I can't wait to pick this up around easter or I may just wait for the collector edition to drop to 60

I'm on chapter 24 on hard and the game so far is a 95, straight up amazing and I didn't think a prequel would be just as good as gow 3 but with better combat and lesser scope because of the giant battles and gods in 3. As a huge gow fan I can safely say this game does not disappoint and the so called journalists have the worst opinion on this game. God of War still reigns as the best hack and slash series ever created.

I recently played the trilogy back to back in one sitting and didn't even notice GOWII had a story. It looked great but on the whole things felt just so random.

Personally I loved GOW II's story...not as much as III though.

I'm actually having trouble finishing GoW2 because the story feels almost non-existant most of the time. I've beaten all of the other games but GoW2 and Ascension (getting soon). 

I can only comment on the single-player, and I was a bit disappointed. The gameplay felt like a step back from previous games in the series. Granted, I haven't really had time to test everything out. I just started experimenting with the different weapon styles at the end of the game. The boss fights were also underwhelming. The story.....not so good. The graphics were nice...as expected, but the novelty of graphics is starting to wear off. I actually preferred the look of GoW 3.

And about the Trial of Archimedes.....its not really that difficult (I died 3 or 4 times), but it is a ridiculously large difficulty spike when compared to the rest of the game. They should have at least built up to that difficulty level throughout the game, and they also should have made the sections afterward more difficult....seriously, the final boss fight is a cinch in comparison.

Comparatively: GoW 3=GoW 2 > GoW 1 > GoW A

it just edges out 3 for me.  Improves the navigation and has more boss fights than one and just a better overall adventure (Pandora's Temple was too long in 1 but I guess that was partly the intention to make you feel like it'd never end like I did the first time I played).  Also the final couple fights are incredible.  The only reason it edges out 3 is because it did such amazing things on PS2 and still holds up so wonderfully.  3 does as well and I'm sure it will continue to, but 2 did it a generation earlier and delivered something not many thought possible on PS2...kinda like Ascension has done with PS3.

I just finished my hard playthough and I have to say the final battle is probably my favorite final fight in the series (maybe GoS tops it...just because they did it on PSP).  It's the only one other than GoS's that feels like they ended on the highest note.  For me GoW1 peaked with the Hydra (loved the game but the opening is what I remember the most), GoW2 with the Sisters, CoO with Charon, GoS with Death, and GoW3 with Hercules.  That's not to say their final bosses were bad, but for me they didn't top earlier parts of the game so that I don't view them as highly as other parts.  Hercules is still my favorite but that final boss is right up there with him and the hydra now.

I'm always torn between 2 and 3. I think 2 has better overall boss fights, but 3 has more memorable boss fights. And yes....its amazing what 2 was able to accomplish. I still think that, in terms of scale, the jump between 1 and 2 is bigger that the jump between 2 and 3.

I'm somewhat surprised by all the 7s it's getting. It's probably the most complete GoW game with the multiplayer. Is the story really that bad?