Played this game back in 2004 on xbox. Tough as hell but back then i had backlog of 0 games so i persisted with my semi noobish hack and slash skills. It looked amazing too and probably one be in top 5 for that generation of consoles.
Seems like the rating has taken a hit with every re-release of the game.
Original xbox version - 94%
PS3 Sigma - 88% and Sigma plus - 72%.
Fair assessment that you end up fighting same random npc between boss fights. Most games have that but they just have to keep things fresh. I think God of War series gives a better illusion in this particular facet and are bit more entertaining.