God of War II is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE).

Slowly dragged to the Underworld, he is saved by the Titan Gaia, who instructs him to find the Sisters of Fate, as they can allow him to travel back in time, avert his betrayal, and take revenge on Zeus.

The player controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements, and battles foes who primarily stem from Greek mythology, including harpies, minotaurs, Gorgons, griffins, cyclopes, cerberuses, Sirens, satyrs, and nymphs.

Many of the combination attacks used in God of War reappear, and the game features more than double the amount of boss fights and more difficult puzzles than the original.

[1] Platforming elements require the player to climb walls and ladders, jump across chasms, swing on ropes, and balance across beams to proceed through sections of the game.

As the game progresses, Kratos acquires new weapons—the Barbarian Hammer, the Spear of Destiny, and periodically, the Blade of Olympus—offering alternative combat options.

As with previous games, Kratos learns to use up to four magical abilities, such as Typhon's Bane that acts as a bow and arrow for distant targets, giving him a variety of ways to attack and kill enemies.

The player may unlock bonus costumes for Kratos, behind-the-scenes videos, and concept art of the characters and environments, as rewards, as well as usage of the abilities found in the urns during the first playthrough.

A new mode, called Arena of the Fates, allows players to set difficulty levels and choose their own opponents to improve their skills.

The protagonist of the game is Kratos (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), a Spartan warrior who became the God of War after killing the former, Ares.

Other characters include Athena (Carole Ruggier), the Goddess of Wisdom; Zeus (Corey Burton), the King of the Gods and the main antagonist; several Titans—including Gaia (Linda Hunt), Atlas (Michael Clarke Duncan), Prometheus (Alan Oppenheimer), Typhon (Fred Tatasciore), and Cronos (Lloyd Sherr)—heroes Theseus (Paul Eiding) and Perseus (Harry Hamlin); the insane Icarus (Bob Joles); the Gorgon Euryale (Jennifer Martin); an undead version of the Barbarian King (Bob Joles); and the Sisters of Fate—Lakhesis (Leigh-Allyn Baker), Atropos (Debi Mae West), and Clotho (Susan Silo).

The gods Hades and Poseidon appear in flashbacks of the Great War, and in the final cutscene alongside Zeus, Helios, and Hermes on Olympus.

Kratos encounters the Titan Prometheus, who is chained in mortal form and tortured at Zeus' directive for giving fire to mankind.

After evading traps and defeating more enemies, Kratos encounters an unseen foe, revealed to be a loyal Spartan soldier also in search of the Sisters.

Outraged, Kratos defeats the Kraken and frees a phoenix, riding the creature to the Sisters' stronghold where he confronts two, Lakhesis and Atropos.

Kratos declares that the rule of the gods is at an end, then travels back in time and rescues the Titans just before their defeat in the Great War.

In an interview with Computer and Video Games (CVG) in June 2006, Barlog said that while working on the first few drafts of script, he studied the mythology extensively.

He said that the mythology is so large that "the real difficulty is picking things that really fit within the story of Kratos as well as being easy to swallow for audiences."

Although he loves the idea of teaching things through storytelling (in this case Greek mythology), Barlog said, "you can't let your story get bogged down by that.

Senior combat designer Derek Daniels said that for God of War II, they were basing the magical attacks on elements (e.g., air and earth).

[13] In an interview with IGN in February 2007, Barlog said that his goals for God of War II were to continue the previous game's story, expand on several elements, and to feature more epic moments as opposed to cinematics during gameplay.

"[14] In another interview with IGN, both Jaffe and Barlog said that they did not view God of War II as a sequel, but rather a continuation of the previous game.

[24] On March 1, 2007, Sony held a media event that featured scantily clad women and a dead goat[25] in Athens as part of the game's marketing campaign.

[26] The following month, the Daily Mail learned of the event from the UK Official PlayStation Magazine, called it a "depraved promotion stunt", and reported that Member of Parliament and anti-video game violence campaigner Keith Vaz said he would understand if the incident resulted in a boycott of Sony products.

[37] God of War II: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game, composed by Gerard K. Marino, Ron Fish, Mike Reagan, and Cris Velasco, was released on CD by Sony Computer Entertainment on April 10, 2007.

Dave Valentine of Square Enix Music Online gave the soundtrack an 8 out of 10, and said that it features a wide variety of ominous orchestral pieces, and each composer's contributions seem slightly more distinctive than the previous installment.

Atropos contacted Iris and had her lie to Zeus about Kratos on several instances,[53] and was the cause of distrust among the Olympians due to her rumor spreading and half-truths.

[65] He also said that God of War II's gameplay, like the original, "finds a comfortable middle ground" between hardcore and casual players.

"[64] Roper praised the scale of the levels, as well as the variety in environments, in comparison to the original installment, and said the art direction is "once again absolutely outstanding.

"[1] Reed, however, said if players can find any flaws, they are based on "personal taste", but also stated that regardless of refinement, "you can never quite replicate the wow factor of the original—even if it ends up being a better game.