Unfortunately it has been confirmed to Pro-G that this HD-Mode had to be removed from the PAL release because there simply wasn't enough room on the game disc.

"Whereas the US version still had enough room to incorporate this feature it had to be removed for ours because we had to use the final disc space for localisation (all the extra European languages)," a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesperson told Pro-G.
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Sony has responded to God of War director David Jaffe's recent comments in a Game Trailers interview where he said that he would have "taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money." Normally you'd expect his bosses to sit him down and give him a good talking to, after publicly going on record about changes he'd make to Sony's PS3 strategy. But Sony seems to be OK with it, even though they think he's wrong. Sony PR man Dave Karakker told GamePro, "While we respect [Jaffe's] opinion, we ... » Read More

Friday 13 April 2007 First up, a very geeky (and pedantic) correction: God Of War II's widely reported unlockable 'HD mode' is not HD at all. This is the PS2 and it only does 480p - officially classified as EDTV or 'enhanced definition'. Mind you, as a headline we understand HD is a sexier sell. But that's all a bit incosequential given that a quick test of our PAL review code suggests it's not even in the European version. Following the instructions now circulated on the Internet, you're ... » Read More

Leave it to those pokey little puppies at GameFAQs to figure out that IsleofRhodes.org wasn't the suckfest we first thought it to be. On the story page of the website, after hitting proceed to bypass the video, there are hidden Greek letters. If you can spell Kratos by clicking on them in order and then hit proceed, you're in.

But wait, there's more!

After that page, should you click on "You Seek An Audience With The Fates", you are greated by another countdown with a title starting to be spelled out. G? and CH? God of War III: Chains of Love?
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God of War fans don't have to wait any longer. The mysterious countdown at islandofrhodes.org has ended. The site, dubbed "Island of Rhodes" has had fans intrigued for a few weeks now. The URL was discovered by a gamer that reached an incredible 999,999 hit combo in the latest release, God of War II. Hit the jump for answers.
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Basically, if you didnt know, there is a site with a count down timer, with krato's picture faded in the background. It's currently at 9 days, 1 hour and 34 minutes. What is it about? Nobody knows.

Link is to the website, credit url is IGN UK. Here is their article:

"Since its release earlier this month, God of War II has taken over the systems of countless PS2s, continuing Kratos' epic battle against the gods. Fans that tore through the adventure have been eager for any news related to the franchise. Well, yesterday, message boards around the web went wild with the discovery of a mysterious new website, islandofrhodes.org, which hosts a countdown set to expire in 19 days and Kratos' picture looming in the background. Speculation ran rampantly from the announcement of the PSP game to a promotional site for the European release and even the third title in the series. What could this page, which is clearly branded with PlayStation 2 logos and content, be, and how does it relate to the franchise?

We contacted a Sony representative to get down to the bottom of the mystery, and received a cryptic answer that should shed a little light on the site itself. While we did manage to find out that the game isn't related to the PSP title, "The website is for true God of War fans...Think of the original God of War."

Looks like we'll have to check out the website in 19 days to fully unlock the secrets behind the islandofrhodes.org. We'll have more on this site as soon as it's revealed."
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IGN.COM reports:

Since its release earlier this month, God of War II has taken over the systems of countless PS2s, continuing Kratos' epic battle against the gods. Fans that tore through the adventure have been eager for any news related to the franchise. Well, yesterday, message boards around the web went wild with the discovery of a mysterious new website,
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By now, you might have heard that several enterprising YouTubers have put up God of War II's ending for all the internet to see. Amateurs. If you're going to spoil a game, you should spoil it all the way - something we'll be doing over the course of this week, as we reveal God of War II's stunning, high-quality cutscenes one chapter at a time. You can access them all from this page, too; just click the tabs at left, which we'll be adding at a rate of one per ... » Read More

Cod of War is an easter egg that allows players who finish God of War II to play in a giant fish costume. Pretty funny looking
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Not content with simply having been made a Greek deity at the end of his first adventure, psychotic bald murder machine Kratos is stomping back into stores this week in God of War II. And given how big and bloody the sequel is, a mere day or two of coverage seems to us like a puny way to mark its arrival. To celebrate our second chance to swing around a wicked pair of blades on chains and eviscerate hideous monsters in creative ways, GamesRadar is putting together an entire week of features ... » Read More

We just wouldn't be GamesRadar if we didn't have something in our weeklong God of War II coverage for all the pervy lowest-common-denominator types out there. Luckily for us, it's not just Kratos that goes topless in this Grecian gorefest - its other characters aren't afraid to flash a little nipple, either. Not even during combat with a seething incarnation of rage who can break Doric columns in half with his bare hands. Unfortunately, while we had a really cool video cued up to show you, ... » Read More

God of War II is tough, no question, but most of its battles - including those with bosses - can be won simply by mashing on the buttons and following the onscreen prompts. The game's toughest bosses, then, aren't necessarily the strongest, but the ones that actually force players to stop and think about how the giant monster in front of them relates to its environment, and how best to use that knowledge to kill it. You know, the ones that actually take strategy. Of course, some of you just ... » Read More

God of War II is a combat action-adventure game based on Greek mythology. Get reacquainted with the vicious ex-Spartan warrior Kratos who, armed with all-new brutal combat moves and magic, embarks a new epic odyssey. With less than 2 weeks until release, Sony announced that God of War II has already spurred more than 1 million retail orders.
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Gamespot.com reports:

"God of War II may use the same engine as the original God of War, but that doesn't mean the graphics are the same. The game development team was able to polish up the graphics and design more ambitious levels for the sequel. When asked to describe the graphical improvement, God of War II director Cory Barlog told GameSpot, "It's a huge difference. It's not as huge as in a generational difference where people say look at PS2 versus PS3, but Kratos, the model of Kratos in one and the model of Kratos in two, in God of War II is astounding--the quality difference."
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This week's edition of the regular Critical Reception column examines online reaction to Sony's God of War II, sequel to one of the highest-selling and best-received titles in the PlayStation 2's software library.

Few doubted that this highly anticipated sequel would fail to live up to the standards set by the original 2005 release, and thus far, Gamerankings.com has yet to receive a single God of War II review scored below 90%. Currently, the game averages a review score ratio of 95% among all sources cited.

GameSpy's Gabe Graziani is confident that God of War II earns a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars, even when considering the many strengths of its prequel. "How could God of War II possibly live up to the successes of its predecessor?" he asks. "The answer, my friends, is astonishing, because GoW II completely eclipses its forefather by adding even more of the stuff that we loved, namely: blood, puzzles, cinematic presentation and fifteen minute long combos."
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Are there any two words in the English language more beautiful than "arterial spray?" Kratos doesn't seem to think so. Over the course of God of War II, the Spartan murder machine continues his unending quest to raise the bar for videogame gore by killing everything he meets in brutal and horrific ways. Whether it's being quickly smashed to pieces against a concrete walkway or spectacularly strangled, gutted and bashed through a window at the same time, nobody who gets in Kratos' way gets off ... » Read More

At the PlayStation Store in San Francisco this evening, SCEA put on a decent show for the midnight launch of the highly-anticipated God of War 2 game for the PS2.

One thing that didn't work out so well, however, was the Kratos-laiden, horse-drawn chariot - which crashed into the sidewalk right in front of everyone. It really was a classic sight.

Click to go to the website and see images and video of the whole thing.
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Few games are so eagerly anticipated that retailers order 1.1 million copies to have ready and waiting on day one - but few games enable you to rip the eyeball from a cyclops ocular socket with your bare hands like God of War II does, so perhaps its no shock after all. It should also come as little surprise that Game Director Cory Barlog confirmed at a press conference today that a PSP God of War is definitely in the works. The developer wasnt announced, but given the fact that Daxter ... » Read More

God of War II director Cory Barlog has dropped a heavy hint that the PS3 SixAxis will be given a rumble feature in the future. It's amazing what can come from a launch party of a videogame. 1up reports that Barlog let slip a few interesting things about the future of the God of War series (which will obviously hit PS3 at some point). Here's the clip: "Did Barlog just confirm that God of War 3 will be in 1080p with SixAxis and VIBRATION functions on PS3? He sure did! Whoa! Well, technically he ... » Read More

This week's top rental charts from U.S. game rental company GameFly, representing the most requested games for the week ending March 9, highlight both to-be-released and already released games in a unique demand-specific chart.

While previous weeks and months have been dominated nearly exclusively by games released for the Xbox 360, this latest chart finds Sony's highly anticipated God of War II for the PlayStation 2 as the most requested game across all consoles.

Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the Xbox 360 ranked as the second most requested title on the week's all platform chart, followed by Electronic Arts' Def Jam Icon. These two titles ranked as the top two requested Xbox 360 titles for the week, while Microsoft's sandbox action game Crackdown rounded out the console's chart in the third position.
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