that damn spinning blade wall Hades level.
 
antitrop said:
The one that David Jaffe made is the best, and all the others just get lumped into the same equally dismissable pile of "Not made by David Jaffe".

God of War 3 was disgusting, I stopped playing it halfway through.
Click to expand...


can you please explain why? That's a pretty strong reaction to a game
 
DustyVonEric said:
GoW 2 was the best, easily. Follow by 3 and the PSP titles,

People saying GoW1, must have forgotten that damn spinning blade wall Hades level.
Click to expand...

GOW 1 hasn't aged well, as someone who played the series for the first time in the last couple years. Lots of wonky camera angles that cause you to jump to nowhere and fall off ledges. It has the best story but GOW 2 is way more polished and is a better game.

I'd probably rank them this way, having not played Ascension.
GOW 2
Ghost of Sparta (this was way better than I was expecting and has a good storyline)
GOW 1
GOW 3 (can't remember anything about it except the intro and the Hercules boss fight which were both epic)
Chains of Olympus
 
God of War 2 is the best all around gameplay experience, it's the Uncharted 2 leap of the series.

God of War 1 had the best story that was actually somewhat of a greek tragedy before the later games turned Kratos into a full blown villain, amazing game when it 1st came out.

God of War 3, I was burnt out on the gameplay by this one. The boss battle are the only memorable things about this game, I don't remember any of the in between stuff.

Chains of Olympus....eh

Didn't play GoS or Ascension
 
Can someone explain to me why there seems to be a discrepancy between the metacritic score of Chains of Olympus and the user attitude towards it? Most people are ranking it low despite being the higher rates GoW games (91 on metacritic - 5 higher than Ghost of Sparta which people are ranking higher). Why's that?
 
God Of War 2

God Of War 3

God of War

God Of War Ghosr Of Sparta

God Of War Chains Of Olympus

God Of War Ascension

I pretty much like all of the games (except ascension) though the 2nd will always be the best for me lol
 
God of War 3
God of War 2
God of War 1
God of War Ascension
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
God of War: Chains of Olympus

not sure how op could possibly like 1 more than 2/3, but they're all great
 
Kralamoonard said:
Can someone explain to me why there seems to be a discrepancy between the metacritic score of Chains of Olympus and the user attitude towards it? Most people are ranking it low despite being the higher rates GoW games (91 on metacritic - 5 higher than Ghost of Sparta which people are ranking higher). Why's that?
Click to expand...
It was a technical feat at the time. I imagine that bumped up some scores. My main problem is the fact that it's like two hours long. Ghost also came out after the PSP had kind of been set aside by a lot of people, myself included. Only played the hd version.
 
God Of War II - Easily the best. The level design, weapons and combat are the best in the series. The pacing and flow of the game were pretty much perfect.
God Of War: Ghost of Sparta - Can't believe this ran on the PSP. Great story, weapons and bosses. The pacing again was very strong.
God of War III - Pure spectacle, fan service and unbelievable good graphics. Best bosses in the series but the final 1/3 of the game is a slog.
God of War Ascension - Amazing graphics and set pieces. Boring everything else.
God of War - I didn't play this until the HD release so it felt very unpolished compared to it's predecessors.
God Of War: Chains of Olympus - An OK first attempt at the GOW formula from Ready at Dawn. Very short.
 
Immortal said:
God of War 3
God of War 2
God of War 1
God of War Ascension
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
God of War: Chains of Olympus

not sure how op could possibly like 1 more than 2/3, but they're all great
Click to expand...

1 has a special place for me. I played it when it came out, not knowing what I was getting into (I hadn't seen any gameplay video or demo or anything), and it blew my socks off. The opening Hydra battle was something I had never seen before in games, and the scale was stupidly brilliant. The story completely pulled me in as well. As impressive 2 and 3 were, the first game is still my favourite for these reasons.
 
God of War 2 - The best. It runs into some pacing issues here and there, but for the most part everything (including said pacing) is an improvement. The opening set piece level is legendary. There are more subweapons, more varied from the original. You get a bunch of new abilities - The parry in particular might be my favorite because it's so tactile. The quest itself you're set on is somehow even more grand than the last. Everything is so more intense, and it fixes balance issues from the first game (Poseidon's Rage is replaced with a weaker spell that requires smart use and it works).

God of War 1 - Epic quest, epic adventure. Some early parts of the game drag a bit but once you reach the temple in search of the box, it doesn't let go until the end. God of War 2 is just better constructed, but the original is very good. I think I like God of War 1's soundtrack more though. IIRC, some of God of War 2's tracks felt like lesser variations of the same themes.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta - I don't actually remember that much about this game lol. Only as "the better handheld one and a fun game", but I couldn't tell you why. Could be better than the original God of War. Don't know.

God of War: Chains of Olympus - Likewise, although I don't like Chains of Olympus. I think I didn't like the parry timing - I thought it was unintuitive. One thing I definitely remember though is that CoO has the best God of War subweapon, hands down. The Gauntlet of Zeus is amazing. It's everything the Cestus from 3 should have been. Bashing enemies in the face with this thing is immensely satisfying.

God of War 3 - I don't remember much from 3 other than that I was very disappointed. I remember being disappointed that the subweapons are just variations of the chains instead of their own thing (Cestus is probably most disappointing after the pre-release hype), going to hell again etc. The game doesn't stand out much to me. Even though you're climbing Mt. Olympus, it's not that exciting. Part of it is that it's a continuation of the last game and the story doesn't unfold... well after the cliffhanger ending from 2.

God of War: Ascension - Half part miserable, half part fun. The first half is awful. Dreadfully awful. The parry timing is off and unintuitive, and you're put into situations to fight as if the timing were different. Roll invincibility is gone, which is fine as a design choice, except for the rest of the game design not taking that into account. I have allot of awful memories of early game - One that stands out at me in the moment is being stuck in a narrow corridor with a handful of durable enemies that didn't particularly care what I was doing. I don't remember how I won. -- Just for the record, I beat the first two games on the hardest difficulty settings, so I'm not just bad at this. (at least not relatively) -- Second half of Ascension is a whole different animal. There was a point I stopped and wondered, "Was this half of the game made by an entirely different team?" Combat made more sense, the set pieces interlocked and played out in a cool way. The second half is a good game.
 
Paltheos said:
God of War 2 - The best. It runs into some pacing issues here and there, but for the most part everything (including said pacing) is an improvement. The opening set piece level is legendary. There are more subweapons, more varied from the original. You get a bunch of new abilities - The parry in particular might be my favorite because it's so tactile. The quest itself you're set on is somehow even more grand than the last. Everything is so more intense, and it fixes balance issues from the first game (Poseidon's Rage is replaced with a weaker spell that requires smart use and it works).

God of War 1 - Epic quest, epic adventure. Some early parts of the game drag a bit but once you reach the temple in search of the box, it doesn't let go until the end. God of War 2 is just better constructed, but the original is very good. I think I like God of War 1's soundtrack more though. IIRC, some of God of War 2's tracks felt like lesser variations of the same themes.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta - I don't actually remember that much about this game lol. Only as "the better handheld one and a fun game", but I couldn't tell you why. Could be better than the original God of War. Don't know.

God of War: Chains of Olympus - Likewise, although I don't like Chains of Olympus. I think I didn't like the parry timing - I thought it was unintuitive. One thing I definitely remember though is that CoO has the best God of War subweapon, hands down. The Gauntlet of Zeus is amazing. It's everything the Cestus from 3 should have been. Bashing enemies in the face with this thing is immensely satisfying.

God of War 3 - I don't remember much from 3 other than that I was very disappointed. I remember being disappointed that the subweapons are just variations of the chains instead of their own thing (Cestus is probably most disappointing after the pre-release hype), going to hell again etc. The game doesn't stand out much to me. Even though you're climbing Mt. Olympus, it's not that exciting. Part of it is that it's a continuation of the last game and the story doesn't unfold... well after the cliffhanger ending from 2.

God of War: Ascension - Half part miserable, half part fun. The first half is awful. Dreadfully awful. The parry timing is off and unintuitive, and you're put into situations to fight as if the timing were different. Roll invincibility is gone, which is fine as a design choice, except for the rest of the game design not taking that into account. I have allot of awful memories of early game - One that stands out at me in the moment is being stuck in a narrow corridor with a handful of durable enemies that didn't particularly care what I was doing. I don't remember how I won. -- Just for the record, I beat the first two games on the hardest difficulty settings, so I'm not just bad at this. (at least not relatively) -- Second half of Ascension is a whole different animal. There was a point I stopped and wondered, "Was this half of the game made by an entirely different team?" Combat made more sense, the set pieces interlocked and played out in a cool way. The second half is a good game.
Click to expand...

The first game definitely has a more memorable score. It just hits you and never lets up. Also, it's more varied than the later games, especially Ascension.
 
God of War 2
God of War 1
God of War 3
God of War Ghost of Sparta
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War Ascension
 
I used to think 3 was better than Ascension, but it's not, aside from the boss battles. All of Santa Monica's GOW games are great though. RAD's are good but not great, though they get close at times. It would have been interesting to see what they could have done with the series if they had the budget and time they were given for The Order. Anyways...

1 > 2 > Ascension > 3 > GOS = COO.
 
CrispyGoomba said:
I'd love to hear why you guys prefer 2 over 1. The first game just seems like perfection in every way possible to me.
Click to expand...

For me it's basically because of Pandora's Temple, particularly the lower levels. It also has the best music in the series and an atmosphere they were never able to replicate in the sequels (though all the games have a fantastic aura about them). It's undeniable that II did many things to improve upon the first game though. All four of Santa Monica's GOW games rank REALLY closely for me, and it just comes down my brain forcing me to choose how I would rank them. They are all fantastic, with each one having their highlights and their nagging issues.
 
2
3
1
Ghosts of Sparda
Ascension
Chains of Olympus

I like them all though. I feel like Ascension gets a lot of hate but it was fun. Never played the online though I didn't care for that.
 
Sword Of Doom said:
I have to disagree with you. Something about Ascension just felt off
Click to expand...

Unlocking moves based on your combo meter? I sincerely believe they shit the bed with the combat. Rather than have all the moves at your disposal right off the bad, they take your attacks away and have to earn them through combat. Which sucks, because it makes the combat tedious and slow.
 
Corpsepyre said:
Interesting replies here.

Would any of you want GoW4 to be a semi-open world game?
Click to expand...

Definitely not. Tight level design, for me, is the single most important aspect of the series.

BrainZEROX said:
Same for me.

I used to love the franchise but now... The license is slowly getting as stupidly gory as Mortal Kombat which is a license I literally hate and it turns me down. I'd like a return to God of War 1/2 levels of gore. Please Sony, tone it down for IV, because you can doesn't mean you should.
Click to expand...

You know Santa Monica is only gonna keep taking it further and further. I will be shocked if GOW IV won't be the best looking, most brutal console game to date.
 
Corpsepyre said:
1 has a special place for me. I played it when it came out, not knowing what I was getting into (I hadn't seen any gameplay video or demo or anything), and it blew my socks off. The opening Hydra battle was something I had never seen before in games, and the scale was stupidly brilliant. The story completely pulled me in as well. As impressive 2 and 3 were, the first game is still my favourite for these reasons.
Click to expand...

Yeah I can definitely understand that. I felt the same way and I even played 1 later on when it was more dated. 2 was just perfect to me though, the whole intro sequence and fights in general just seemed to be of a much grander scale. They improved upon everything without changing anything too drastically, which they also continued to do with 3, but I'm still not sure if I prefer 2 or 3.
 
Corpsepyre said:
The Batman thread gave me this idea. One of my favourite game series is God of War. Here are my rankings from favourite to least.

God of War 1( still the best all these years)
God of War 3
God of War 2
God of War Ascension
God of War : Ghost of Sparta
God of War : Chains of Olympus

Rank away, GAF.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, OP.
 
3 > 1 > 2 > Ascencion


Could never be bothered with the handheld games.


1 probably is the best of the games to be honest. It just felt like had the complete balance right. However all I remember from 3 is the most insane and epic moments, so im voting for that.
 
2>1>>3>>>>>>Ascension

I loved 1 back when it released because it really felt like something else, a viable western take on the character action genre mixed with an evocative and gritty universe.

2 was basically everything taken to the next level and blew my mind.

3 is when franchise fatigue started to settle for me and instead of seeing everything I loved in the first two games, as well as how gorgeous it was, I was just overwhelmed by the nihilism of it all and the QTEs. I guess it felt too edgy for me.

Ascension was when I knew I was done with the franchise. It's not that it's mechanically bad or anything, it just didn't work for me at all. That's the moment I felt I wasn't the target of the games. I love my juvenile power fantasy every now and then but I guess there's a thin line in my tastes that's somewhere in 3 or Ascension.
 
GOS easily has the best gameplay and story in the series, but what I look for in a GOW game is the art and I don't think any other entry in the series even come close to III, I remember way back before it's released David Jaffe said the game looks like "painting comes to life" 5 years later and I feel this description still applies to this game more then any other game released before or since.

It is also one of the most polish games out there, the IQ is crazy for a PS3 game, kind of funny going from that to ascension, probably the least polish sony first party game I can think of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RTTP/LTTP: God of War Triology
26
606
Lokaum D+ replied
God of War: Sons of Sparta - Reviews Thread
2 3
107
2K
p_xavier replied
God of War Sons of Sparta Releases Today
4 5 6 7 8
387
3K
Thief1987 replied
God of War Trilogy Remake Announced
News  4 5 6 7 8
359
2K
Danny Dudekisser replied
Cory Barlog next game is set in the God Of War universe
Rumor Game Dev  2 3 4
163
1K
Aenima replied
Top Bottom