Tech Blog

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Quite possibly the most venerated of all the franchises in Sony's decorated library of games , God of War endures as one of gaming's most talked about series . The mere mention of a new entry in the series is enough to generate a flurry of excitement among the gaming community and a hype train that steams ahead unabated until the game's eventual launch . Even a remake compilation such as the God of War Collection , which releases today , seemed to carry the weight of a main entry to the Kratos canon despite being revamped ports of 2005's God of War and 2007's God of War II . There is still four months to wait before we'll have a chance to get our hands on God of War III , but what better to tide us over than high-definition versions of the two greatest PS2 action-adventure games of all time ?

The two reworked God of War titles included in the collection feature many enhancements over their PS2 counterparts including full 1280 x 720 resolution on a single Blu-ray Disc . Both titles run on PS3 code meaning you don't need a backwards-compatible PS3 console in order to run the games . I've seen both upgraded games in action and while the graphics are well below the pristine-looking God of War III , when originally released on the PS2 God of War and God of War II ran at a resolution of 512 x 448 . Then again , I'd be hard-pressed to find any game that looks as good God of War III so maybe that's an unfair comparison . Needless to say , both games have never looked better and the crisp visual upgrade make two of most playable games even more enjoyable to run through .

Another significant visual upgrade comes in the form of 2x anti-aliasing to help reduce edge artifacting ( e.g . jagged edges ) and provide smoother looking characters , objects and environments . The original released games had no anti-aliasing and to get around this the artists created art assets that were specifically created to keep aliasing to a minimum . Even better , by utilizing the power of the PS3 the developers at Bluepoint and Sony Santa Monica were able to boost the framerate to a full 60 frames per second creating a much smoother experience . The textures in the games have also been improved through the utilization of advanced filtering software that increases the resolution of images as well as boosts the sharpness . This same process was used on the game's cinematics , improving the overall fidelity when viewed in HD .

For trophy fiends like me you'll be happy to hear that God of War and God of War II include a full collection of trophies , a first for the franchise .

If you're on the fence about the whether to pick up the game or not ( maybe you've already play through the original ), it's worth noting the Sony has announced the compilation of both best-selling games will be value priced . Also included in each retail copy of the game is a voucher for a free download of the God of War III E3 2009 demo . Considering the caliber of both titles , the volume of upgrades and the free demo there is certainly a lot of value packed into the compilation . I've put in about three hours into the remake of the original God of War and it's been an enjoyable experience so far . I have a feeling I'll be playing through both games before the week is over . I hope sleep doesn't mind taking a backseat .