-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .------. .---. __ ____ .' ____ '. ____ ____ ______ .'.---.' .'__'. | _ '. | .-' '-. | \ \ /\ / / /\ \ ___'. | | ___ | | | | | | | | | | /�\ |� | | \ \ / \ / / //\\ | | || | | '-..'| | | | | | | | | | \_/ |� | | \ \/ /\ \/ / / �� \ | | / | | '---'| | |__| | | |_| | '-.'-. .-'.-' \ / \ / / /��\ \ | | \ \ '.____.' '.__.' |____.' �|| ||� \/ \/ /_/ \_\ |_| \ \ |\__/ | | \__/| \_\ |_____| |_____| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________ ________ / \ / \ \__ __/ \__ __/ | |---------------------------------|-----------| | | | | | 01. Legal Disclaimer | [LEGAL] | | | | | | | | 02. Basic Controls | [CONTR] | | | | | | | | 03. Weapons and Magic | [WEAPO] | | | | | | | |---------------------------------|-----------| | | | | | | | 04. Walkthrough | [GUIDE] | | | | | | | | 04.01 The Aegean Sea | [G0001] | | | | | | | | 04.02 The Gates of Athens | [G0002] | | | | | | | | 04.03 The Road to Athens | [G0003] | | | | | | | | 04.04 Athens Town Square | [G0004] | | | | | | | | 04.05 Rooftops of Athens | [G0005] | | | | | | | | 04.06 Temple of the Oracle | [G0006] | | | | | | | | 04.07 The Sewers of Athens | [G0007] | | | | | | | | 04.08 Desert of Lost Souls | [G0008] | | | | | | | | 04.09 Pandora's Temple | [G0009] | | | | | | | | 04.10 The Rings of Pandora | [G0010] | | | | | | | | 04.11 Challenge of Atlas | [G0011] | | | | | | | | 04.12 Challenge of Poseidon| [G0012] | | | | | | | | 04.13 Challenge of Hades | [G0013] | | | | | | | | 04.14 The cliffs of Madness| [G0014] | | | | | | | | 04.15 Architect's Tomb | [G0015] | | | | | | | | 04.16 The Path of Hades | [G0016] | | | | | | | | 04.17 The Final Battles | [G0017] | | | | | | | |---------------------------------|-----------| | | | | | | | 05. Enemies | [ENEMY] | | | | | | | | 06. Boss Strategies | [BOSSS] | | | | | | | | 07. Credits | [CREDS] | | | | |__ __|---------------------------------|-----------|__ __| / \ / \ \________/ \________/ _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 01. Legal Disclaimer [LEGAL] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| This file is intended for personal use. It may be reproduced, but only for personal use (i.e. printing it for a friend.) However, it may not be published on any website, magazine, or other production -- whether commercial or free -- without permission, which may be obtained by e-mailing me at GermanDragon[at]gmail[dot]com. As of now, the only sites that have this permission are as follows: [ ] www.GameFAQs.com [ ] www.IGN.com [ ] www.NeoSeeker.com [ ] www.TheGenie.Net [ ] www.EvermoreForums.com [ ] www.GamerHelp.com [ ] www.SuperCheats.com [ ] www.CheatPlanet.com [ ] www.CheatHappens.com [ ] www.vgameforce.com Copyright (c)2005 Chris Quigley _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 02. Basic Controls [CONTR] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| ______-----Use Magic ______------------- Interact |__L2__| |__R2__| _|__L1__|------- Block _|__R1__|_ / __ \ /.---------\------- Weak Attack / | | \___________________/ | .--. \ / __| |__ | ( /\ )----\--- Strong Attack / | \\// |--Select Magic .--.'--'.--. \ | |__//\\__| |��| |��| ( [] ) ( () )--|---------- Grab | | | ��| |�� '--'.--.'--' | | |__| Menu--' '--Pause ( X )------|---------- Jump | _.-._ _.-._ '--' | | .' '. .' '. | | Move ---|---- | | ----|--- Evade | | /| | | | | |\ | | | | '._ _.' ____ '._ _.' | | | | | \ '-' / \ '-' / | | | | \________/ \________/ | | \_______/ \_______/ Square - This is a weak, but quicker attack. Triangle - This is a strong, but slower attack. Circle - This grabs an enemy, and allows for brutal kills and moves. X - This jumps. Press it twice to double jump. L1 - This blocks. Press it just before an enemy's attack to parry. L2 - This uses your selected magic, assuming you have some. R1 - This button is not used. R2 - This is the basic action button for talking, opening doors, etc. D-Pad - These buttons select magic, assuming you have it. Left Stick - This is used to move. Press hard to run, or a little to walk. Right Stick - This allows you to roll and avoid attacks. Select - This brings up a menu for you to upgrade magic. Start - This brings up a basic pause menu. [Climbing] ========== You can climb ladders. There are also many types of walls you can climb; For example, cliffside walls, with rocky surfaces, or building walls, with vines growing up them. You can jump on these to climb them, then move with the analog stick. Pressing Up and X will cause Kratos to jump upward, while left or right pressed with X, will cause him to jump sideways. You can jump over ledges in the wall, that are to the left or to the right of you, by doing this. Some walls you can jump off of, and some you can't. Basically, if the camera changes to a view directly facing the wall, you can't jump. If it's a sideview, you can. You can fight while climbing walls. Just as on when you are on the ground, you can use quick attacks by pressing square, strong attacks with triangle, and grab attacks with circle. [Rope Swinging] =============== Every so often, you'll come across a rope hanging in the air. If you jump to it, Kratos will automatically grab onto it. You can then rotate around it by pushing the analog stick left or right, or climb it by pushing the analog stick up and down. You can cause the rope to swing by holding circle. You'll swing in the direction you are facing, and the arc of your swing is derermined by how far up the rope you are; The closer you are to the bottom, the further into the air you will go. You can jump off of the rope at any time with the X button. Logically, you'll go further while swinging though. You can use these to cross platforms -- Especially by jumping from rope to rope. [Swimming] ========== From the start of the game, you'll be able to jump into water, and swim around on the surface with the analog stick. However, later in the came, you'll find an item called Poseidon's Trident. With that, you'll gain the ability to dive down under the surface, by pressing the square button. You can then swim around with the control stick, diving deeper with aquare, and rising with triangle or X. You can't do many attacks under the water, but you can press and hold R1 to do a tackle attack. You can use this technique to break down certain walls. _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 03. Weapons and Magic [WEAPO] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| <<<----------------->>> Blades of Chaos <<<----------------->>> Description: ------------ These blades, are both a gift and a curse. They are permantently chained to Kratos's hands, enflamed into the skin. They do give him almost godly power though, and they look pretty cool. Kratos is able to use them both as if they were whips, or as swords, in his combos. They were a "gift" from Ares. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Icarus Lift X,X Double Jump Ascension Hold /\ Launch enemies and Kratos into the air Orion's Harpoon Tap () Slam a launched enemy into the ground Hades Reverse Tap L1 Press before an attack connects to parry Plume of Prometheus [],[],/\ Quick and powerful combo Level 2 Abilities: ----------------- Apollo's Ascension Hold L1+X Launches enemies and Kratos into the air Apollo's Offensive(Air) Hold L1+X Slam enemies back to the ground Hermes Rush R1 Ground Dash Attack Hermes Stomp (Air) R1 Air attack that drives Kratos to ground Level 3 Abilities: ----------------- Cyclone of Chaos Hold L1+[] 360 spin attack Cyclone of Chaos (Air) Hold L1+[] 360 spin attack in the air Spirit of Hercules /\,/\,/\ Powerful but slow combo Valor of Hercules /\,/\,[] Powerful but slow combo Hades Revenge []or/\orR1 USe this after parrying your foe Level 4 Abilities: ----------------- Rising Helios L1 + /\ Multi-hit attack that targets a single enemy Falling Helios (Air) L1 + /\ Multi-hit attack that targets a single enemy Hermes Fury R1,R1,R1 Multi-hit dash attack Achilles Flip X While evading press X to attack Level 5 Abilities: ----------------- Lance of the Furies Hold L1+() Continue to hold circle for a greater attack Lance of the Furies(Air)Hold L1+() Continue to hold circle for a greater attack Might of Hercules [],Hold [] Hold square in a combo for a powerful attack Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 1500 Rage of the Gods, Greater Damage, New Attacks Level 3: 2250 Greater Damage, New Attacks Level 4: 3750 Greater Damage, New Attacks Level 5: 9000 Greater Damage, New Attacks <<<------------------>>> Rage of the Gods <<<------------------>>> Description: ------------ Rage of the Gods is a burst of power that Kratos gets, which will allow him to kick even more ass than he normally would. However, it's not like your other weapons or magic, as you don't level it up, it doesn't use magic power, and it isn't listed seperately. You'll gain it when you upgrade the Blades of Chaos to level 2. When the Rage of the Gods meter is filled, you can activate this effect by pressing the L3 and R3 buttons at the same time. (Blades of Chaos) Level 2 Abilities: ----------------------------------- God Mode Activate L3 + R3 Activates Rage of the Gods (Blades of Chaos) Level 5 Abilities: ----------------------------------- Tempest of the Fates [],[],[] Powerful space clearing attack Athena's Blessing -------- Inf. magic while Rage of the Gods is active <<<-------------------->>> Poseidon's Trident <<<-------------------->>> Description: ------------ Poseidon's Trident is actually not a weapon. It is a special item that can be found in the Temple of Pandora, that will allow a user to breathe infinitely under water. It also gives Kratos the ability to dive down, which he could not do before. Abilities: ---------- Swim Down Hold [] Underwater, hold square to dive Swimp Up Hold /\orX Underwater, hold triangle or X to surface Swim Dash Hold R1 Hold then release to dash. Breaks barriers. <<<------------------>>> Blade of Artemis <<<------------------>>> Description: ------------ This is the only physical weapon, besides the Blades of Chaos. It is a huge sword, that can allow you to keep back even the toughest of foes. It's quite a bit slower than the Blades of Chaos though, and you can't do grapples while carrying it, unless there's a circle above your opponent (at which time Kratos will switch to the Blades of Chaos, before finishing them off.) Whether you upgrade this or not, depends on if you like shear power, or speed and a large moveset. If you want strength, obviously you'll want to make this weapon even stronger. If not, just ignore it and stick with the Blades of Chaos. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Sword Summon L1 + R1 Summons the Blade of Artemis Sword Summon (Air) L1 + R1 Summons the Blade of Artemis in air Sword Sheath L1 + R1 Switches back to Blades of Chaos Wrath of Artemis Hold L1+X Multi-hit sword spin Revenge of Artemis Hold L1+[] Slow and powerful multi-hitting attack Ascension of Artemis Hold L1+/\ Launches enemies and Kratos into the air Retribution of Artemis Hold L1+() Most powerful of all sword attacks Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 3750 Blade Power Increase Level 3: 10000 Blade Power Increase <<<----------------->>> Poseidon's Rage <<<----------------->>> Description: ------------ This is the first magic ability that you'll obtain, and it's a gift from Poseidon, given to Kratos so that he would be able to easily rid the sea from the evil Hydra. Basically, it's a large blast of energy, that surrounds Kratos, hitting enemies for damage. This will be one of your favorite skills throughought the game, and you should definitely upgrade it whenever possible. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Poseidon's Rage L2 Activate Attack Poseidon's Rage(Air) L2 Activate Attack Level 2 Abilities: ----------------- Wrath of Poseidon L2 + () Rapidly press circle for this powerful attack. Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 1650 Bigger Damage Area, More Power, Spin Attack Level 3: 4500 Bigger Damage Area, More Power <<<--------------->>> Medusa's Gaze <<<--------------->>> Description: ------------ With this ability, Kratos shines the eye of a Gorgon at his enemy, causing them to change to stone after a few seconds of staring. While in stone, an enemy can be killed with just a few hits, causing you to gain 15 red orbs. However, if they are not finished off, sometimes they'll be able to shake themselves free. Aphrodite says it was her gift, but you don't get it until you kill Medusa. The attack seems great at first, but in reality, it will be quite hard to use it efficiently in any real battle. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Gorgon Torrent Hold L2+[] Turns enemies to stone Level 2 Abilities: ----------------- Gorgon Flash Hold L2+/\ Rapidly freezes enemies Gorgon Flash (Air) Hold L2 Freezes enemies in the air Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 3000 Stronger Freeze Beam, Gorgon Flash Level 3: 7500 Stronger Freeze Beem, Gorgon Rage <<<------------->>> Zeus's Fury <<<------------->>> Description: ------------ The Thunderbolts are Zeus's gift. With this attack, you can lock onto enemies, and toss thunderbolts at them. This is the only projectile attack in the game. Because of that, it's the only attack you can take enemies far away out with. Still, it's not one of your stronger attacks, and may not be worth upgrading. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Zeus's Fury Hold L2+[] Hurls powerful thunderbolts at enemies Zeus's Fury (Air) L2 Hurls thunderbolts in the air. Level 2 Abilities: ----------------- Might of Zeus Hold L2+/\ Charge thunderbolts for a massive attack Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 750 Stronger Attack, Charge Attack, Faster Bolts Level 3: 3500 Stronger Attack, Super Charge Attack,Faster Bolts <<<--------------->>> Army of Hades <<<--------------->>> Description: ------------ This is an extremely powerful magic ability. You'll cause several souls to rise up from Hades, and fly around the area, killing enemies. This attack is really devestating, especially on high levels, where there the souls will be larger not only in strength, but in number; The souls easily dispose even armored enemies. As you can guess, it was a gift from Hades. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Army of Hades L2 Press L2 to summon the souls of the dead Army of Hades (Air) L2 Press L2 to summon the souls of the dead Level Experience Needed Upgrades -------- ----------------- -------- Level 2: 4500 More Powerful Souls Level 3: 10000 Most Powerful Souls <<<------------------->>> Blade of the Gods <<<------------------->>> Description: ------------ This is the weapon Kratos will use in the final battle with Ares, and nowhere else. It has four moves: One given by each of the Gods, to help Kratos take down Ares. Level 1 Abilities: ----------------- Zeus's Gift Hold L1+X No description Poseidon's Gift Hold L1+[] No description Athena's Gift Hold L1+/\ No description Hade's Gift Hold L1+() No description _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 04. Walkthrough [GUIDE] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Aegean Sea [G0001] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- This game, starts by putting you on own a ship, which happens to have large numbers of Ares' minions on it. You'll be tossed right into a battle at the start of the game, but there's nothing too bad. Like many games, the first few areas are designed with an easy learning curve, to help you get used to things. That's exactly what you should be doing now. Take out the Undead Warriors in front of you, get used to things -- maybe even rip a few of their spines in half, by grabbing them and pressing triangle. However, if you strictly follow on-screen directions, you'll go through a process of learning the basic (square) and strong (triangle) attacks first. Use whatever method you like, as you clear out the hordes of enemies climbing onto the deck from the side of the ship. After a short session of fun, gore-filled brutality, a trapdoor on the ground in front of you, will bust open, with more enemies pouring out from it. You shouldn't have any problems, but try using a square-square- triangle combo. That'll take out groups at a time. When they're all gone, head over to the trap door on the ground. An R2 icon will appear on the screen. Repeatedly press it, until Kratos lifts the door, then jump downto the deck below. There, you'll find a treasure chest, with a green glow surrounding it. For future knowledge, green orbs, represent health, and if a treasure chest has a green glow, it will always contain green orbs. So, position yourself in front of it, and press R2 -- as the onscreen text tells you to -- and hold it, until Kratos opens the chest. After you've cleared its contents, walk to the right of it, and use a few attacks to destroy the pile of baskets in front of you, as well as the pile of rubble and planks just beyond them, clearing a path into the next room. For whatever reason, the game explains how to block (the L1 button). This may seem strange, as there doesn't appear to be any enemies in the room, but let it soak in, because when you try to walk down the next hallway, a Hydra's head will smash through the floor; It's time for your first BOSS fight! .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Hydra Head | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + When he first comes out of the wall, you'll take damage. | | + He'll stretch his head back, than take a couple of bites at you. | | + He'll make a quick head thrust, from side to side. | | + He can stop and roar, which is really more of a taunt. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | To start off, first, make sure that you either press block, or move | | away when you first here him breaking through the wood ahead, so that | | you don't get hurt. After that, hold bock until he sticks his head at | | you, and it hits twice. Then, slash him a couple of times with your | | Blades of Chaos, then hold the block button again, until you get a | | chance to attack again. Keep this up, until his life reaches near the | | two-third mark. At this time, he'll put his head down, and a circle | | icon will appear above it. When this happens, grab the beast with the | | circle button, and hit the correct buttons, as are shown on screen. | | Kratos will start whipping the Hydra into walls, and will end the | | combo by stabbing it's eye, causing it to retreat for now. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the Hydra's gone, head past where it was, towards the edge of the platform ahead. There, you'll see some planks of the platform remaining, over a large pool of water. Walk across the first of these planks carefully -- which won't be hard after a bit of practice, as Kratos has a slower, more balanced walk animation, for when walking on thin platforms. If you should slip, you can pull yourself up, by quickly pressing the X button. If you fall, swim to the side of the room you started on, walk up the stairs, and try again. After you get used to plank-walking, you'll be able to get to the other side of the room with ease. At first, however, you'll probably want to take your time, and go slow. There are several connected planks, so it's not just a straight line. After crossing, destroy all th barrells you see for more red orbs, then head through the door on your left. For some fun, you can head to the end of this hallway, and talk to the prisoner in the cage. He'll say that he'd rather die than be saved by "The Ghost of Sparda." And so, he shall perish! From his cell, head up the stairs to your right, where you'll find a red, glowing treasure chest. Red orbs can be used to upgrade your weapons and magic, and similair to how green chests always hold green orbs, red chests always hold red orbs. As you turn the next corner, you'll be told how to evade (by pressing the right analog stick.) This will prove useful in many of the future boss battles. For now though, head down the hall, and destroy another pile of rubble. Then, walk to the door in front of you, and open it with the R2 button. As soon as you open the door, you'll see many innocent humans running around, trying to escape their fate of being ripped apart by Harpies. You can actually rip some humans apart yourself, if you want (they are an excellent source of health orbs!) although believe or or not, the Harpies are your target. You can take them out without must trouble, by going in and whipping around your Swords of Chaos. However, you should try grabbing at least one, to see Kratos rip its wings off, for an instant kill. It's quite funny, although it provides no experience orbs. After a short while of exterminating Harpies, another Hydra will burst through the ground, setting you up for a second round. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Hydra Head II | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He'll roar, than sweep his head in a full circle, along the ground. | | + He'll smash his head on the ground, 3 times -- Right, Left, Center. | | + He'll bite you, and toss you into his mouth. (You can counter this.)| | + He can do quick bites at you. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | This fight actually has more of a pattern than the original, and if | | you know what to do, it's much easier as well. First of all, stay in | | front of him, in the center. It will really make this fight easier. | | Hold L1 to block his attacks, if he roars and sweeps his head. If he | | smashes his head on the left, know that a smash to the right, followed| | by a smash in the center are coming up, so after you see that, roll to| | the left, until he finishes, then move back into the center. Make sure| | to be blocking as his head hits the floor though, or the shockwaves | | may knock you over. You can block his bite attack too. After each of | | these attacks, attack him a few times. Now, if he uses his *other* | | attack -- a quick side-swipe with no notice, take it like a man. It's | | actually going to help you. He'll take a tiny bit of health, and toss | | you into his mouth. There, you'll be able to rapidly press circle to | | push your way out. Doing so, will cause big damage on the Hydra, and | | it will even stun him. Furthermore, it often releases green orbs as | | well, which make up for the damage taken being bit in the first place!| | This is your only chance at a fancy finisher, but the Hydra will be | | going down eventually, reguardless. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the Hydra is taken out, head to the right side of the area -- the side opposite where you entered. You'll find two stone doors there. Lift them, and you'll find a chest in each side. Neither chest has a glow, and for reference, that means the chest will either contain red orbs, or a non-orb treasure. Both of these chests happen to contain red orbs. After emptying the contents of both, head to the center of the area, and jump into the whole the Hydra was sticking out of. You'll land in a flooded room of the ship. Swim to the top-left hand corner of the room, down a hallway there, to reach some netting on the wall. Jump onto it, and push forward to climb it up to the next deck, then jump off, onto the deck, at the top. There, you'll be told how to launch enemies into the air (by holding triangle) and you'll be given a group of Undead Warriors to practice on. For more joy in this, try pressing circle repeatedly after you launch someone. You'll keep smashing them into the ground! You could also grab enemies in the air, like they say, and that reaps some interesting kills as well; No pun intended. After the Undead Warriors stop respawning, head to the right-side of the deck. There, you'll flind a long wooden plank. Now it's time to test your real balancing skills; Because, if you fall here, you'll die. Walk slowly and carefully along the wooden platform, until you come to a fork. If you are confident in your balancing act, you can head to the right to reach a chest full of red orbs, then return to the fork. However, the path ahead lies by going straight. When you reach the ship on the othr side of the plank, move forward, and you'll see a cutscene of a man begging for you to help him -- right before he makes his bloody demise. After the cutscene ends, and before you move any further, open the green glowing chest in front of you for some health orbs, then press R2 on the yellow glowing stature on your left. These statues are used to save your game. Learn to love them, and use them often. After saving, drop down to the deck below. This next scene, is actually the first puzzle of the game. You'll be told how to move boxes (hold R2, move it with the analog stick, or kick it forward by pressing X). Conveniently, there's a box on the ground, just to the right of there. Could it be coincidence? I think not! Push the box to the right of the crate it's positioned behind. Then, immediately grab it, and kick it forward, with as much power as you can. Then, before the Undead Archers on the platform ahead can arrow it to death (if they manage to do that, you can find the box back at the start again) push it forward, up against the next crate. Push the box to the left of this crate, then give it another mighty kick forward, before you push it up against the next crate. After that, push it to the right, give it one more kick, then slide it between the two pillars (the ones with the archers on it) yourself. Jump ontop of it, then do a double jump by pressing the X button twice, to reach the ledge above. Pull yourself up, then slaughter all of the archers -- you can either jump to their platforms, or use your launching attack from the ledge you are on; whichever suits you. With them out of the way, open the green glowing chest from the left, to refill any of the health that you might have lost, then head into the room via the doorway on the right. Follow the short hallway, until you come out on another deck. Head to the left side of the deck, and press R2 near the large door, and you'll hear some women screaming -- but it's locked. If you wait a few seconds, you can hear the women scream as if they are being taken away. For now, however, you can't do anything about it. So, climb the ladder on the wall on the right, to reach the ship's masts. Jump onto it, and begin climbing. You'll be told of how to fight while climbing (square or tirangle, with the analog stick) just in time for some enemies to climb down after you. Defeat them -- and although the game hasn't told you of this move yet, you can grab them with circle, which is easier. If you use circle, know, that grabbing them from the side, will repeatedly bash their head into the wall, until they die, and from below, will grab their leg, and toss them to the ground. Both are instant kills. If people are below you, however, you'll have to attack them the old fashioned way. Make your way to the platform above, as you kill both people below, and above you. From there, begin climbing up the next mast. This time, the game will actually tell you about grabbing the enemies with circle. And since more enemies will attack you from the side, rather than below, you can make use of all the extra bloody kills! Make your way to the top of this mast, to another platform, then slaughter both of the Undead Warriors that are there as well. You'll then have three paths that you can take; Balancing across either of the sails, or jumping to the rope, and sliding down to the next ship. The sail on the right, goes nowhere, so don't bother crossing it. The sail on the left, leads to a chest full of red orbs, which you can get if you want. However, you'd then have to come back to the platform with the rope, as it's the only real way to move ahead in the game. When you're ready, jump onto the rope, and Kratos will slide down to the deck of the next ship. There appears to be three doorways here, but all three are blocked off by wooden planks. Smash the planks on the left and right-hand doors. Both doors have chests behind them. The chest on the left contains more red orbs, but the chest on the right, contains a new item: A Gorgon Eye. If you collect six of these, you're health meter will be increased. After you've plundered both of the chests, smash down the planks from in front of the middle door, to reveal a hallway. Walk down it, and you'll see a blue portal, with a Lightning Bolt symbol in front of it. This symbol, represents the Gods. Whenever you stand on one of these symbols, you'll gain a new weapon, or magic ability! This portal is guarded by Poseidon. He'll be willing to give you the magic power, Poseidon's Rage, if you are willing to go and kill the Hydra once and for all. You will then be told how to use magic (Select Poseidon's Rage by pressing right on the D-Pad -- which isn't hard, since it's your only magic now -- then use it by pressing L2.) No sooner should you learn this, will a gang of Undead Warriors appear. Test out your new ability, and barbecue them with it. When they're gone, head down the next hallway, and save at the savepoint outside. After saving, head over to the right, where you'll find two chests: A green one, and a blue one. The green one restores health, as you know. And if you can guess, the blue one restores magic energy, which you use-up with your magic attacks, such as Poseidon's Fury. Open both crates, then grab onto the netting, which is hanging off of the ship in front of you. Climb up onto the deck, then after another cutscene, you'll enter your first real boss battle, against the full form of the Hyydra -- three heads. This will also be the first battle where you have to put some thought into beating -- Simply attacking will not work. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: The Hydra | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + The first two heads, can do quick bite attacks. | | + The first two heads, can do sweeping attacks. | | + The first two heads, can pull you towards them, with their breath. | | + The first two heads can knock you off the mast, if you try to climb.| | + The main head can bite down on you, as well as the platform. | | + He can roar, and attempt to knock you off of the platform. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Now if you payed attention to the cutscne, you would have heard one of| | the men screaming, that the main head keeps healing the others. If you| | try and climb the mast to reach him, however, you'll be knocked down. | | So, you'll have to do something about it. Stand in front of either one| | and hold block, to avoid damage. Then, whenever you get a chance to | | hurt them, do so. Throw in Poseidon's Rage now and again too, for a | | bit more damage. When one pulls you away from the other, with its | | breath attack, don't fight it. Just head over to the other one, and | | start hurting it instead. You should be getting both blue and green | | orbs from this damage, so it shouldn't be hard to keep up your assault| | on them. After you have one head to about a fifth of it's total | | health, it's head will smash into the boxes nearby, and it will be | | stunned. At this point, you'll have to focus on it, before it can get | | up again. Jump to the nearby crates, and jump up them, until you reach| | the top. There, you'll see a platform with a harpoon on it. Jump to | | it, and you'll cause it to drop, piercing their head to the deck. Now | | *that* will keep them out of the fight permanently. After doing this | | to both of the first two heads, climb up the masts in the middle of | | deck, to reach the main head. | | | | Now the main head looks intimidating, but it isn't too bad either, if | | you know how to take him down. First of all, he'll do two attacks | | that you'll have to watch out for, a roar, and a bite, where he'll | | slam his head down onto the platform. If he goes for the roar, just | | hold L1 to block, and you'll be fine. If you don't you'll fall off | | the platform, but you'll just be able to climb back up anyway. If he | | bites however, make sure to roll away. That attack will own you, if | | you try to stand still and just block it. Assuming you dodge it, he'll| | be stuck in the platform for a second, and will spend a few more | | seconds after that, shaking his head. Take this time to hit him a few | | times with your Blades of Chaos -- and if you can reach him before he | | pulls his head out of the ground, try nailing him with Poseidon's Fury| | as well. After you take off about one third of his health, his head | | will drop down. Take this time, to grab him, then rapidly press circle| | to ram his head into the column in the middle of the platform. After | | this, he'll restore some of his health, but don't worry. Just do it | | again. The real point of this, is to break the pole in the middle, | | apart. And on the third time, you'll succeed in doing so. After that, | | you'll be able to get the Hydra's health down to about 20 percent. | | Soon after that, a circle icon will appear above its head. Press it | | once, to jump on the beasts head, then press the button shown, to | | latch your swqord into its eye, as you jump off onto the netting on | | the side of the mast. Then, rapddly press circle, to impale the Hydra | | onto what's left of the pillar, killing it! | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the Hydra's dead, walk into its mouth, and head down it's throat, until you see a man hanging on for his life. Watch the cutscene, which is quite funny, and you'll end up having the Key of the Captain. Take it, and leave the Hydra's head the same way you came in. Then, head to where the right of the first two Hydras was. Jump to the top of the boxes that were there, again, and you'll see some netting on your left. Jump to it, and pull yourself onto the platform that's there. Open the two chests that are on this platform. One contains green health orbs, and the other, a second Gorgon Eye. After you have both of the chests opened, jump onto the rope that's in the air, to slide down to where you had to move a box around earlier. Take the time to save at the nearby save point after you land. Walk ahead, along this deck, and some Archers and Undead Warriors will form. If you can take out 5 hydra heads in total, you should have no problem with these guys. Go for the archers first, then take out the warriors. When they're dead, make your way to the north bside of this deck, and you'll find the same box you pushed around earlier, still in top condition. Jump onto it, and from there, double jump to the ledge above, and pull yourself up. From there, again head through the hallway on your right to reach the deck with a locked door on it. This time, you have a key though. Open the door with R2, as said by the on screen message, then head down the hallway to another door. Youll see a cutscene of an awesome masscare here, as well as a cutscene which shows a bit of Kratos's past. Athena will then tell Kratos, that his final task for the Gods, is to kill Ares, the God of War, who is currently laying seige on Athens. The next stop is clear: The Gates of Athens. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Gates of Athens [G0002] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- This area starts you off next to a bed, with two women in it. Yes, this is the location of the infamous threesome mini-game. If you jump onto the bed, and press circle to grab the women, you'll enter a mini-game where you can press the buttons shown on screen to "do it." One icon you have not seen yet, is a circle with an arrow on it. This represents the control stick. Start by pushing it in the direction the arrow begins, and move it to where the arrow ends. It's not enough to push it in the right direction, you have to push it at the correct angle as well. You'll be watching a vase shake on a table during this, and if you make the correct button presses, you'll cause the vase to shatter onto the floor. The first time this happens, you'll earn quite a large amount of red orbs, but after that, you'll only earn a little. When you've had your fill -- Even Kratos is bound to have a limit -- leave the room, and walk through the next one, until you reach a save point. Save here. Walk down the next hall of the ship, where you'll find a ladder next to a blue and a green chest. Open both chests for a refill of your magic and health, then climb the ladder to the deck of the ship. There, walk to the right, where you will find a plank which goes from the ship to the dock. There, some Undead Warriors will form; But wait, these ones have armor! What that means, is that you can't just grab them and rip them in half. You'll have to fight them normally, until a circle icon appears above them. When that happens, it is all clear for you to grab them. Butcher the whole group of them, then head down the street further, to where there's a bridge. Cross it, and you'll find a few more warriors. Take them out, just as you did the first group. Then head forward, to the end of the path. You'll see a short bridge there. Walk to the end of it, and jump through the hole in the brick wall on your right. You'll land in a pool of water. Swim to the top-half of the pool, and jump onto the land there, then walk into the doorway. Head down the hallway, until some Undead Warriors come from around the corner to stop you. Slaughter them, then move on, to where you can see a chest. Open it, to obtain a Phoenix Feather. Collecting six of these items, will increase your overall magic meter. After you've got that, turn the next corner, and open the green chest you see for some health orbs. Then, climb some nearby boxes, and jump down to the street behind them. You'll notice that you're at the first bridge of the area, that you crossed after leaving the boat. Once again, cross the bridge, and walk down the path, until you reach the end of it. Again, walk across the wooden bridge here. However, this time, don't jump through the hole in the wall. Instead, jmup over the water in front of you, to the next platform. You'll see a lever there. Press R2 to pull it, causing the platform you are on to rise, like an elevator. When it reaches the top, walk to the right, and open a green chest for some health, then turn the next corner. You'll see a cutscene of some Minotaurs slaughtering a pair of soldiers. After the cutscene ends, you will of course be left to fight the Minotaurs. Unlike any of the other enemies you've seen, these guys are quite stong. They can hit you even when you block, sometimes, and they can guard against many of your attacks, as well. You can hit them with your Blades of Chaos to weaken them -- launching them into the air, by holding triangle works good -- but using Poseidon's Rage, will make things much easier. Also note, that when they are hurt, a circle icon will appear over their head. If you grab them when this appears, you'll be able to rapidly mash the circle button, to shove a sword down their throat. This can be especially useful, as it always grants you health orbs! After you've finished butchering the Minotaurs, head around the next corner, and open the blue chest that's there, to replenish your magic. Then, walk down the path further, and you'll see another lever. Once again, press R2 to pull it, causing the ground below you to rise as if it were an elevator. No sooner than you arrive, you'll see a few more soldiers be killed. After that, you'll be able to move forward, where you'll be greeted by another new type of enemy, the Cyclops. These guys are very dangerous, and will be able to withstand most of your attacks without flinching. You'll only have to face three of them though, so you should be able to take them. Roll out of the way when they swing their maces, and then hit them whenever you can. Using Poseidon's Rage may also help. When they have a circle above their heads, grab them, and press the buttons shown on screen for kills that are a bit cooler. After the fight, walk to the far north-east corner of the area, to find a red chest. Then, head to the far south-east corner of the area, to find a ladder. Drop down the ladder, to find a green chest, then climb the ladder again. Once you've opened both of these chests, walk across the main area, to find a temple on the left. There's a blinking chest in front of it; Something you've not seen up until now. The light blinks blue and green. Whichever you open the chest on, is the color orbs you'll get. For example, if you were low on health, you'd wait until the chest flashed green, then you'd open it. After you've taken your pick for the color orbs you want from this chest, head into the temple, and walk through the hallway until you enter a room with boxes and crates everywhere. Walk forward just after entering this room, and start hacking away at the wooden box, at the bottom of a column of metal ones. Then, head to the north-east corner of the room, and destroy another wooden crate. Destroying this one, will cause a doorway high upon the wall to be revealed. From there, head to the south west corner of the room, and jump onto the single metal crate there. Jump from there, to the top of the column of crates, two units high (the one which you shattered a wooden crate from earlier.) Then, jump to the column on your right. From the top of that column, you can see some treasure chests in an alcove on the wall. Jump to it, and open the two chests there. One contains blue orbs, and the other contains a Gorgon Eye. Open both, then jump back towards the column of crates, two units high. Jump to the next column from there -- the one with a treasure chest on it. Open the chest for some red orbs, then climb the ladder sitting against the wall, to reach a ledge. Walk across this ledge, to another pile of crates. Then, jump from there, onto the netting hanging off the top of the next pile. Pull yourself onto the top of it, then jump down to the next pile of crates, which is right in front of the doorway. From here, you can jump two piles to the left, and open a chest of red orbs, if you'd like. When you are ready to head onward, go through the doorway. As soon as you step into the next room, Kratos will look at a portal on the wall, with a Thunderbolt Symbol in front of it -- It's time to gain another magic power! Drop to the ground, to where you'll see another blue-green blinking chest. Open it while it's green, if you need health, but otherwise let it be. You're about to have a fight. Step onto the Thunderbolt symbol, to talk with Aphrodite. She'll offer you the power to "freeze your enemies where they stand." However, she'll need Medusa's head to do this. You're in luck though. No sooner than she says this, Medusa will slide down from the ceiling, and enter a fight with you. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Medusa | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + She has a green beam attack. It can turn you to stone. | | + She can rush forward, and scratch you. | | + She can do a tail swipe at you. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | She does have a few melee attacks, but you don't have to really worry | | about them. Just be on the lookout for her green gaze attack. When she| | does that, start rolling left and right; Just don't stand still, and | | don't try to attack, while she's doing this. A few seconds under the | | gaze, and you'll be turned to stone. If you do become stone, start | | moving the analog sticks as fast as you can; Because one hit while in | | this form, will kill you. Whenever she's not using her gaze attack, | | you can get in hits. It can be basic hits, combos, or even Poseidon's | | Rage -- All work. Just be ready to roll away if you see her going for | | an attack. When a circle icon appears over her head, grab her. Two | | analog stick icons will then be shown above her head (one after the | | other.) If you press the analog stick in the directio and angle shown,| | both times, you'll tear Medusa's head off, killing her. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After finishing off Medusa, Aphrodite will immediately cause some Minotaurs to spawn, so that you can test your new power. You may still be slightly low on health, but defeating Medusa will cause some to return yto you, at least. Reguardless, roll to a safe part of the room, away from the Minotaurs, and hold L2 and square to emit a gaze. Target one Minotaur at a time, and hold it on them, to freeze them. Then, when they are frozen, hit them before they escape, to finish them off, and gain a 15 red orb bonus. You'll have to freeze eight Minotaurs, before Aphrodite will let you pass, but you do have unlimited magic for this part. Also, the Minotaurs are quite slow, thankfully, so if you really do need health, you should be able to find time to open the chest that's in the room. After the test has been passed, head through the doorway that Aphrodite was blocking. Walk down the hallway there, and defeat the Undead Warriors that form, then climb up the ladder you see. At the top, you'll see a lever that you can pull. Don't pull it just yet, though. Instead, face the wall on your left, then double jump southward (So that you're jumping away from the ladder.) IF you stay close to the wall, you'll land in an alcove, with a red glowing chest in it. After opening it, you can jump back out of the alcove, further away from the ladder, and land on a ledge with another chest full of red orbs on it. Both of these are kind of hard to get though, and neither are necessary. So whether you get them or not, head back up the ladder. There, still ignoring the lever, head around the corner to your left, to where there's a save point. After saving, open the green glowing treasure chest, that's next to the save point, to restore your health. Then, head over to the giant crossbow on your right. Stand behind it, and hold R2, while pulling back on the left analog stick, to fire it. It will destroy the wall near the save point, revealing a chest containing a Phoenix Feather. After you have that, head back to the lever you passed earlier, and pull it. This will cause the giant bow to turn, so that it's facing the wooden door in front of it. Pull back the string again to shoot an arrow, which will shatter the wooden door ahead. Walk forward, and head past where the door was. You'll see a fork in the path, with a ladder on both sides. Head to the left first, and drop down where the ladder is. At the bottom, some more Undead Warriors will form, but they're nothing you can't handle. Kill them off, then walk forward to where there's a chest. Open it to gain another Gorgon Eye. From there, you can lift the gate in front of you, to reach the area where you fought the Cyclops, so you might as well open the path, but after that, head back to the ladder. Climb it, then once you reach the top, head over to the ladder on your right. Climb this ladder, and you'll find yourself on a balcony-type ledge. As soon as you step onto it, some Undead Warriors will begin to appear, while still more, begin climbing up onto the ledge, from the wall below. Take them out, but be careful not to fall, or you'll have to make your way back up (which is why opening that gate near the bottom of the first ladder is a good idea.) Once the enemies are cleared from the balcony, climb the ladder to the left of the platform, to reach a rocky wall. You can continue to climb along this wall. Climb it, until you see an Undead Warrior climbing down towards you. Grab him by the leg, and rip him off the wall, then continue upwards, to a point where you'll be told how to jump over a gap in the wall (the X button.) Jump over the two gaps in the wall, to the right, as told, then begin grabbing, and smashing against the wall, all Undead Warriors that don't fall off on their own, by trying to jump to you. From there, head over to the right some more, where you'll find some Undead Warriors forming on the wall. Some more will jump over from another wall on the right, at the same time. Begin slashing, or grabbing/smashing the enemies as you jump to the next wall. Climb down around this wall, killing enemies that approach you, until you reach a ledge below. Walk along this ledge, until you reach the one enemy that's on it. Kill him, while being very careful not to fall. Once he's dead, walk up to the back of the large stature leaning against the ledge. Press R2 to position Kratos between it and the wall, then rapidly keep pressing the button, until Kratos kicks it over, causing it to smash against the ground. After that, open the green glowing chest on your right, and climb down the ladder in front of you, to reach the ground. On the ground, you can see the rubble of the statue you just destroyed. Jump onto the head, and use it as a stepping stone to reach the roof of the house just behind it. As soon as you reach the top, a new type of enemy, the Gorgon, will form. There will be two of them. Now you may not have seen these before, but you have fought Medusa. These are the same exact thing, except they are weaker! Weaken them, and wrench of their head. You'll notice that doing this, will always grant magic orbs, similair to how shoving swords down the throat of a Minotaur will always yield health orbs. Once you've killed both of the Gorgons, head to the left side of the building, where you'll find a green chest. Open it to refill your health, then head back to the right, and climb up to the next level of the roof, via the ladder leaning against the wall. On this platform, you'll see two Minotaurs. Defeat them, just as you've done previous Minotaurs. After one of them dies, you'll notice a Gorgon will spawn. Turn your attention on her first, to protect yourself from the stone breath. Finish killing off the Gorgons and Minotaurs on this platform, then use your Blades of Chaos, and hack away at the pillar on the left. You'll destroy the majority of it. When this happens, jump on top of what's left of the one on the left, then onto the top of the one on the right. You can reach the next floor of the roof from there. On that platform, the only types of enemy you'll encounter, are Undead Warriors. There's a few waves of them, but keep destroying them by the masses, until they stop spawning. Then, head up the stairs on the right side of the roof. There's another large bow there. Pull back the handle, and let go. This will cause a rope to be fired through the window of a building across the area. Jump onto the rope, and begin heading to the right, shimmying across it. As soon as you start moving, you'll be told how to fight (sqaure, and triangle for attacks, and circle for grabs -- nothing new.) So, as you can guess, enemies will be on the rope with you. Head to the right, as you watch out for enemies on both sides of you. You can do a grab here and there, to twist an enemies neck with your feet (which looks amazingly cool) but use strong attacks and weak attacks for most ofyour kills. Remember, if your enemy is within grabbing distance, so are you. If they do happen to latch onto you, mash the left analog stick around, to free yourself. Fight your way into the building across the rope, then drop down to the floor below. There's a nearby green glowing chest, if you need the health. Head to your left, to find a steel door with a handle on it -- Just ignore the wooden one, that is shaking and being banged upon for now. Grab onto the handle, then quickly keep pressing R2 to open it. You'll find yourself in the same building you were at earlier, with the save point and large bow in it. Head down the hallway, and take the time to save again. Then, pull back the string of the bow that's in the room, and release an arrow. The arrow will sail through the arrow, and shatter the wooden door that was shaking. Not surprisingly, there were enemies behind it. The enemies happen to be a group of Minotaurs; four of them, to be precise. Don't even bother confronting them. Just pull back on the bow, four times, and fire it, four times. It's a one-hit kill, and by doing this, you'll get rid of all of the Minotaurs! After they're gone, head to the end of the hallway, past where the door blocking them used to stand, and jump onto the ladder that's against the wall. Climb it upward to reach an alcove in the wall, containing both a red, and a green chest. Then, drop to the floor below, where the foot of the ladder is, and head outside. You'll see a cutscene of Kratos meeting the Oracle of Athens, and from there, you'll be off to your next area. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Road to Athens [G0003] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Walk forward, and head up the stairs. At the top, you'll be able to see Ares in the distance, destroying things. After another short cutscene, save via the save point to your right. From there, follow the path down to your right, until you come across a large door. You can't open it yet, but to the right of it, is a chest that contains a Gorgon eye. Open it, then backtrack to where the save point is. This time, head down the path to the left, until you reach a fork in the road. Ares will send some boulders flying to the path on the right, blocking the way, so you have no choice but to head to the left. Do so, and walk into a dungeon-like room. The gate will close on you, just after you enter, preventing you from turning back. In this room, two Minotaurs will spawn. And while you can -- and should -- kill off one of them, the second will keep regenerating. This should be a hint, that there's a puzzle involving it. The second hint that there's a puzzle, is that there's a chest full of magic in the top-right corner of the room, that will keep restocking its orbs, every minute or so. Now, what you are to do, is stand in the back of the room, so that the Minotaur comes towards you. Lure him to step on the switch in the middle of the room, then hit him with Medusa's Gaze, causing him to freeze in place on the switch. While he's standing on the switch, run to the top-half of the room, and run -- or roll if you have to -- through the date, before he unfreezes, and steps off of the switch. If he does that, the gate will close. Open the green-glowing chest from just behind the gate, then head to your right to reach another street of the city. Now the first thing to point out in this area, are that there's lots of innocent people running around, that are no threat to you. You can, however, still grab them with circle, and slaughter them. They drop health every time, and you can easily make use of this during battle. After that, head down the street a bit, and step onto the porch of the second house on your left. Break down that door, and step into the house. There's a chest in there, which contains red orbs. After you've opened that, head back outside, and kill the single Archer that's near the house. With him out of the way, head up the street a bit further. You will soon come across a Gorgon. As you roll to avoid it's stone gaze, weaken it with your attacks, and ultimately, rip its head off. Also note, that around this point, flaming arrows will start coming from Archers ahead. Ignore it for now though, and break through the door of the house on your left. There's a chest in this house, which contains a Phoenix Feather. After you've pillaged an innocent family's life savings, head back outside. Walk to the right side of the area, where you see an Archer on a ledge. Jump up to him, and tear him in half, then jump to the top of the house nearby -- The one with another Archer on it. Kill him as well, then break down the door to the second floor of the house. Head inside, and open the chests that's there for a collection of red orbs. Once you have that, leave, and jump back down to the street. Proceed further ahead, until you reach the next Archer. Kill him as you've done to all previous archers, and head into the very next house on the right, to find another chest full of orbs. After emptying the contents of that chest, head outside again, and walk forward until you see two Minotaurs. Take care of them with the method of your choice, before breaking into another house on your left. This one holds a chest, containing a Gorgon Eye. And if you have gotten all Gorgon Eyes up to this point, your health bar will increase! After you've gotten th Gorgon Eye, head outside, and break down the second door of the same building. There's another chest in it; This one contains a Phoenix Feather. When you leave the house a second time, be ready to face off against a Gorgon, who will have arrived. When the Gorgon has been taken care of, head down the street again, passing the next two buildings on your left. Kill the Archer in front of the door of the third building, and go inside. You'll find a treasure chest containing red orbs there. Empty the loot from it, then cross the street, and head into the next house on your right, for another chest full of red orbs. After that, head into the final house on the left, for some more orbs. Once all this has been completed, walk up to the barrier of stones, in the middle of the street, and rip apart the Archer that's in front of it. Then, begin hacking away at the center of the barriers, until it collapses. Once it does, walk to the edge of the street, overlooking the pit, and double jump onto the rope hanging from the air. You'll be told how to swing once you do (Hold down circle.) Hold down circle to gain speed, then do a double jump at the furthest point of your swing, to reach a second rope. Stop swinging here though. Move the left analog stick, so that Kratos is facing the wall, and climb to the top of the rope. Begin swinging from there, and jump into the alcove on the wall, where there is a red glowing chest, full of red orbs. Once you have them, jump back to the rope, and face the street again. Swing from the rope, and jump onto the street. There are no more enemies or obstacles in the area, save for the occasional crate or barrell, which contain red orbs. So, follow the path until you reach a flight of stairs. Ascend them, to reach Athens Town Square. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Athens Town Square [G0004] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- As soon as you reach the top of the stairs, a wall of fire will form behind you, blocking you from leaving the area. You'll then see people running around screaming, as a Cyclops with a sword enters the area. This guy is similair to the Cyclopse that you fought earlier, but this one has a sword rather than a big unwieldy mace. This means he's a lot faster. If you have enough magic on hand, you may want to consider using Medusa's Gaze on it, for a quick kill. If not, roll around it as you attack with combos. As you do this, you'll come across another difference between the two types of Cyclops; They have different special kills. After a circle icon appears on this one, you can press circle to latch onto its face, and smash it into the ground for big damage, but that still won't guarantee a kill. Just stick in their until you do finish him off, though. There's a total of three Cyclopses, with the last two being fought at the same time. However, if you rip apart the people that are screaming, you should easily have all the health orbs you need to defeat them. After the fight, the flames blocking the door in the north-west corner of the room will disperse, and you'll be able to enter. Do so, and walk down the hall, until you see a woman, who will run away from you. Follow her into the next room, where you'll see a cracked picture on the wall in front of you. Hack away at it, until it shatters, revealing a chest behind. Open the chest, to get a Gorgon Eye, then head to the right side of the room, where there's another cracked picture. Behind this one, is a blinking treasure chest. Pick either magic orbs, since you'll be getting more health soon, then head up the next flight of stairs, until you see the woman again. She will run away from you once more. Head up the stairs after her, to reach the balcony. Open the green chest in front of you, as soon as you step onto the balcony for some health, then walk along the balcony to the right, to where there's a door. You'll be able to see the woman who was running from you, across a gap in the platform, but ignore her for now. Break down the door, and walk inside. You'll find yourself in a large, ballroom-like area. Break a picture that's against the top wall, to find a chest full of red orbs, then cross the room, and walk through a door that's there, to reach another balcony. Open the blinking chest that's there, then backtrack to the previous balcony, where you were able to see the woman. Jump to the platform she's on, and she'll run away again. Walk into the same room she does, and you'll see a cutscene, which will end in her -- you guessed it -- running off again. However, this chase is soon coming to an end. Follow her up the stairs, and to a dead-end, on another balcony. She'll be so frightened, that she'll accidently fall off the balcony, splattering onto the concret below. Woops. Despite this tragedy, save via the save point on your direct left. Drop down to the ledge, on the left of the balcony, to reach a chest with a Phoenix Feather in it. Then, from there, jump down to the ground below, where the woman's corpse is. Check her body with the R2 button, and Kratos will find a key in her pocket. For whatever reason, you'll be asked if you want to take it -- you don't have much of a choice in the matter, if you wish to proceed though. Take the key, then once again, head through the house that you chased the woman through, until you reach where the save point is. Be careful though, this time there are enemies hanging around, including Undead Soldiers with shields. You'll have trouble defeating these guys if you don't unarmor them first, so when you do encounter them, use the Plume of Prometheus attack, by pressing square, square, triangle. That will shatter their shields, degrading them to basic Undead Warriors -- and you know how to take care of them. Besides these enemies, you'll also encounter Gorgons and Archers, but nothing too bad. When you reach the save point, walk to the right side of the balcony, and jump over to the next ledge. There, cross a short plank bridge, to reach what looks like a latch on the ground. With the key you found on the woman's body a few moments ago, you'll be able to open it. Press R2, and then choose the "Yes" option to do unlock it, then grab onto it again, and rapidly press R2 until it opens. Doing this will reveal a hole. Jump down into the hole, to reach a cavern-like tunnell. Walk along it, until you reach a fork in the path, with some warriors running out of the path to the right. The walls will cave in on those warriors, leaving only one path open for you -- the one to the left. Head down it, until you reach a steel gate. Lift it with R2, --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Rooftops of Athens [G0005] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Head to the right side of the area, where there's a wall covered with vines. Climb as high as you can, then head to the left as far as you can. Once you've seemingly run out of vine to climb across, you'll be told to pull back on the analog stick, and do a double jump. Do so, to reach a wall that's away from the first wall. Climb up the vines that are on that wall until you can't climb any higher, than once again jump back to the first wall, where there's more vine s that you can climb. At the top of that set of vines, jump over to the balcony on your left, where there's a green chest, and a blue chest. Open both, to refill your magic and health supply, then walk through the doorway, into the first room of the house. Walk forward, until you see a new type of enemy, with Blades attatched to their arms entering. This new type of enemy, is the Wraith. They look similair to the Undead Warriors, but these guys are able to move around on the ground like shadows, and arequite quick with their blade attacks. Furthermore, they have no special kills, although you can grab one, to initiate a combo of knocking them into the air. If you're careful to block and roll when necessary, you'll be able to dispose of them relatively easily. After they're gone, you'll have to deal with a few more waves of them, as well as Undead Warriors -- And watch our for an Archer or two on the nearby stair case as well. Once the enemies stop spawning in the area, open the green chest against the wall on your right to restore your health, then break down the planks blocking a doorway in the corner of the room, to the right of where you entered, to reveal a chest containing a Gorgon Eye. You should notice that even after getting all of this done, the flames blocking the doorwat next to the green chest you opened, still haven't let down. So, since you can't go there, head to the stair case that you saw some Archers on, and head to the next floor. At the top, walk forward, and jump over the stone barrier that you come across to reach another room full of Wraiths. However, they are not the only enemy that you'll be facing here, a Cyclops with a mace will appear too. Focus on the Wraiths first, as you distance yourself from the Cyclops, by rolling. Magic like Poseidon's Rage is extremely helpful here, if you have any magic left. There's two Cyclops, but you only face one at a time; And they are the kind that can be finished off, by performing a sequence of button presses, after grabbing them when they have a circle icon over them. After you finish both of them off, the flames on the bottom floor will be distinguished. Open the green chest in this room, if you didn't do so already, during the fight, then make your way back downstairs and go through the door that was previously blocked off, to reach another street of Athens. Head south to begin with. You'll only have to walk a few feet, before you find a chest in the corner, against the wall. Open it for a nice pile of red orbs, then turn around, and head to the north. Walk past the fire that's burning on your right, and open the green-glowing chest just past it. Then from there, walk to the edge of the platform, and jump to the next ledge, which is overlooking the inferno of a city below. Jump from this ledge, to the pillar covered with moss ahead. Climb around it, to the left, so that you are facing a balcony, and jump off of the pillar, onto that balcony. Ignore the red chest on this ledge for now. Just break down the wooden door in front of you, and head inside the building. Kill all of the Wraiths that will rush you, then walk down the hallway, until you come out on a second balcony. Rip apart all of the Archers that are around there. Once they're disposed of, walk to the wooden board on your left, and press R2 to knock it onto the first balcony, creating a bridge. Walk over it, and open the red chest, now that there are no Archers shooting at you. After that, jump back onto the moss-covered pillar. Climb around to the right side of the pillar this time, so that your back is facing another pillar. Do a double jump onto that one, and climb around it to the right again. You'll have your back to another street. Do a double jump off of the pillar to reach the street, then open the chest on your left for some more red orbs. Once you've opened that, walk down to the end of the street, where you'll see a bridge on your left, and a doorway leading into a house on your right. Open the blinking chest, that's in front of the door on your right, then cross the bridge to your left. You'll be able to see some Archers on the roof, but you can't kill them yet; And if you move quickly, they can't kill you, either. Just be quick, and get underneath the roof of the building. There, head to your left. You'll immediately see another large bow. However, this one, you'll notice, is not bolted down to the floor. In fact, it has handles that you can grab, and push it around with! Either push, or kick it down the hall to the left, until you reach the front of a doorway. Push it through this doorway, into a courtyard like area. There, you can put the bow done for a minute. Open both of the doors that are on the right wall. The first contains only a few pots, but the second contains a blinking treasure chest, that you can get either health or magic from. You can then head to the left side of the area, and open both doors there as well. There's only a few pots in the top door, but behind the second door, there's a lever, as well as a gang of Undead Warriors. Feel free to slaughter the enemies, but don't pull that lever yet. Once all of the enemies are dead, walk back to the bow, and push it onto the crest on the ground, that's in front of the doorway with the lever. After doing that, head inside, and pull the lever. This will rotate the crest, as well as the bow on top of it, 90 degrees to the right; So that the bow is facing the right-hand wall, as well as releasing a ladder from the ceiling inside the room. Climb the ladder, to reach a small room containing a red chest. Open the chest for some orbs, then drop back down, and push the bow off of the crest. Once the bow is off of the crest, head back into the room, and pull the lever once more, causing the ladder to retract, and the crest to rotate 90 degrees to the left again. Once you've done that, push the bow onto the crest once more, and pull the lever yet again. The bow will rotate 90 more degrees -- Making 180 in total. With this accomplished, push the bow into the center of the courtyard, so that it's facing the large wooden door. Pull back the handle on the back of the bow, and let go, causing an arrow to project forward, and destroy the door. With the door out of the way, walk forward, and into the hallway that was behind it. Walk to the right, along this hall, until you enter a room with another Thunderbolt symbol -- as well as a blue chest sitting next to it. Open the chest to replenish your magic, then step onto the thunderbolt symbol. Zeus will speak to you, and award you with the new magic power, Zeus's Fury. This allows you to hurl Thunderbolts at your enemies. After you've obtained this power, the wall in front of you will lower, revealing a new doorway to the bridge outside. Walk outside, onto the bridge, and you'll be told to shoot down all of the Archers on the roof, with Zeus's Fury. Target them by holding down L2, then rapidly press square until they're all gone. As soon as you finish them off, you'll see the fire blocking the door to the right of where you first found the large bow, go out. Walk through that door to reach a large open room. Break down the cracked wall on your right in here, to find three chests. They contain a Gorgon Eye, some blue orbs, and a Phoneix Feather that will be increasing the length of your magic meter, respectively. After you've opened all three of them, head back outside and cross over the bridge again. Once over the bridge, head into the room on your right, where you'll find many pots, and a save point. Destroy the pots for some red orbs, then take a moment to save your game. After you've saved, head through the desecrated wall in the room, to where you'll find a ladder. Climb the ladder, to reach the roof of the building, where you'll be spotted by a Minotaur, and a few Harpies. Focus on the Minotaur first, and once he's gone, just demolish any Harpies that are bothering you. Hell, maybe you can even test out those new thunderbolts on them. After taking out the Minotaurs and the Harpies, with their pesky respawning, head to the right side of the platform, where there's a ladder that leads up to a ledge above. There, you'll find two chests. The one on the left contains a Gorgon eye, and the one on the right is a blinking blue-green chest. Open both, then jump back down to the roof below. Head to the left side of the platform next, and jump over the gap, to the next roof. There's another blinking chest there; So between the two blinking chests you opened, you should now half full magic and health. Select your Zeus's Fury magic, then walk onto the wooden plank on the left side of the roof. Jump onto a rope that's hanging in front of you from there, and begin swinging. Jump to a second rope, and from there onto another roof. As soon as you land, target the Archers that are on a roof in the distance -- one that you can't actually get to yourself -- and zap them all with thunderbolts until they're dead. Don't worry about getting hit, just take them out. Because, after they are, not only can you open three red chests that are on the roof, you can open a blue and a green one as well; So coming here was definitely worth your time. After opening all of the chests, swing acoss the ropes, to the previous roof again. Take a look at the wooden barrier on the left side of this building, against the ledge. Hack away at it with your Blades of Chaos, until it crumbles. Then, jump over to the next roof, where there's another Minotaur, which is nothing new. No big deal: Just weaken him, and shove a sword down his throat. You'll face a second Minotaur after that, but that's all. There's no third one. So, when the Minotaurs are out of the way, destroy the stone barrier on the north side of the roof. Once it's destroyed, walk to the edge of the roof, and jump onto the vines on the side of the next building, and pull yourself onto the roof of it. Walk forward and open the blue chest you see, for magic, if it's necessary, then head to the right, where you'll see a glowing spot on the ground. Press R2 when standing in front of it, and Kratos will speak to the man holding the lever on the next building. He'll refuse to lower the bridge though. So, take revenge on him, by blasting him with a thunderbolt. This will kill the man, destroy a door, and raise the bridge for you. Cross the bridge, and walk through the newly opened door. You'll see a chest on both sides of this room. Open the one on the left for a Phoenix Feather, and open the one on the right for a Gorgon Eye. Once you've emptied both chests, head down the next hallway, and take care of the Wraiths that you run into. Continue walking along the hall, into a small room full of water. It's strange, but besides that, nothing's special about it. So, continue down another hall, where again, you'll have to take care of some Wraiths. When you reach another room, open the two chests that are there for a large collection of red orbs, then step onto the circle on the ground, near the wall. When you step on it, the platform will lower like an elevator, and you'll end up in a small cave like room. Walk through the short hall on your left, however, and you'll find yourself on a brifhr, seeing a cutscene of the oracle being picked up and carried off by two Harpies. You'll also notice that you are overlooking Athens Town Square. Walk forward, balancing on the one remaining plank of the bridge you are on, to reach the next stretch of solid ground, where there's a save point. Save your game, then walk up the next flight of stairs, to reach a path that extends along what looks to be the side of a mountain. The only enemies that you'll find here, are a few groups of Undead Warriors. And you know, they aren't going to be any trouble for you. Fight your way through them, until you reach a second flight of stairs. Ascend them, to reach the Temple of the Oracle. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Temple of the Oracle [G0006] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- As soon as you reach the top of the staircase open the green abd blue chests, that are on both sides of the next bridge in front of you. Fully replenished, head forward, and walk across the bridge. After crossing it, you'll see another cutscene of the Oracle, being dragged into the temple in front of you. All exits of the area will then be blocked off by flaming walls, just as they have been in previous fights. In this particular fight, you'll be up against waves of Harpies, and a few Gorgons. After the fight, you'll see a strange cutscene of a Grave digger who will talk to Kratos. He'll talk in riddles and won't mention anything that appears to be of importance yet, but don't forget about him. Once he's done talking, head up the first set of steps to the temple in front of you. Head to the right from there, to find a chest containing a Gorgon Eye -- This one should again increase your health. Once you have that, head to the left, and open another chest, which contains a Phoenix Feather. Then, save via the save point just south of the second chest, before heading inside the temple. As soon as you reach the main entrance hall of the temple, you'll see a cutscene of some Harpies flying out of a hole in the wall. If you try to defeat them, you'll be wasting your time; They'll just keep coming. What you have to do, is make your way to the altar in the back of the room. You'll see two statues there -- Both are movable, and both have a blinking chest behind them. Grab the one on the right, and pull it away. Then, if you need the health or magic, kill the Harpies nearby, and open it before more return. Push the large statue off of the alter, and onto the floor. Then, begin dragging it to the right side of the room, being careful to let go and hold block, when you hear a Harpy screeching -- Because that means they're going to dive at you. Doing this, move the statue in front of the crack in the wall that you saw Harpies coming out of. This will cut down the number of Harpies in the room. However, there's still a second crack on the left side of the room. So, head back to the alter, and get the second statue to patch up that hole. Once both holes are covered, kill the remaining Harpies, and the room will be enemy-free! Head back to the alter a third time, and open the blinking chests to make up for any of the magic or health you may have lost while doing your construction work. And for the sake of completion, there's a third blinking chest in the back of the hall. Though with two others in the same room, you don't need it. Regaurdless, after finishing the patch-work, head to the back of the room and head into the left corner, where the chest is. Double jump towards the wall on your left. Even though you can't see it from the ground, there's a platform up there with a chest on it. Open that chest, to find a Gorgon Eye, then jump back down to the floor. There's another ledge like this on the other side of the room, which holds a chest containing a red orb, that you can get, if you wish. Next to the blue chest on the ground, is a door. Grab onto it with R2, then rapidly press the button, until the door opens. Head to the top of the staircase behind it, to reach the second floor of the temple. On the second floor, you'll see a grid of wooden platforms, that you can walk across, if you are careful. However, the thing is, most of these ledges are loose, and will fall when you get near them. In fact, there's really only one path. Walk across either of the first two planks, to reach the second row. Then, head to the farthest plank on the left of the screen (Both of the first two planks meet here, hence there being one path.) Walk to the next row from there, then walk to the right, past the next two planks. The one after that, is sturdy. Walk across it, and jump onto the next ledge, where there's a save point on your left. Take the time to save, then head down the next hallway. Walk through it, until you reach a balcony outside. Along the way, you'll fight enemies, but they're only Undead Warriors -- and these ones don't even have armor, so you can tear through them any way you wish. Once you do reach the balcony, you'll see the Orcacle hanging from a rope, screaming for help. Just outside the door, on both sides, are more large statues that you can pull. You are going to need them in order to save the Oracle. So grab one -- it doesn't matter which -- and push it forward, onto the platform on the right. Then, once the statue is in place, step onto the platform yourself, and it will lower to the ground. When this happens, however, jump back onto the ledge, and let the platform take the statue to the ground. Then, go back for the second statue, and push it to where the elevator platform was. Push it over the edge, so that it lands on top of the second statue, and you'll have one large pillar on your hands -- which is just the thing you need right now. Jump down after the statues, but don't bother grabbing them yet. First, head to the right, where you'll find a doorway which has cracked cement filling it. Destroy the cement with your Blades of Chaos, to reveal a chest full of red orbs. Also in the area, a little ahead from where the first doorway was, is another cemented off doorway. Destroy this one, to reveal another chest; This one contains a Gorgon Eye. Once you have both of these treasures, head back to where you left the statue, and grab onto it. Either push or kick it to the right side of the area, where there's a fountain. Place it in front of the fountain, then jump ontop of the doorway at the foot of the large statue of a woman on your right. Open the red chest that's there, for some orbs, then jump to the platform on your left, and from there onto the statue that you pushed around. From the top of the statue, you can make a jump to the moss on the wall in front of you. Do so, and begin climbing to the left. You'll then see a cutscene of the Oracle beginning to slip. You'll then have 67 seconds to get to her, before she falls, resulting in a game over. If you take too long, or you fall to the ground you'll have to try again. The first set of obstacles consist of rotating gears against the wall. Jump past them when they stop moving, and grab onto the moss on the wall. After that, make your way to the platform on your left, and jump down onto it. From there, walk to the left, where you can see a rock with moss on it. Jump onto there, and climb up to the top of the said rock. There, you'll see a rope. Do a double jump to reach the rope. The force of you jumping will cause the rope to swing immediately, before you even press circle, so simply jump off to the next platform ahead. There, quickly but careful, walk along the thin ledge, being careful not to fall. When you reach the next platform, jump onto the rope hanging in the air. Make sure it's facing the large statue on your left, then swing forward, and jump onto the dish that the statue is holding. Walk to the edge of this disc, and you'll see a cutscene of Kratos saving the Oracle, as well as another cutscene of his past. The chain of events you must undergo to save the Oracle is pretty tricky, and you may fail a few times, before you actually nail it. However, if you do fail, you'll still be able to try again. You'll start right at the beginning of the challenge, with the timer at 67. When you do succeed, the Oracle will open a door for you to pass through. Walk through this door, and head down the hallway that's behind it. You'll come out on the mountainside, in front of a save point. Here, you'll have two paths: A set of stairs on your left, and a bridge shaped to look like a sword on your right. First, head up the stairs -- and damn, there are alot of them -- until you reach a temple at the top of the mountain. Head around to the back of it, and open the chest that's there, for a Phoneix Feather then head back down to where the save point is. From there, cross the sword bridge on your right, and enter the doorway on the opposite side of it, where you will again find a huge stairway. Head down the entire way, and open a chest that's below the stairs at the bottom, for a Phoenix Feather. Then, head forward into the sewers ahead of you. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Sewers of Athens [G0007] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Open the blinking chests on both sides of you, to ensure that you're completely prepared for battle. Then, follow along the path of water on the ground, until you reach a spot where Undead Warriors spawn in front of you. Kill them, but keep your block button, and right analog stick on hand; There are Archers on the ledge ahead, that will be shooting at you, and you want to be able to get out of the way of their arrows. After the Undead Warriors have been killed off, walk forward to the ledge that the Archers are perched on, and jump up to it. Take a moment to massacre the Archers, then open the two chests that are on the same ledge. One contains red orbs, and is located at the back of the ledge, against the wall. The other is a blue-green blinking chest, and is located in the middle of the ledge. After getting both, walk jump back down to the ground, and walk forward until you reach a wall. Do a double jump, and pull yourself onto it, to reach another part of the sewer tunnell. Walk forward from there, until you reach a few Minotaurs. There's another blinking chest on your right, so you'll be able to restore your magic, if you use it up to make the fight either. Do that, then walk forward around the next curve of the tunnell. You'll encounter several Archers on the ground. Give them a few slashes to take them out, then walk forward to the end of the platform, and jump down to the next stretch of the sewers below. Once more, you'll find blinking chests on both sides of the tunnell. Open them both, and continue to follow the path of water that's on the ground, until you reach another wall. There are two chests on the ground against it; Open both for some red orbs, then do a double jump to reach the top of the wall. Head forward from here, until you reach a pedistal in the water. Jump onto it, when you see a couple of Cyclopse coming from ahead. These guys have swords, so you can't do easy kills on them, but you _can_ get in a quick Medusa's Gaze from this platform, and then jump down to smash them. That makes the fight much easier. No sooner than the second Cyclops is defeated, a group of Minotaurs and Undead Warriors will spawn -- Not to mention all of the Archers on the ledges on the sides of the room. Do what you did in the very first fight in the sewers; Fight, but block and evade very conservatively. To make things easier, however, you can take out the Archers on the wall on the right first; There's a ladder that leads up there. After the fight's over, open the blinking chest that's against the wall on your right, to replenish yourself. From there, head forward to the next Archer-covered wall. Climb to the top of that via another ladder, then kill all of the Archers on top. Once they're gone, open the chest full of red orbs that's up there, then jump back down to the ground. Next, head to the end of the corridor, and jump up to the top of another wall. Just ahead, is a ladder that leads up to another floor. Open the blinking chest on your right as soon as you step off the ladder, then head forward onto another long, spiral staircase. Spend some time ascending it to the top, where you'll find a lever against the wall. Pull it, to cause even more stairs to lower down to where you are. Walk up these stairs, to find yourself in a familiar place; The Road to Athens. Walk forward, up the stairs ahead, just as you did earlier, to where there's a save point. Take the time to save, then head down the path to your right, along the stairs and the rocky path. Proceed, until you reach a large open door -- A door that was not opened earlier. Walk through it, to enter the Desert of Lost Souls. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Desert of Lost Souls [G0008] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- First, open the blinking chest on your left, then walk down the dusty path in front of you, until you reach a statue of Athena. You'll see a cutscene of Athena speaking to Kratos. She explains a bit of the story: What Pandora's Box is, that the titan Kronos wields the Temple of Pandora on his back, and that in order to proceed forward, you'll have to follow the sounds of the sirens, and kill three of them. Now this sounds simple, but it's far from it. The area is extremely large, and open, and it's covered in sand storms, that make it hard to see. So, you really will have to rely on the sounds of the Sirens' songs to find them. Start by heading forward, until you can see a cliff wall ahead of you. Walk around there, until you hear a Siren's song. It'll be faint at first, but walk until it gets louder -- And if it gets softer, walk to where you previously were. With some patience, you'll be brought to the first Siren, who's in front of a temple. This is the only siren in a fixed location to begin with, so take advantage of that, and don't let her run off! Stay right behind her, as you keep slashing away at her. She can toss energy balls at you, but they can be blocked. Besides, it's better to be hit a few times, than to have to track her again. Once a circle icon appeard above her head, grab her, to crack her neck in half, bringing the total number of Sirens in the area left, down to two. Even though you can't see, try to remember the relative direction to the temple, as you search for the Sirens, because you will have to return there after you kill them. A few words of advice on searching, however: Be prepared. Both of the last two Sirens have Minotaurs as body guards. Forget about them though; Just trail the Siren, and take her out first, so that she doesn't escape again. Each time you kill a Siren, you'll see a spirit released. The spirit will travel back to the temple, and fly into the door. After you kill the third Siren, the three spirits will cause the door to open. So, find your way back through the desert, to where the temple is, and walk inside. Inside, there are two blinking chests, and a save point. So, ready your health and magic bars, then save your game. Once that's taken care of, head down the only stairway that's in the room, to find yourself on a platform overlooking a conveyor belt that leads into a spinning spiked wheel. The next course of action, is to jump down to the said conveyor belt, and begin heading left, away from the wheel. You should see a door on the wall, very quickly. Open it, to reveal a box. Pull the box to the doorway, but not onto the platform. Doing this, will cause some Undead Warriors to drop down from the ceiling. Take a moment to clear them out, then pull the box onto the platform, grab it, and kick it to the left as far as you can. Again, more Undead Warriors will drop from the ceiling. Take a moment to clear these ones out as well, then kick the box back to the left, before it gets dragged into the spiked wheel (if this does happen, a new box will spawn in the same place the old one started.) Soon, yet another group of Undead Warriors will drop down -- and this group is quite large. Unleash Poseidon's Rage, to take them all out in one go (if you need the magic, there's a blinking chest behind where you move the box from). Then, continue to push the box to the left, until it's against the wall. When it is against the wall, jump onto it, then do a double jump to reach the top of the wall, where you'll find a door. Open it with R2. Head down the next hallway, until you reach a horn, facing raging sandstorms outside. Press R2 to blow the horn. This will cause the sands to split apart, forming a path for Kratos! Walk forward, through the split in the sand, until you reach a stairway. Halfway up the stairs, you'll find two blinking chests, so take the time to rejuvinate yourself. Then proceed to the top, where you'll see another horn. Walk towards it, and you'll see a cutscene of another sandstorm occuring, and whiping away the horn. Soon after that, three Sirens will appear. There's actually several waves of Sirens, but it's still nothing too bad. Take out as many as you can, by waiting until they are close together, then nailing them with Poseidon's Rage. After that, just focus on using your combos, until the last of them die off. When this happens, the horn will appear again. Press R2 to blow it, and Kronos, who you can actually see in the distance in front of you, will come to Kratos, in a cutscene. The next cutscene will show Kratos climbing up to Pandora's Temple. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Pandora's Temple [G0009] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Save at the save point in front of you, as soon as you regain control of Kratos. Then, walk forward, and cross the rope bridge in front of you. When you reach the ground on the other side, you'll see a short cutscene of some guy burning bodies. That'll be your next destination. Head to the left, and open the blinking chest that's against the wall, to restore either your magic or your health. Then, head further to the left where you'll see a ramp -- You can't miss it, it's just past the festering horse corpse. Walk down this ramp, and follow the path at the foot of it, until you reach a wall, which appears to mark a dead end. However, you'll notice a bar on the wall. You can grab onto it with R2, then pull back on the left analog stick to pull the wall out. Pull it out as far as you can; It will stretch into a stairway. Before it slides back into the wall, jump from stair to stair, to reach the platform above, where you saw the body burner. There, you'll see a cutscene, which will end with the body burner opening the main gate to the temple for you. After he does that, open the blinking chest on your left, then jump down to the ground below. Head to the left, and two Cyclops with Clubs will appear, and a wall of flame will block the entryway to the temple. These guys are just like the ones with maces; In other words, after weakening them, you can grab them, and perform a sequence of button presses to finish them off. So, do that. Weaken some with Poseidon's Rage, until you run out, then resort to rolling, and attacking. There's a chest near where you jumped down from, that's blinking. You can use that for a restore of magic during the fight, if it's necessary. After you kill three or four Cyclopses, the fire blocking the stairs into the temple will vanish. Head to the top, where there's another three chests (A blinking chest in the middle, a Phoenix Feather in the one on the right, and a Gorgon Eye in the one on the left.) Open all three chests, then grab onto the lever in front of the door to the temple. Push it, until the door in front of you slides open, then head inside. The doors will close immediately, trapping you in a room with some Wraiths, and a couple of Archers. Focus on killing the Archers in the back of the room whenever you see them spawning, and while they're gone, set your attention on the Wraiths. After you've eliminated all enemies, walk forward, and read the book in front of you, with R2. This is not necessary, but you'll find various books like this in the temple, and reading them all reveals an interesting story about the architect who designed the temple. After you've read the book, walk forward, and open the large door on the wall with the R2 button. Head into the next room, and the door will close behind you. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Rings of Pandora [G0010] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- After the door closes, begin heading south. until you reach a door with a skull on it. That door is locked, but there's a doorway on the wall opposite to it that's open. Head into that room. Walk through the hallway there. You'll find four pairs spiked walls that keep smashing into each other. Whenever you reach one, wait until they hit together, then roll between them before they can do so again. When you reach another room -- one with a pool of water in the middle of it -- walk around the water, and take out all of the Archers that are against the wall. Then, open the chests that are on both sides of the room there, for red and green orbs. Take the time to save, via the save point to the right of the door you entered through, as well. Once you are ready, head to the part of the room where you faught the archers, and step into the alcove on the wall, where you'll find a lever. Pull it with R2, to cause another lever to appear back in the circular hallway. Step out of the crevice, and a lever will appearon the statue next to you. You can pull it to cause a beam of light to appear, but you can't utilize it for anything just yet. So, head back to the hall with the spiked walls in it. For whatever reason, all of the spiked walls have stopped moving. So, just head back out to the circular hallway, and push the lever that you caused to appear. You'll notice that it causes the whole wall to rotate! Keep pulling it until the doorway near you changes to a yellowish hallway. You can't get through that hallway yet, but remember where it was. Keep pulling the lever after that, until the doorway changes to a second hallway, with a fire wall visible in it. Walk down this hallway, and step on the thunderboly symbol in front of the flaming wall, to recieve a new weapon, the Blade of Artemis! You can switch your weapons during battle by pressing L1 and R1 at the same time. After Artemis finishes talking, head down the hallway in front of you. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Challenge of Atlas [G0011] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Continue down the hallway, and ave when you reach the save point. Then, head into the next room, where you'll be ambushed by a gang of Undead Warriors -- The kind without armor! This is a great place to get a feel for your newly found Blade of Artemis. Just remember, you can't grab enemies while using it, unless they have a circle above their heads. After you defeat them, you'll have to face off against several Gorgons at the same time. These are the first Gorgons of the game, that require you to press the analog stick in three directions, when you are wrenching off their heads. Reguardless, if you stick to rolling and attacking, you shouldn't have much trouble in taking them down. Although, there are quite a few of them, so a Poseidon's Rage might be in order. After the battle ends, head to the lower-right corner of the room, where you'll find a blinking chest, and a doorway. Open the chest, but don't go through the doorway just yet. Instead, head to the top-right corner of the room, and do a double jump to reach the stairway up there. Open the blue chest that's waiting at the top of the stairs, then fight your way through the hordes of Undead Warriors, along the ledge, to the left. When you find yourself standing on a wooden paltform, with some Archers firing at you, switch to your Zeus's Fury attack, and thunderbolt them. From there, head across the wooden platform to the left, where you'll find a long crooked, thin, wooden ledge leading to where the Archers were. Take your time, and walk across this ledge, and when you reach the other side, walk to your right immediately, and open a chest that's hidden in the corner, for a Gorgon Eye. Once you've obtained the eye, head to the center of the platform, and pull the lever that's on the ground, causing a rope to lower in front of you. Jump onto it, and slide down to the cavern area below. There, you'll see a rope in the air in front of you. Grab onto it, and shimmy to the platform on your far right, taking care of any enemies that you encounter on the rope. After landing on the other side, open the blue and green chests on the ground, to restore your health and magic, then head up the stairs to your right. Walk forward from there, until you see a blue item sitting on a pedestal, against the wall. Press R2 to examine it, then choose to pick it up. As soon as you pick it up, a flamng wall will appear in front of you, and you'll be in for a massive fight; If you play your cards right here, you'll be able to link huge combos, and make lots of red orbs. Be careful though. The only enemies that are there will be Undead Warriors, but the shear number of them makes them dangerous. After you finish them all off, and the wall goes down, walk forward and open the two chests on the ground, to restore your magic and health. Then, make a jump down to the platform on your right -- the platform with the rope leading back to the floor above is. Climb the rope back to the surface, and jump off. Now, do you remember that doorway that was in the lower-right corner of the screen? That's where you should go next. Take an immediate left in the short hallway that follows, and head into the next room, where there are Gorgons, and a couple of Archers on the pedestal in the northern part of the room. Do a quick clean-up job of the enemies, then head back to the entrance of the hallway. Walk past the left you just took, to reach the room full of Gorgons. You'll see a crate full of logs. Grab onto it with R2, and drag it back to the platform that the Archers were on. Align it directly in front of the center of the stairs for the alter, then stand on the alter. Grab onto the box, and charge a kick, then release the box, so that it slides towards the switch in the center of the room. When it passes over the switch, the wall behind you will rotate; But the wall will rotate back again, when the crate slides off of the switch. What you have to do, is roll into the alcove on the alter, just as the crate hits the switch. You'll rotate with the wall, and be brought to another room. As soon as you step away from the rotating wall, be ready to take on another group of Undead Warriors, who will come at you from around the corner. As you should be starting to realize now, the Blade of Artemis can be used very effectively for clearing crowds; If the Blade of Artemis, and the Blades of Chaos are on the same level, the Blades of Artemis will be signifigantly stronger. That being said, take out the enemies, then head down the hallway. You can find a red-glowing chest at the end, and a blue and green one in alcoves on the wall. After opening all three, climb the ladder to the right of the rotating wall. There's a doorway there, that leads to a platform overlooking the alter from the previous room. Be careful now, and jump across the alter, to another platform. If you fall, you'll have to use the crate, to once again get yourself behind the alter. Once you do make the jump, pick up the orange shield that's on a pedestal there. Then, jump down to the ground, and head to the door in the lower-left side of the room. Using both of the shields you've found, you will be able to open the door. Head down the stairs to your right, after going through the door, then head down the next hallway, to where there's a save point. Take a moment to save your game, then climb up the ladder on your left. Run along the ledge that's there, and walk through the door on your right. This will bring you to a room with a grind pattern on the floor, with razor blades rolling back and forth, both horizontally, and vertically along them. Take your time, and move across the room, stopping between each line on the ground, until it's safe to continue. You'll see two levers on the ground, but ignore them for now. Instead, just grab the green chest from the top right corner of the room (if you need it) then head through the door on the right-hand wall of the room. Walk into that room, and smash down the cracked wall in front of you. After destroying it, you'll be attacked by Undead Warriors from behind it, though. So be ready for them. With them out of the way, head into the next hallway, where you'll see a conveyor belt on the ground. Step on it to be brought down the hallway. You'll see some spiked walls that will clamp together along the way, just like you did back in the Rings of Pandora. Wait until they are apart, then do a roll past them to get by safely. Then, once you reach the end of the conveyor belt, head to the left, and ascend the flight of wooden stairs you see. They lead to a bridge-like area with Harpies on it. You can still take them out easily -- even with the one-hit wing ripping if you desire. However, unlike previous Harpies you've encountered, these ones can do divebomb attacks, which can proove to be quite dangerous. After you dissasemble the Harpies, cross the bridge, and head into the next area, taking out another Harpy as soon as you enter it. In this area, walk to the right, to find a ladder against the wall. Climb it, to reach the wall, then continue climbing further. Climb to the top of the wall, then jump off to the wall on your right. By this time, some Undead Warrios may be starting to spawn on the walls. Take out any that you need to, as you head further to your right, and jump to the next wall. On this wall, enemies will really be starting to spawn often. Fight your way upward, to the top of the wall, then jump off to the wall on your left. Continue fighting and climbing, until you reach another wall, further on your left. Then, climb downward to a platform below. Open the chest that's there, then begin climbing the wall again, and climb into the tower on your left. Open the green chest that's there, then pull the lever next to it, to realease a rope -- This rope serves as a shortcut between this spot, and the ground far below. Take a moment to climb to the top of it, however, and you'll find a platform with two chests on it. Open them both for some read orbs, then climb back down to where you pulled the lever, and head through the doorway that's there, to reach another room. Soon after you enter this room, a wall of fire will block you off, and a group of Undead Warriors with shields, and Sirens will appear. The best tactic for clearing out these guys, is to roll away from the group, so that they clump together, then use Plume of Prometheus on them (with square, square, triangle.) That will shatter their shields. Once they've been weakened, you can stand in the center of them, and unleash Poseidon's Rage, which will likely eliminate them all, and reward you with a huge combo. You can then head after whatever's left -- usually the Sirens -- at your own pace. And just in case you don't have magic, you can get away with using simple combos from the get-go. Like almost all battles, Poseidon's Rage just makes it easier. You'll have to be quick though. If you take too long in this battle, the floor will open up, killing you as well as all enemies that are left. For this reason, you may want to bring out Medusa's Rage on the Sirens. After the fight's over, head to the alter in the northern part of the room, and take the Handle off of the chest. This may not make sense now, but it will later. So, take it, and backtrack to the rope you dropped a few moments ago, for a shortcut. You may want to take a moment to save at the save point that has appeared at the bottom of the mentioned rope as well. The next step, is to head back to the room with razor blades racing across the floor. Howeer, be careful. The conveyor belt room's spike walls will have begun moving in different patterns, so be extra careful before you try to roll past them. Once you've done so, you'll find yourself in the razor blade room. It's now time to pull both of the levers you saw earlier. The first lever, is one "block" down from the door you enter through, and one "block" left of it. Pull that, then _run_ to the top left corner of the room. This is dangerous, but if you aren't quick, the first lever will revert; And you need to get them both pressed at the same time. Accomplishing this task, will cause the door next to the lever in the top-left corner, to open. Head through it, and you'll be in a room with a large hole in the ground. Push yourself against the wall on the right, and walk across the thin ledge on the ground, to get over the pit. Then, on the other side, open the door that's there and head into the next room. In that room, you'll have to fight Archers and Minotaurs. Nothing new though, just unleash Poseidon's Rage, and whatever combos you got; Artemis's Blade's a good call as well. After you've cleared out the enemies, step onto the stairs in front of the large statue in the room, and press R2 onto the stick in the ground. You'll be able to attatch the lever that you found earlier to it. Do so, then once you've attatched it, grab onto the lever and push it. As you turn the crank, the large statue in front of you will begin to lift the sphere that he's holding, over his shoulder. Keep turning the crank, until a cutscene shows that the statue's lifted it as high as possible. Then, head around to the back of the statue, and open up the chest that's there. The chest contains a Muse key -- one of the two keys that opened the locked door that you couldn't get into back in the Rings of Pandora. You'll get the other one later on in the game. For now, just head across the room from where you entered, and walk around the wall, to where there's a corridor full of stairs. Walk down the corridor, heading up the stairs, and killing any Undead Warriors that get in your way; And there will be quite a few of them. When you come out of the corridor, you'll be on a ledge above the room with the large statue of Atlas in it. Run along the corridor, and kill the Archers there -- Or take them out as soon as you come out of the corridor, with Zeus's Fury. When that's done, open the chest to the right of the doorway you come out of, for a Phoenix Feather, that should increase your magic bar. Then, walk along the ledge in the other direction, to find another chest, which contains a Gorgon Eye; This one should increase your health bar. Not a bad deal at all! Once you've opened both chests, head to the ledge that connects the sides of the room -- the ledge that you must have crossed to reach the chest with the Gorgon Eye in it. On this ledge, there's a lever. Pull it, and the statue ahead, will toss the boulder that it's holding at the door ahead, shattering both the boulder and the door. Jump down to the floot below, and walk through the new doorway. Head across the bridge area that you'll have reached, to find a tomb, behind another note from the temple's Architect. Read the note, then walk up to the pedestal in front of the coffin. Grab onto the coffin lid, and drag the cover off, onto the ground, causing it to shatter. After the lid's off, jump onto the top of the coffin, where you can see a skeleton. Press R2 to grab onto the corpse's face, then rapidly press R2 again, until you tear it off. Doing this, then jumping to the ground, will cause the tomb to slide away, revealing a hidden passage below. Climb down the hole in front of you, and open the blinking chest at the bottom. Then from there, head down the long corridor ahead, until you see another cutscene about Kratos's past. Continue further ahead from there and open another blinking chest, then open the door in front of you. You'll again find yourself in the room full of water, that connects to the Rings of Pandora. Take the time to save while you're there. Head into the hallway that leads into the Rings of Pandora. After you step into it, a wave of Undead Warriors will spawn, and a wall of fire will prevent you from entering the main ring. Take out all of the enemies, so that the wall goes down, then proceed forward. After you step out of the hallway, the doorway will close up behind you, but you'll see the skull door in front of you. Now that you have the skull of the Architect's Son, you can open it by pressing R2. Once the door is open, step into the next room, where you'll see a large spiked log rolling around on the ground. Wait until it passes the doorway, then follow behind it, until you reach a stairway. When you see them, head onto them, and climb to the top, where you'll see a short cutscene of a ladder. Wait at the top of the stairs, until the log comes back, and jump onto it. You can then keep running in the opposite direction that the log is turning, so that you do not get knocked off of it. Keep up this balancing act until you reach the ladder and you'll be able to make a jump for it. When you do so, the ladder will fall to the ground, and you'll see a cutscene of the logging falling into a pit. When it's all over, climb the ladder to reach a platform, with four chests: A blue one, a green one, a red one, and a grey one, which contains red orbs. Open all of them, and save at the save point that's nearby, then head into the next hallway. Head along this hallway, until you reach a bridge-like area. Reaching that, marks the end of Atlas's challenge. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Challenge of Poseidon [G0012] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Cross the bridge, and enter the arena-like area ahead. There, you'll see a cutscene of a Cerberus appearing. This is an enemy unlike any other; They are extremely strong and dangerous. Do combos, such as Plume of Prometheus. Don't even use the Blade of Artemis, it's not strong enough. To keep these guys off of their feet, you need to use strong combos, end of story. After you beat on the Cerberus for a while, some small Cerberus will appear. You could even call them regular, albeit vicious, dogs. They act like the larger Cerberuses, but they are weak. They can ignite, burst into flames, and evolve into larger Cerberuses though; And that's not something you want to fight. So, try to take them out as soon as they appear. Getting in the middle of a group, and using Poseidon's Rage is a great way to do this. Continue the fight, opening the blinking chest on the right side of the arena, if necessary. Fight until the beasts are killed off and the flaming wall in front of you will disperse. With the wall gone, head forward, onto the dirt path ahead. Walk until you reach a crate, then open the blinking chest to the left of it -- likely to restore your health. Seconds later, you'll have a couple of Cyclops come towards you from ahead. Be ready to fight them both off, like you've done in the past. Then once they're gone, head around the corner to the right. There, you'll be able to see a large group of Archers on the ledge in the distance. Begin running towards them, rolling left and right to avoid damage. Once you're close enough to do so, tear through the group of them, and jump onto the road on the platform above. Walk forward a bit from there, and some baby Cerberuses will climb up from the side of the cliff. Take them out quickly, before they can evolve, then jump up to the ledge on your left, and kill the Archer there. After that, you'll just have to take out a few more waves of small Cerberuses and Archers on the ground. After you slaughter enough of them, the flaming wall blocking the room ahead will lower. When that happens, head inside, and pull the lever on the ground. The room you are in, will begin slowly rotating. As it turns, several gates will be opened, one at a time, for a total of four. There's a chest in each one. If You open the chest immediately, then roll out, you can get some red orbs from each one, but it's very dangerous. If you spend even a second too long opening them, spikes will shoot up from the ground, and kill you instantly. If you don't want to risk death, just ignore them. When the room reaches the fifth "stop" leave, and open the blinking chest on your right, then leave the room. Walk forward from there, until you get ambushed by several Udead Warriors. These ones have better armor, and are stronger than previous ones, but they're still nothing to worry about. After you take out several waves of them, it's smooth sailing to the edge of the platform on your left. When you reach there, jump onto a ledge on the wall, and pull yourself up. Jump up another three ledges from there, to reach a spot with an actuall place to go. Inch along the wall to the right, until you see a treasure chest. Open it, to recieve the second Muse key -- you'll be able to use it later. Once you have that, walk along the ledge to the left again. Continue to inch along the ledge to the left, until you reach another path. Just ahead, you should see two Minotaurs. Walk forward to greet them, then give them a nice, friendly mutilation. After that, head through the next doorway, and walk up the stairs that are there. In the hallway just ahead, you'll run into a third Minotaur to kill. Do so, then head to the end of the hallway, where you'll find both a blue and green chest, with a save point just past them. Replenish your health and magic, then save your game. After doing so, head along the hall, until you see soldiers caged, hanging from the ceiling. Ignore them for now; Just jump to the ground below, and run down the next hallway, into another room. In this room, you'll see a glowing handle on your right. Pick it up, then look at the other side of the room. There's a corpse on the wall, with a note. You can read it for a hint at whats about to happen. Then, when you are ready, head into the previous hall, and head back to the platform you jumped down from. You may have noticed a lever here before, but now you have the handle for it! So, press R2 to attatch the handle, then turn the crank, until a cage is lowered in front of you. The man asks to be let go, but Kratos will not hear of it. Push the cage down to the ground below, and begin pushing it uphill, through the hall. As you push, you will be attacked by Undead Warriors at several points. When this happens, drop the cage in front of a rock that's nearby, so that it doesn't slide away, then tend to the enemies. And don't be afraid to use Poseidon's Rae, or take a few hits; There are two blinking chests at the end of the hallway. After you reach the end of the hallway, push the cage into the next room, and position it on the square between the two alters. Then, turn around, and pull the switch on the ground. Watch, as the man is roasted alive, as he screams and begs for mercy. It's funny. This will cause a door between the alters to slide open. When it does walk into the next hallway. Walk through this hallway, until you reach a bridge in a room covered with water. Walk across it, to see Poseidon's Trident sitting on a pedestal. Press R2 to grab onto it, then rapidly press the button, until Kratos pulls it out. Afterwards, use the save point on the left. Poseidon's Trident will allow you to dive underwater with the square button, then rise or dive deeper, with square to dive and triangle or X to rise. You can test it in the waters on both sides of the bridge, but after you've had your fill, make sure to climb the ladders on both walls -- one ladder for each pool of water. On a ledge on the left side of the room, there's a chest containing a Phoenix Feather. On the right, there's a chest containing green orbs. Open both chests, then dive into the pool on the right side of the room, and swim to the lower-right cornerof it. There, dive down, and you'll find a tunnell on the floor of the pool. Dive deep down, and swim through this tunnell, until you reach a wall with the face of Poseidon on it. As a message on the screen will tell you that you can knock this down with a tackle, by pressing and holding the R1 button. Do the tackle to break through this wall, as well as the next two that follow, to reach the end of the tunnell. Surface in the next room. Be ready to slaughter a huge group of small Cerberuses after you surface, then open the red-glowing chest against the left wall. Then, open the door against the northern wall of the room, to reveal a lever. Pull the lever, and some ledges back where you found Poseidon's Trident will slide out. Jump back into the water, and swim through the tunnell again, to reach the room. Then, jump onto the bridge again -- where you might as well save your game -- and walk behind the statue, to where the platforms slide out from. As you do this, you'll be taunted by the Cerberus on the bridge, and the Harpies in the air. Truth be told, however, it's probably more trouble than it's worth to face the Cerberus. So, just ignore him, and jump onto the ledges that slid out from the wall. Jump from the top of there, to a tunnell in the wall. You can kill any Harpies that fly in their with you, but other than that, you can just put everything behind you. Run down this tunnell until you reach a blinking chest. Open it, then run forward a bit more, and jump into the water. Swim through the tunnell there, into the flooded room below. Swim ahead once you reach the bottom, until you see a Nyad -- a daughter of Poseidon -- floating in the ray of sunlight. Grab her with circle so that Kratos does a little something and she'll swim off. When she does, swim downward, through another tunnell. From the floor below, swim down a hallway to your right. Swim down this hallway until you reach a mosaic of the Nyads on the wall. Swim to the right, to begin with. Keep going until you reach a doorway shaped like a mouth. Swim through it, into the next room. Now this is where you have to be careful. There are also sorts of razor blades and spikes on the walls, and they'll be closing in on you as you swim through. Just keep holding R1, dashing, then holding R1 again, and you should make it through fine -- although just barely. When you reach the opposite side, swim forward, through the flooded hallways, until you can't go anywhwere else. At that point, rise to the surface, and jump onto the ground nearby, where you'll find lots of Undead Warriors; There will be Harpies flying through the air as well. Just basic extermination duty, is what it is; Just be careful of the Harpies' divebomb attack. After you take all of the enemies out, pull the lever in the middle of the room, to cause the wall with Poseidon's Face you saw, rise up. Then, open the two chests in the room; The green one on the right, and the blinking one on the left. After doing that, jump back into the water, and swim through the hallway of razor blades and spikes once more. Then, keep swimming until you reach the mosaic of the two Nyads again. This time, swim to the left of the mosaic. Climb out of the water, and step onto the solid ground that's there. Then, head forward into the next room, where you'll be attacked by a grouping of Undead Warriors. Take a moment to clear them out, then open the blinking chest on the left side of the room. Then, head to the wall on the north-side of the room, and smash the painting in the middle, to reveal a large bundle of pots. Smash through the pots to gain a large amount of red and green orbs, while revealing another treasure chest as well. Open it, for even more red orbs. Then from there, head back into the water, and swim to the mosaic again. Swim down the hallway to the south of it, to reach where the wall with Poseidon's picture on it used to be. Swim past it, down the next hallway, where you'll find a save point. Save your game, then take a left, and do a swim dash through another wall of Poseidon. You'll find another Nyad there. Feel her up, just as you did the first, then swim directly upward, to the surface of the water. You'll find four chests containing red orbs there. After reaping your reward of red orbs, jump back down into the water, and swim back to where the save point was. Swim to the right of it this time, and you'll see a large statue of Poseidon. Swim down the tunnell on the ground, in front of him slowly; Only go far enough for the camera to change. Then, wait for a large gate to flow by below you. When it does, swim down quickly, and swim dash left. As soon as you see an alcove on the ground, duck down into it, and wait for another gate to flow by. If you get caught by one of those, you'll be crushed, and it will be an instant game over. When the gate flows by, swim dash to the left again, and duck into the next alcove. Do this again, from there, and you'll be able to reach the last alcove -- a tunnell that leads down into another chamber. Swim through it, into the next room -- Where you can, and should, jump out of the water, onto the platform on the left, to save your game. Just be ready to take on a group of Minotaurs after doing that. There are blinking chests on both sides of the room for you to open, after you defeat the Minotaurs. After opening them both, head to the center of the platform, in the back of the room, where you'll find a lever. Pull it, and four platforms will rise out of the water, creating a stairway to the ledge ahead, with a statue of Amphirite on it. And although you can go up there (You will find a bookfrom the Architect, two chests of red orbs, and a group of Undead Warriors there) the actuall exit of the room is hidden in a more tricky spot. To reach it, after raising the platforms -- and be quick about this, as they will lower after a few moments -- jump into the water, and dive down to the floor. There, swim to the bottom of the last platform, where you'll see a hidden room! Swim inside it, and wait for the platform to lower. It will bring you down with it, acting as an elevator! When you reach the bottom, swim down the tunnell in front of you, to find yourself once again, in the room that connects to the Rings of Pandora. As always, save your game after arriving. Like the last time you were here, head down the hall with the spiked walls, towards the main ring. Again, like last time, you'll be attacked by Undead Warriors with shields. Hit them with the Plume of Prometheus (square, square triangle) to shatter their defense, then just grab them, and tear them in half. After taking all of them out, continue into the first ring of Pandora. Now, do you remember that room that required the Muse Keys? Turn rotate the crank in the room, to find the doorway that leads there. By now, you should have both of the Muse Keys. And inside, you can find quite a few valuable treasures. To start with, there are two chests full of red orbs. For more red orbs after that, jump onto the pedestal in the middle of the room, and press R2 -- that's over 1,000 orbs there! Furthermore, there are two pits of sand, one on each side of the room. Step into them, and press R2. One increases your overall health limit, and the other increases your overall magic limit. Once you've obtained all these gifts, head back into the first ring of Pandora. Next, walk into the second ring, where the rolling log used to be. Ascend the stairs to reach the top of the pool in this area, then dive in. Swim around a bit, until you find a tunnell on the floor of the pool. When you do, swim through it, until you come out at another hallway. Walk through this one, until you reach another large room. Entering it, you'll see a large door with a Minotaur's head on it. Walk across this room, to where you see the stairs, and smash the bricks in the wall that are there, to reveal a doorway. Walk through this doorway, to find another save point. Save your game, then head further down the hallway, to where you'll find a green chest and a blue chest, both next to a ladder. Climb the ladder, and head down the next hall, to reach the next part of your quest: The Challenge of Hades. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Challenge of Hades [G0013] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Head across this room, to the base of a flight of stairs. Then, jump onto the railing of the stairs on the right. Jump until you reach the top ledge of it, then jump onto the side of the statue on your right, so that Kratos grabs onto the bowl it's holding above its head. Shimmy across it to the right as far as you can, and you'll see a window with a chest in it. Jump to the window, and open the chest, for a Phoenix Feather, then jump down to the ground again. You can use the same tactics, to reach a window on the left side of the room as well. You'll find a chest full of red orbs there. After opening both of these chests, and jumping back down to the ground, head to the left side of the room, and go up the short flight of stairs there, to reach a door with a picture of Hades on it. Press R2 next to it, and you'll be told you have a challenge to do before you pass. Choose to accept it, and a horde of Centaurs will rush into the room. Two circles of light will appear on the ground as well. Your goal, is to kill Centaurs while they are standing in these circles -- Four kills in each circle to be precise. The best way to do this, is to stand in the middle of the circle, and use Poseidon's Rage to weaken them. Then, switch to the Blade of Artemis, and hack away at them, to finish them off. This isn't too hard, especiall considering that there are two green-glowing chests in the area; There's one on each side of the stairs. After you drain the blood of four Centaurs into each circle, the door you got the challenge from will open. So, head back up the stairs, and go through the door. Open the blinking chest on the right, just past it, then head into the next room, where you'll find another blinking chest on the immediate right. Head to the left, until you reach another door with Hades's face on it. Don't open it just yet though; Instead, jump up to the rocky ledge to the right of it. There, you'll find three chests. Two of them contain red orbs, and the third contains a Phoenix Feather. Open all three of them, then jump back down and go through the door, and enter the next hallway. Walk through it, until you reach a pit of lava, with two platforms that keep sliding in and out of the wall, over it. Wait for the first one to come out, then run onto it, and jump to the ground on the other side; Just ignore the second sliding platform. Turn the next corner, and you'll see another gap. This one has one moving platform, but it's a bit away from you, so you'll have to jump for it. Wait until it opens and closes three times before you do. It will temporarilly stop at that time. When it does, quickly jump to it, then jump off, onto the next platform. Turn the next corner, and you'll see darts shooting from the walls. Wait for them to stop then roll past them. Head further ahead from there, and a steel gate will shut behind you. Open the chest on the ground in front of you, at that point, then head around another corner, and be ready to fight a Gorgon. Once she's gone, you can walk forward, until you reach a fork in the path. Now, in this part of the game, you'll be in a slight maze -- and before you can get out, you have to kill all of the enemies that are here. Start, by heading to the left, and taking out the Archer that's over there. Then, turn around, and head to the right, and head down the hallway without turning, until you reach some Archers. Slaughter them, as always. Take the hallway to your right, from there, and get ready to take out another group of enemies (Undead Warriors and a Gorgon.) Then, head around the next corner, and open the green chest that is there for some health. After that, turn around and head back in the direction to where you entered. However, turn off the path to the right, when you reach some rubble on the ground. You'll enter into a large circular room, with two Centaurs and a Gorgon in it. Roll around, as you slash them up with your Blade of Artemis when you can. After you take them out, head down either of the hallways branching from the room -- it doesn't matter which, as they connect. Take out all of the Archers and Undead Warriors as you travel through, until you make it back to the main room. That will clear the first floor of enemies. Make sure to have opened the chest full of red orbs, then cross back over the rubble that you crossed to get into the room. Head left around the next corner, and you'll see a lever on the ground. Grab it with R2, and turn it, and the platform below you will rise up like an elevator. Continue to turn the crank until you reach the second floor, then jump off. Immediately after getting off of the platform, push the "wall" with Hade's face on it, in front of you. You will cause it to be moved back, then fall into a hole in the ground! Just beyond it, are five sliding platforms over a pit of lava. If you wait until the first opens, the rest will open after it, and you can run across. Jump from the last platform to the ledge on the other side, before they open again, and you'll be able to open two chests of red orbs. Doing this will also cause all the sliding platforms to stay permanently open, so you can safely cross back over again. Turn right at the next corner, and you'll find two more Archers who need to be killed. Do that, then head right again, and you'll see another pushable wall. Push it forward, and like the first, it will fall into a hole, revealing a room. Head into the next room, and some Undead Warriors will begin spawning. Defeat a few waves of them, so that they stop coming, then open the green chest on your left, before turning around the next corner on your left. There, you'll see two Archers on a ledge above. Jump up and slash them both up, then open the door on the ground, to your left, to reach the main hallway again. Follow it, until you reach another corner, and when you do, take a right. There, you'll find two more Archers. Just like the previous group, kill them. Then, take a look at the door behind where they were. There's a large stone battering ram, that keeps sliding by. Wait for it to retract slowly, then head into the room. When it charges at you, do a double jump, to reach the top of it. While on top of it, you'll see some Undead Warriors spawning ahead. Face them in combat, on top of the stone block. Once they're dead, simply wait at the edge of the battering ram, until a door against the wall, further ahed from where you entered, is revealed. When that happens, jump down, and quickly go through it, before you get crushed. The last group of enemies, some more Undead Warriors are in that room. Kill them all, and you'll see a cutscene of a door opening. To reach that door, wait for the ram to retract far enough to escape the room again, then jump on top of it. Walk across it, to reach a platform, where the door that opened was. Walk through it, then head out to a balcony overlooking the room where you fought the Centaurs, earlier. Step on the switch on the platform, and don't step off of it, until it is pressed down completely. When this happens, a large statue of Hades will rise out of the red pool on the ground. After this, jump down to the ground -- and take a moment to save via the save point at the foot of the stairs -- then dive into the water. Swim to the bottom of the statue, and you'll see an opening with a lever in it. Press R2 to pull the lever, and a beam of light will be emitted from the helmet on top of the statue. Swim to the surface of the water and jump onto the ladder on the side of the statue, and climb it until you reach the helmet. As you climb, a cage will slide out, to cover the pool below. When you reach the top, grab onto the lever behind the helmet, and pull it, to turn the head of the statue. Keep pulling it, until the light from the helmet, beams into the doorway above the stairs, brightening the room. Head up the stairs, and head into the room that was just brightened. There, you will see large flaming balls rolling down from ahead. Jump onto the ramp that they are on, as crazy as it seems, and begin running towards them. Try to run between them, rolling when necessary, until you reach the end of the hallway, where there's a doorway on the ramp they are coming down from. Go through it, and get ready to take out a small handful of Undead Warriors. After they're dead, open the three chests in the room, for a Phoenix Feather, and some orbs of the red and green variety. There's also a book from the Architect in the room, that explains that one of the doors back in the hall is the way out, while the other seven are dead ends. Now I don't know what in God's name they were thinking, when they put a sick puzzle like this in the game, but to make things simpler, the correct door is the second left-side door from the top. So, run to that one, and open it -- which in itself is a feat, due to the flaming boulders that will almost always knock you over a few times. Once you do get the door open, head down into the next hallway. As soon as you come out of the hallway, you'll be up against two rather strong Minotaurs. If you need health -- which you may very well need -- open the chest on your left just after entering. Then, consistently roll and block, while you attack, to stay alive during the fight. Using Poseidon's Rage also helps greatly during this fight; And stick with the Blade of Artemis, these guys are strong. In total, you'll be facing three Minotaurs, and a few waves of Archers. Take out the Archers first, to make things simpler. Once the fight is over, a flame wall in front of the door on the right side of the room will dissapear. Go through it, and head up the stairs, to reach a cavern-like area. Walk forward here, killing the Undead Warriors, and Archers, and opening the blinking chest on the right when you see it. You'll eventually come to a dead end. When this happens, head back into the previous room. You may feel like that was useless, but it was not, and you'll soon find out why. Head down the hallway to the right of where you opened the blinking chest during the fight with the Minotaurs. There, you'll find a rope stretching across a pit. Jump onto it, and begin shimmying to the left -- This was why you had to kill the Archers. They would be shooting at you as you climbed, and if you had been hit, you would have died. Fight your way across the rope, to the left, then jump down to a circular platform with Undead Warriors on it. Begin taking them out, however, and you'll soon find a much nastier group of enemies appearing: Minotaurs, Centaurs, and Archers. I reccomend saving any magic you have, until these guys appear -- There's even a blue chest on the right side of the platform full of it, that I also reccomend saving for the end of the fight. After you eliminate all of the enemies, a flaming wall on the platform, will go down. Head past where it was, and climb the ladder there, then jump onto the next ledge, to reach a tunnell in the wall. Walk through the tunnell, heading straight at the first turn, then taking a right at the second turn to find a chest full of red orbs. After obtaining them, turn around and take a left, to reach another fork. The left path is a dead end, so take a right, where you'll see a save point. Save your game, then head out into the next room, where you'll find yourself on a catwalk, far above the room with the statue of Hades in it. From this height, dropping down will be instant death, so be careful. Start by walking onto the first thin plank. Now, heading left is the "proper" way to do things, heading around in a large curve, jumping over the spinning blade when it comes near you. For a quick shortcut, however, you can jump from this plank, to a platform just ahead. There, walk across a plank to reach a platform against the wall on the right, where there's a Phoenix Feather inside a chest. Open the chest, than balance back across the plank. Walk forward, across the catwalk you are on, until you reach another plank. Here, you have no choice but to be careful, and jump when the blade comes near you. If you take a left at the first fork in the path, you can reach a platform with a red chest on it. After opening that chest -- or choosing not to do so -- make your way back onto the plank, and follow it around the next corner, until you reach a platform on the end. Open the chest there for another set of red orbs, then get back onto the plank. It will look like you have no where to go, except for a plank that is all by itself, not leading to any platform. However, if you look carefully at the spinning set of blades, you'll notice that one plank on it has no blades on it! Stand back, and wait for the other three planks to rotate by, then walk forward, and jump onto the safe one. While standing on it, climb the ladder slanted against the pillar, and climb to the top, to reach another short ladder. Climb that one as well, to reach a platform above. Walk across the only plank attatched to it, to reach another platform. You then have a choice of heading to the right, across another two planks, to reach a chest full of red orbs. However, if you do that, you'll have to return here afterwards. The real path forward, is to jump up and grab the rope that's on this platform. Kratos will then slide down to another ledge on the left. Climb down the ladder that's on this ledge, to reach a hallway. Walk into it, to put all this treacherous balancing behind you. Walk through the hall, until you reach a wheel with a Minotaur's head embellished on it. Press R2 to turn it, and you'll see a cutscene of the lock on that huge door you seen near the end of the Challenge of Poseidon becoming loose -- you'll then see it begin to shake, as something starts banging on it from behind. After the cutscene ends, begin walking down the wooden staircases in front of you, until one of them gives out, and you fall to the ground below. Head south from the hallway you land in, and save at the save point you come across. Then, proceed into the next room -- the room with the large door in it. The door you enter from will close behind you, giving you no way to escape. Walk towards the large door, and huge Minotaur in a suit of armor will smash it down. Thus begins the second major boss fight! .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARMORED MINOTAUR | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + While on the ground, he can headbutt at you. | | + While on the ground, he can punch at you. | | + While on the ground, he can punch the ground, causing shockwaves. | | + While on the ground, he can do the above moves in combos. | | + While on the ground, he can breathe fire at you. | | + While you're on the platform, he can slap his hands together. | | + While you're on the platform, he can grab you with his right hand, | | do a flip, then toss you back to the ground. | | + While you're on the platform, he can charge into the wall, and shake| | the ledge, knocking you over, and making fire shoot up. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | At the start of the fight, retreat to the stairs on the right side of | | the area. Stand near the top, just behind the railing, and hold block.| | This is easily the safest place in the area, but you'll still have to | | use caution if you want to live. Wait for the Minotaur to climb onto | | the ledge, then do a quick attacks on his left hand (the one near | | that is right near the stairs.) Use the Blade of Artemis for this. | | Repeatedly do this, stopping only to block his attacks, when he lifts | | his hand up; And if you happened to get knocked down, immediately | | reposition yourself at the top of the stairs. After you damage him a | | little, part of his armor will get a blast of light through it, that | | means you're starting to hurt him. Keep this up until he has five or | | six beams of light shooting from him. After that, you'll stun him, | | causing a circle to appear over his head. He'll only be stunned for a | | short while, so as soon as that happens, jump down and grab him. You | | will then have to match seven onscreen turns of the Analog stick. | | Getting them correctly, will cause Kratos to smash the Minotaur's | | head into the ground. The Minotaur will pretty much be seeing stars | | at this point. So quickly run back to the platform, and pull the | | lever that's on the left there. A flaming log will be shot at the big | | guy, shattering part of his armor. Repeat this process again, and he | | will be quite weakened -- Even normal attacks will start to chip off | | at his armor. You'll also notice the horns in the corner of the screen| | falling apart, to reveal a life bar. Continue to slash away at its | | hands, and stun it/hit it with a flaming log, when possible, until the| | last of it's armor, is gone. When this happens, each hit you do will | | drain the beast's health slightly; Other than that, it will keep the | | same attack pattern. It won't be stunned this time, until you've all | | but killed it. You won't have to grab it though; It will immediately | | become wobbly while standing up. Go and pull the lever one more time, | | and a flaming log will shoot out, and pin the Minotaur to the door, | | finishing it off. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the fight, head to the door that the Minotaur's body is pinned to, and walk through the crack in the bottom of it. There, walk up a long set of spiral stairs, and head to the right at the top, where you'll find a save point. Save your game, then head into the next room. You'll find a green chest on the right there, and a blue chest on the left. Open both, then open the chest next to the blue one, for some read orbs. After that, take a look at the book in the middle of the room, to read what happened to another son of the Architect. After reading, head forward, and open the crypt in front of you. Then, like last time, jump onto the tomb, and grab the son's skull with R2. Rapidly press the button until you tear it off, then leave the room, and head back down the long set of stairs, to where you fought the Minotaur. As soon as you enter the room, you'll see another Thunderbolt symbol. Go step onto it, and Hades will award you with another magic power: Army of Hades. A group of Undead Warriors will then appear. Use your new power, and several souls will begin attacking them. While the souls run amock, add to the chaos with your own attacks. The Army of Hades takes up a lot of magic, so you can probably only use it twice. So when you run out, just finish the rest of the enemies on your own. After the enemies are cleared out, Hades will let you pass. Head through the hall he was blocking, and open the green chest that's there. Then, head down the hall, and jump into the pool of water. Swim through the underground tunnell, to reach the Rings of Pandora yet again. Swim around a bit, to find a doorway under the water, with a skull on it. Press R2, and the door will open, and the water around you will drain. Don't step into the room just yet though. Instead, find the crank that is on the ground, with a door next to it. Open the door, then leave the area completely, and make your way back to the first ring of pandora. There, find the crank, and turn it, so that the opening next it leads to the spiked hallway -- This will also cause the doorway leading to the second ring to be aligned with it. Once that's accomplished, head into the second ring again, and walk through the door, to reach the center of the ring, where the crank is. Turn this crank, until the opening of this door aligns with the opening of the first ring, and the spiked hallway. Next, head into the very center chamber, that the skull door had bene previously blocking. There, you'll find a third crank. Turn it, until the opening of that chamber aligns with all the other openings. Then finally, run back through the spiked room -- taking out the Undead Warriors that always appear there -- and head into the chamber with a pool of water in it. Head to the back of the room, and pull either of the levers on the wall there. A beam of light will emit, and it will shine all the way into the chamber in the center of all of the rings, causing a huge statue of Zeus to rise up to the sky! Head all the way to the center of the chamber, and pull the lever there. You will be brought high into the air, to the next part of the temple. At the top, step onto the hands of the statue, and you'll be carried to a circular platform ahead. There, you'll have to fight a new type of enemy, the Satyr. You'll only have to face three of them (first one, then two) but they are very formidable enemies. They know all sorts of maneuvers and attacks, and they even block quite often. There's not one, but two green chests on the platform, though, so you should be fine. Just block and roll alot, and hit them with your best combos -- or beat the living crap out of them with the Blade of Artemis. After the fight ends, walk onto the next bridge, and watch another cutscene of Kratos' past. After it ends, continue across the bridge, read another book from the Architect that's there, save your game at the nearby save point, then head to the right, near the edge, where there's a cracked wall. Smash it open, and you will find two red-glowing chests inside. Open them both, then head back to where the save point is. Walk forward, into the Cliffs of Madness. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Cliffs of Madness [G0014] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Head up the first hill in front of you, and at the top, take out the group of Undead Warriors that attack you. You can use Poseidon's Rage to make it easier, because there's a blue-glowing chest around the corner to your left. After the fight ends, head down the path to the right, until you reach a gap in the path. Jump over to the next ledge, and attack the Archer that forms on it, as soon as you land. Then, jump to the next platform, and kill another pair of them. Walk forward on that platform a bit, after killing the two Archers, walk to the left, towards a wooden dock, with a rope hanging from it. A bunch of Harpies will be fluttering about, in front of it. Go for a short murder spree, and once they've been taken care of, jump onto the rope, and begin shimmying to the left. Very surprisingly, no enemies will be on this rope to fight you. So make your way to the next ledge, at your own leisure, then jump down. Once on the new ledge, walk around the corner to your left, and get ready to hack-and-slash your way through another crowd of Archers and Undead Warriors, to reach a crank against the cliffside. When the enemies around you are dead, turn the crank, and the platform below you will elevate you to the ledge above. Step off of the platform, and use the save point to your left. Here, you'll have two choices for a path, that both eventually lead to the same place. You can either head to the right, and go through a cave, or climb the ladder in front of you. For the sake of simplicity, climb the ladder, then at the top, head to the right and climb another ladder. There, head further to the right, until you reach a green chest. Open it to refill your health, then climb up another ladder, that will be right next to it. You'll then be at another split in the path; A cave, or the path to the left. This is a cave you should enter. After entering it, you'll soon come across two Satyrs -- the same enemies you fought near the end of the Challenge of Hades. You know the drill; Roll, block, combo, until they're dead -- and don't be afraid to use magic, as there is a blue chest against the wall on your right. After taking out the Satyrs, jump to the wooden platform on your left, and switch to Zeus's Fury. There, target all of the Undead Warriors on the next wooden platform. After they're cleared away, pull the crank in the center of the platform you're on, as far as it will go. Both this, and the platform the enemies were on, will rotate. Once you can't pull the crank any more, let go, and run to the bridge extending from the platform you are on. Then, when the bridges from both platforms pass eachother, as the platforms revert back to their original position, jump to the second wooden platform, and walk off of it, onto the solid cave-floor again. Walk through the next hallway, taking out the Satyr that's there, to reach the last room of the cave. At that point, it will only be two Archers blocking your path to the door. Jump up to the ledges they are on, and tear them apart, then leave the cave. You can walk to the left to find a blinking chest, after leaving the cave. After opening it, however, you'll have to head back to the right. Double jump to reach the next ledge over there, then walk forward a few steps. A few Minotaurs will spawn in front of you, at that point. Keep in mind as you fight them, that Army of Hades can go a long way in helping you win -- And if you upgraded the Blades of Chaos all the way, yet, The Lance of Furies can help you as well (you can use it by jumping, then holding L1 and pressing circle.) You'll be facing three Minotaurs in total. After you've finished them off, head to the right a little, and look for a ladder that's hanging off of the edge of the platform. Climb down it, to reach the ground below, then follow along the platform to the right. You'll soon come across two more Satyrs. Either take them out, or knock them over and run, to reach the edge of the platform, where there are two Archers. Hack through the Archers, and open the chest on your right, to get a nice stash of red robs. Then, jump to the rope that's hanging off of the platform, and Kratos will slide down to another ledge, on the other side of the mountain. Walk into the cave in front of you as soon as you land, then walk down the tunnell, until you reach a room with a large puddle on the floor. A door will lock you in, with a bunch of enemies who are spawning, just after you enter. There are Minotaurs, Archers, and Undead Warriors around the room. If you have the magic, using Army of Hades, or Poseidon's Rage will make this area infinitely easier. If not, though, rolling and using Plume of Prometheus, or jumping and using the Lance of Furies (Again, if you've upgraded the Blades of Chaos to level 5) work too. There's a blinking chest in the room, against the northern wall, but don't try opening it during the fight -- There are simply too many enemies. Once the fight's over, head into the next room on your left, where you'll see a cutscene of a metal grating going up in the northern part of the room, blocking off an item. First things first though. This puzzle will require you to fit all of the blocks into the wall, to make the gate open. However, you have some chests to open first. Walk forward, and grab onto the small cube block, and drag it over so that it's next to the tall rectangular box on your left. Once they are together, jump onto the cube, then jump up onto the top of the rectangle. There, you can see a ledge on your left, with four chests on it: Two red ones, a green one, and a grey one with a Phoenix Feather in it. Getting this feather, should increase your magic meter, if you've been picking them all up. After you've opened them all, jump back to the ground, where you can start trying to solve this block puzzle. Start by grabbing the piece that looks like a seven, and drag it onto the circle in the center of the room. Then, head to the back of the room, where there's a crank. Turn it, until the "seven block" is facing the other way. Then, grab it, and push it into the wall on the north side of the room, right on the left side of the wall. Next, look in the lower-right corner of the room, for a piece that's the size of two-cubes stacked on top of eachother. Slide this piece, so that it's right next to the "seven". Next, find a piece that is shaped like a sideways "T" in the lower-left side of the room. Drag it onto the circle in the middle of the room, and use the crank to rotate it, so that it is shaped like a normal "T". Then, slide it into the wall, so that it fits in next to the rectangular piece, and the "seven" piece. After that, take the tall rectangular piece from the left side of the room, and slide it into the right side of the wall. Finally, grab the piece that's in the top-right corner of the room, and rotate it 270-degrees, so that it fits into the last remaining slot in the wall, finishing the puzzle. Once the puzzle is over, all of the blocks will slide into the ground, and you'll be able to pass. Walk past where they were, and pluck the Necklace of Hera of the pedestal in front of you. Picking up the necklace, will cause a ladder outside of the cave to drop down. So, head back outside of the cave, and save via the save point that has appeared, then climb the ladder on your right. Once you've reached a new ledge, walk further to the right, until you come to a rocky wall that you can climb. Climb it upward, as far as you can, killing any enemies you run into along thw way. When you're out of wall to climb, jump over to another wall on your right, then from there, jump to the next wall on your right. From there, climb upward then to the left as far as you can go. Finally, climb straight upward, to the top of the wall, where you can climb upto a cliff above, where there's a chest. Open it for some red orbs, then jump to the next ledge on your right, for more red orbs. After that, jump to a third ledge on your right, and climb onto the rocky wall below it. There, climb over to the lower-right hand corner of the wall, where you'll be above a platform. Drop down onto it, and walk to your right, to find a lever. Pull it, and you'll see a cutscene of a rope being lowered, in another part of the mountain. You'll get to it in good time. For now, backtrack back to the first ledge with a chest full of red orbs on it. Then, begin climbing down the side of that cliff, heading towards the right. Jump over the gap in the wall, when you reach it, then climb downward while hugging the right-hand wall. At the bottom, you can drop off of the wall, to land back on the platform with the rope you slid from earlier. You can also grab a chest full of red orbs from a platform just to the left of this drop-down point. Once on this platform, however, make your way back across the path to the left, either fighting, or avoiding the two Satyrs. Once you reach a ladder, jump onto it, and climb it to the platform above. There, head further to the left, to the mouth of the cave you went through, and proceed to backtrack through it again, so that you come out at another spot in the mountain. When you come out of the cave, head down a few ladders, so that you reach a save point that you were at earlier. Take a moment to save, then jump over the rocks to the right, and open the blinking chest that's there. Then, head over to the right a bit more, and kill a few Archers before heading into another cave. In this cave, there's nothing but a long, hard battle. There are tons of Undead Warriors, and a fistful of Satyrs. There's also some stairs that lead to another floor of this cave, but there's nothing but some enemies that you don't have to confront, and a green chest up there. Only go there if you really need the health. As for taking out the enemies, Rage of the Gods works great if you have it; Let loose with it, and kick some ass. Rage of Poseidon and Army of Hades also help; Especially if you upgraded the Blades of Chaos to level five, and have the ability to use infinte magic while in Rage of the Gods mode. After you wipe out all of the enemies on the ground level of the cave, a wall of fire blocking the doorway to your left will be distinguished. When that happens, walk through the hallway, to reach another outside-area. There, walk to the left to find another elevator platform. Grab the crank on it, and turn it so that you are brought to a platform above, then use the save point on your left to save your game, before you head into the next cave in front of you. Head to the right side of this room, to where there's a caged off box. Pull the lever next to the grating, and it will be lifted; But the door behind you will be locked. You'll also hear a ticking sound -- and being as there's holes with spikes in them all along the ground, that's not a good sign! Quickly, pull the box out of the room it's in, and get behind it. Then, charge kick it away from the room it was in, then kick it again, into the hallway branching off of the room. Finally, kick it once more, so that it's against the wall over there. Then, before the spikes shoot up, jump onto the box, and then do a double jump onto the ledge above. You should be saved just in a nick of time. From there, open a red chest on your left, then jump to the vines on the wall ahead, and pull yourself up to the platform above. There, you'll see a second pedestal with a necklace on it. Press R2, to take the Necklace of Aphrodite. After you do this, the exit door will become unlocked, and the spikes will retract back into the ground. So, jump down, and leave the same way you came in. Jump down to the platform on your right, once outside. Then, head to the right, back to the cave with the rotating wooden platforms in it. For a third time, make your way through this cave, then once outside, jump up to the platform on the right. Head along this platform, until you reach a two large statues, with stone heads on each side. Check each with the R2 button, and choose to put a necklace on each of them. Doing this, will cause four platforms, between this cliff, and the next to begin to move. Don't worry about them just yet, though. Instead, head around the corner of the platform, ahead, to find a red chest and a cave. Open the chest for some red orbs, then enter the cave and kill the three Archers that are there, to find a pool of water. Dive into the water, and you'll find a hidden tunnell. If you swim all the way through it, you'll reach a secret fountain. In this area, there are three cracked walls, which you can destroy. All have a chest full of red orbs behind them. Open all three, then make your way back to the two statues with necklaces. Wait until the first stone ledge that's sliding out from the platform to the right of you, to emerge. Then, run across it, and jump to the platform which is on the cliff ahead, and pull yourself onto it. Wait for that one to emerge again, then make a jump for another ledge on the left. On top of it, you'll find two chests. One holds red orbs, and the other holds blue orbs. After opening both chests, wait for the platform to slide out, then make another jump, to the fourth and final platform, which is on the right. After landing safely, head to the right, until you see another cutscene of Kratos's past. After the cutscene ends, be ready to take out a final grouping of enemies -- Some Undead Warriors, and two Minotaurs. Then, when the fight is over, hop over the pile of rubble to your right, and walk to the end of the path, where you'll find a wooden platform. From it, you can jump to a rope that's in the air. Do so, then hold circle so that you start swinging. Wait until you are swinging hard, then jump off at the peek of your swing, to a second rope, and from there, onto the next platform. Climb the wall on this platform upward, to reach an elevator platform, then pull the lever on it, to go upward to another ledge above, where there is another cave entrance. Walk through, to reach the Architect's Tomb; And make sure to save, right at the beginning of it. --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | Architect's Tomb [G0015] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- At the start of the area, walk forward to where you see some moving platforms, divided by some razor blades that are sliding across wires. Jump from platform to platform, whenever the razor blades are away from you, to reach the ground on the other side of the chasm. There, you'll see a locked door. You'll need to press three switches to open it. Begin heading down the hallway, opening the blinking chest on your left. Then, continue down the hallway, taking care of any Undead Warriors that get in your way. Then, once you make it out of the hallway, prepare to face a Cyclops, and some small Cerberuses. As always, attack the small Cerberuses first, so that they can't evolve into larger ones. After the fight's over, climb the ladder on the west side of the area, to reach a platform, with a steel door on it. Hack at the door until it shatters, to reveal a room with a red chest, and a blinking chest in it. Open both, then leave the room, and jump back to the platform where you fought the Cerberuses. Climb the ladder in the center of the area, to reach a crane-like machine. Grab the crank and begin turning it, to move the crank. Rotate it, until the shadow of the box it is holding, is hovering over the cracked ground below. Then, stop turning, and run onto the crank itself, to where the rope is attatched. Pull the lever that's there, to cause the box to drop, and destroy the cracked ground, revealing a cavern! You can't just leave the crane there though. Begin turning it again, until the box is overlooking a switch, near the door you are trying to unlock. When that happens, drop the box again, so that it lands on the switch. After that, jump down to the ground, and get ready to take on another few Cyclopse in battle. Then, once they're out of the way, head to the left of the locked door, and walk towards the northern wall, where you'll find a statue that you can grab. Grab onto it with R2, and drag it over to the cavern that you opened using the crane. Push it into the cavern, so that it falls down, then jump in after it. Inside, you'll see the second switch. Push the statue on top of it, to secure it, making you two out of three now. And thanfully, the first switch is the easiest of all! Just jump back across the razorblade-divided platforms, to where you entered the tomb -- and maybe save again -- then step on the switch in the middle of the area. Unlike the last two, this one has a timer on it. So, step on it, until it goes into the ground fully, then quickly jump back across the platforms, and run through the door before it closes again. The room beyond it is very interesting. You can see many of the Architect's original sketches for the traps and puzzles of the temples. You can even see the body of him and his wife, festering away. Which brings us to the next order of business... Step behind his wife's body, which is still sitting in a chair, and press R2. Then, rapidly press R2 to rip her head off. Upon doing this, Kratos wilkl automatically walk forward, and unlike the next door with it. Once that's done, walk down the short hallway in front of you, into the next room. There, walk down some stairs, into an arena-like area. There, you can head down the stairs on your right to find some red chests, and save via the save point in the top-right corner of the area. Then, once you're done preparing, head up a flight of stairs in front of you, and walk into the next room of the temple. Head down the spiral staircase that's there, then walk into the next room, and prepare for one of the hardest areas of the entire game. Here's how it works: There are conveyor belts on the floor, that move left and right, and there are spinning spikes on the wall, that will hurt you. There are also platforms on the side of these conveyor belts that don't move, but if you stand on them for more than a couple of seconds, fire will be shot out from the walls at you, and you'll be killed instantly. You have to kill an absolutely insane number of Harpies, as well as the Archers on each of these platforms, in order to get the flaming wall on the other side of the room to die down. You should go through all the Archers first, as they don't respawn nearly as much. Then, once they're out of the way, stand between any two of the solid platforms so that the floor doesn't move you into the spiked walls. Then, you can use Poseidon's Rage, or Army of Hades, which wil lreally help you out. You can use Rage of the Gods as well, as this area truly is quite hard. Once you're out of magic, just stick to doing quick attacks on the Harpies, as you roll to evade their divebomb attacks. When the fight finally ends, head into the next room, walk up the stairs, and open the door, to reach the chamber that holds Pandora's Box. Grab the lever of the large golden chest in the room, and pull it to reveal Pandora's Box. Then, press R2 on the chest, and Athena will appear and tell you to bring the box back to the city. The platform you are on, will then lower, bringing you to the lobby of the Temple. Drag the chest towards the door of the temple, and a major cutscene will occur, and by the end of it, Kratos will end up in Hades. His journey is not over though... --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Path of Hades [G0016] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Walk across the bone path in front of you, and save your game. Then, open the green chest on your right, and get your blue orbs from the blinking chest on your left. Then, do double jumps across the platforms ahead, until you reach one with platforms on every side of it. Jump to the one north of it, to reach a chest full of red orbs, then jump across the chain of platforms east of it; Don't even worry about the ones to the west of it, they lead to a dead end. Keep jumping, until you reach the next platform with platforms on all sides of it. Again, jump to the platform north of it, for a chest full of red orbs. Then, jump back to it, and jump across the chain of platforms west of it, to reach a much larger platform. Flaming Undead Warriors are running amok on that platform, but beneath the fancy flaming armor, they're still the same Undead Warriors; This goes the same for all other flaming enemies in this area. So, as always, slaughter them. Then, jump up to the next ledge in front of you, where you'll find three more Undead Warriors to kill. Then, jump up to a third platform, where you'll see another path of bones. Follow this path, to reach a rotating log, with blades on it. Balance across it carefully, being careful not to step on the bones, then, if you are feeling risky, jump to the second platform you see on the right, to reach a chest full of red orbs. After you've done that, make your way to the platform on the end of the first spinning log, and kill the Archer that's there, then open the chest on the platform for some more red orbs. You can then choose to follow the path of spinning logs on the right side of the platform, to reach another platform with a chest full of red orbs; You'll have to backtrack to the first platform again, afterwards, though. Jump to the spinning log left of the platform, and head north. There, you can jump off to a ledge on the right, and open a red chest, and even follow some more spinning logs to reach a second one. However, to advance forward, you must simply stay on the log you are on, to reach the next platform. Then, follow along the next two spinning logs from there, before jumping to another spinning log on your right. There, you can jump to a platform north of the log, for two red chests, but if you do so, you'll have to be careful, as Harpies will be in the air around you in no time. Once you're ready to head onward, jump from the log, to the platform on your right, then proceed to balance across another log south of the platform. When you reach the next ledge, be ready to take out some Harpies, that will become a nuisance if you don't, then head across one more log, to reach a bone path. Follow it to the next platform, where you'll find a save point and a blinking chest. Make good use of them. Next, you'll have to deal with some platforms that hover from side to side. This is far from a new concept, but what makes it tricky, is that a large group of Archers on the other side, will be shooting at you. Just be careful to block as you wait for platforms to align, as you jump though, because it's not worth wasting the magic required to kill them all. Then, when you finally reach the platform they are on, tear through them like tissue paper. After doing that, however, be ready to do battle with the much more formidable Minotaur that will spawn in front of you. Once you've taken that out, jump up to the ledge on the right side of the area, and get ready to take on five or so more of them. Thankfully, there will be a blinking chest on that ledge though. So, don't hold back on the magic. Blast them with Poseidon's Rage to get a head start on the battle, then just refill when it's over. From there, jump back down to the ground, and make your way to the ledge on the left. There, you'll have to fight another pair of Minotaurs, as well as a circle of Archers. If you let loose a Poseidon's Rage in the center of that platform, it should take out all of the Archers for you, leaving you to take care of the Minotauts as you please. After doing so, jump up to the next ledge, where you'll have to take on one more wave of Minotaurs and Archers. Use up any magic that you have left, if you have any, and then rely on combos to finish the battle. When the battle is finally over, the flaming wall in front of you will go down, and a wall of spikes will begin to spin. Open the blinking chest to the right of it, then climb onto the wall. You'll then have to climb up the wall, being careful not to hit the spikes. It's extremely tricky to do, but there's no real strategies that can be said. Take your time, and try to find the safest path upward, without being afraid to backtrack downward a little, if it will keep you from touching a spike. And remember, you can jump upward by pressing the Up and X button. That may help you get through tricky spots. When you reach the top, open the chest of red orbs from your right, then head further to your right, to find some Archers next to a blinking chest. Kill the Archers, and open the chest then jump up to the next platform. There, you'll find some more Archers, and another spiked wall you have to climb -- one that's disgustingly hard, and one that makes the first look like a walk in the park. Upon reaching the top, open the green chest and the blue chest that will both be on your left. Then, use the save point that's on your right to save your game. From there, walk forward towards the edge of the platform, and jump to the platform ahead. Then, begin jumping across chains of platforms to the left to reach the next large platform (You can also go towards the right, to find a chest full of red orbs, but you'll just have to go to the left anyway.) On that platform, you'll find to Satyrs. When you defeat them, two platforms will appear before you, then some more Satyrs will spawn. The goal, is to keep killing Satyrs, until enough platforms form to make a bridge for you. To do this, you can use any method: Poseidon's Rage, Army of Hades, or just plain old combos. Do know, that there is a green chest, and a blue chest on the platform with you, though. The best method, would be to use Poseidon's Rage once on each pair, then finish them off. This conserves magic, and makes it last a little longer. Once the last piece of the bridge rises, and the Satyrs stop respawning, begin jumping across platforms of the bridge. You can jump off to platforms on the left and right of the second piece, as well. Both hold a chest containing red orbs. After that, make your way across the bridge, and jump to the next large platform, where you'll find two Archers. Rip them both in half, then be thankful that those are the last two enemies of the area! Jump up to the next platform, then cross one more bone bridge. At the top, a rope will drop down from the sky. Jump onto it, and begin climbing. You'll eventually come out at the Temple of the Oracle, from the grave that was being dug for you earlier, by the Grave digger. The only step left in your journey, is to take down the God of War! --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- | | The Final Battles [G0017] | | --|-|----------------------------------------------------------------------|-|-- Start by opening the green and blue chests on your right, then save at the save point near your grave. From there, head into the Temple of the Oracle in front of you. In the lobby of the temple, you'll have to take on a few waves of Minotaurs and Cyclopse. Don't worry though, they are extremely weak -- they are the first versions of the monsters, that you faced way earlier in the game! Once you've killed them, the door on the left side of the room will open. When this happens, walk through the door, and begin ascending the staircase beyond it, taking out all the Archers and Gorgons along the way, who again, are all weak. Make your way to the second floor of the temple, where there will be a large pillar bridging the gap to the other side of the room. Run across it, to the Archers on the other side, and hack them to pieces. Then, open the blinking chest on your left and head down the hall just past it, defeating the Minotaurs and Archers that you run into along the way. When you come out at the courtyard jump to the ground below, and head to the right side of it, to find a save point. Save, then head down the next hallway, where you can talk to the Oracle. Keep heading down the stairs, opening the two red chests, as well as the green and blue chest you come across. Make any last minute upgrades, then head outside to confront Ares, for the final battles. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARES I | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He can hit you with the blades on his back | | + He can hit you with a warhammer | | + He can do a spin attack, with the blades on his back | | + He can swing an axe at you | | + He can do a devestating flamethrower attack at you | | + He can do an attack, where he transforms, and shoots Meteors at you | | + He can launch his axe into the ground, sending out shockwaves | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Now if you have Blades of Chaos at max, it will really help, because | | you will be able to use infinite magic during Rage of the Gods. That | | being said, having Army of Hades at max will also help, but it is not | | necessary. What you should do, is use Army of Hades right from the | | start, then doing combos, blocking as necessary. Use Army of Hades | | again, as soon as it stops, if you have the magic to do so. And if | | Ares ever goes for his Meteor attack, roll around in a large circle | | to avoid taking big damage. When you get Rage of the Gods, use it, | | then if you can, summon Army of Hades (which you'll be able to do | | twice before the Rage of the Gods wears off, if your Blades of Chaos | | are at level 5.) If you keep hacking away at him in this state, while | | Hades's souls are tearing him apart, it's possible to take him out in | | under a minute. However, if you don't have the necessary upgrades, you| | can make do by blocking his attacks, and using combos when possible. | | It sounds simple for both methods, but believe me when I tell you, the| | second method is not. For your own good, it is highly reccomended that| | you have both of the mentioned powers upgraded completely. Once you | | weaken Ares until a circle appears over his head, grab him, you must | | then rapidly press circle to beat Ares in a test of strength, to get | | Kratos to jump onto Ares. Then, press the button sequence shown, to | | have Kratos send Ares's own back-blade through his back -- This also | | gives an insane number of red orbs -- several thousand! So, you could | | use this time to upgrade yet again, before the next fight. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the fight, Kratos will be dragged into a memory of his own past. He will bring him to the temple where Kratos slaughtered his wife and daughter. And his wife and daughter, are still alive in this memory. However, clones of Kratos are attacking them, and the real Kratos is left to protect them. They'll have a life bar in the corner, and you can grab them with circle, to transfer your life to them, if necessary; If either of you die, it's game over. Do know, however, that you can't kill them. So, if you'd like to go crazy with Poseidon's Fury -- which is a great tactic for this battle -- go right ahead. Don't be afraid to use your Rage of the Gods either, as you won't need it for the second round with Ares. As the fight goes on, the temple will begin to fall apart. Stick in there though, and keep killing the Kratos clones. Some Archers will appear on floating platforms as well, but don't worry about them; You don't even need to kill them. Although, if you use Poseidon's Rage whenever you have enough magic to do so, like you should, you'll inevitably kill them anyway. After a few moments of fighting, you'll be brought back out of the memory, so that you can have a final round with Ares. .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARES II | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He can do basic weapon swings at you | | + He can do a swinging blade attack | | + He can shoot a fireball at you | | + He can cause four rocks to come from the ground, and shoot at you | | + He can do an attack, where he transforms, and shoots Meteors at you | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Here, you'll be using a new weapon: Blade of the Gods. It has only | | four special moves (L1 plus any of the face buttons.) Now, how this | | works, is there's a meter at the top of the screen. The left half of | | it is you, and the right half of it is Ares. Each time he hits you, | | the green goes towards his side. Each time you hit him, the green goes| | towards your swide. Whoever gets it all, leaving their opponent with | | none, is the winner. Ares can still do most of his form one attacks | | but you, on the other hand, are left with much less. Blocking will be | | your friend here, as you try to hit him whenever possible. Note, that | | if you and him strike eachother at the same time, there will be a test| | of strength, where you rapidly hit the circle button. Whoever wins | | this test, will score some more damage on their opponent -- and should| | that be you, press circle immediately afterward, to follow it up with | | a nice combo for more damage. AS for your combos, L1 and X, as well as| | L1 and circle work fine. However, stay away from L1 and square, or L1 | | and triangle. They both leave you open for attacks. Personally, I | | think sticking to basic square attacks works best. After you defeat | | Ares in this battle, you'll see an amazing cutscene of Kratos | | delivering the final blow to the God of War. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' After the battle ends, you'll see more or less, the ending of the game, which is interactive. There are no enemies though, or no way to die, so just listen to Athena, and walk into Mount Olympus. Make your way along the corridor there, until you reach Ares' throne room. There, you can do two things. You can keep hacking away at the statue of Ares and the Minotaur, to find an easter egg, and you can press R2 to sit on Ares' throne. Doing so will initiate the final cutscene, and the credits. The end. _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 05. Enemies [ENEMY] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| <<<---------------->>> Undead Warrior <<<---------------->>> Locations: The Aegean Sea, Temple of the Oracle, Challenge of Atlas Description: These are by far the weakest enemies in the game, which makes sense, as they are also the first enemies that you'll encounter. Not only do they come with no form of armor or protection, they aren't very good swordsmen. They have only basic sword strikes, no combos, or any of that good stuff. Furthermore, right off of the bat, you can grab them, and do one of your gruesome kills. Special Kills: - You can rip their spines in half, by graabbing them, and pressing triangle. - You can shove your sword through their sstomache, and swing them through the air, possibly hitting other enemies, by grabbing them and pressing square. - You can repeatedly punch them, by pressiing circle after grabbing them. Once they are weaker, instead of punching them, you'll knock them onto the ground, and smash their head apart with three slashes of your sword. <<<------->>> Harpy <<<------->>> Locations: The Aegean Sea, Rooftops of Athens, Temple of the Oracle Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Poseidon, The Cliffs of Madness Architect's Tomb, The Path of Hades Description: You'll encounter these flying, half-woman half-vulture creatures early on in the game. They make swoops down on you, and they will often try to double-team you. However, don't be suprised if they forget about you, and decided to try an innocent human whose nearby, apart by the arms, instead. They aren't the brightest of creatures. These are loyal servants of Ares. Later on in the game, they'll have an annoying divebomb attack; The ground they're targeting will glow red, and then they'll slam into the spot, face first. Special Kills: - You can rip both of their wings of, for an instant kill, by grabbing them. This is initated immediately, and requires no further buttons. However, this tactic awards no experience orbs. <<<-------->>> Archer <<<-------->>> Locations: The Aegean Sea, The Road to Athens, Athens Town Square, Rooftops of Athens, Sewers of Athens, Pandora's Temple, Rings of Pandora The Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Poseidon, Challenge of Hades, The Cliffs of Madness, Architect's Tomb, Path of Hades, Final Battles Description: These are common alterations of the Undead Warriors. They have all of the same weaknesses (no armor, slow attack pace, and the ability to be torn apart at any time you choose) but their attacks are different. Obviously, these guys use bows. That means, they can attack from very long distances. Their aim isn't very good in most cases, but when they're in the back of a room, while you're trying to focus on other enemies, they can become a problem. Special Kills: - You can rip their spines in half, by graabbing them, and pressing triangle. - You can shove your sword through their sstomache, and swing them through the air, possibly hitting other enemies, by grabbing them and pressing square. - You can repeatedly punch them, by pressiing circle after grabbing them. Once they are weaker, instead of punching them, you'll knock them onto the ground, and smash their head apart with three slashes of your sword. <<<----------------------------->>> Undead Warrior (With Armor) <<<----------------------------->>> Locations: The Gates of Athens, Rooftops of Athens, Sewers of Athens, Desert of Lost Souls, Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Poseidon, Challenge of Hades, The Cliffs of Madness Description: These are the same as Undead Warriors, but they have armor, as the name suggests. The only difference besides appearence, is that you can't grab them without beating them up a bit first. Once you give some damage to them, a circle icon will appear above them, and you'll be able to grab them, and initiate a special kill. Special Kills: - You can rip their spines in half, by graabbing them, and pressing triangle. - You can shove your sword through their sstomache, and swing them through the air, possibly hitting other enemies, by grabbing them and pressing square. - You can repeatedly punch them, by pressiing circle after grabbing them. Once they are weaker, instead of punching them, you'll knock them onto the ground, and smash their head apart with three slashes of your sword. <<<---------->>> Minotaur <<<---------->>> Locations: The Gates of Athens, The Road to Athens, Rooftops of Athens, The Sewers of Athens, Desert of Lost Souls, Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Poseidon, Challenge of Hades, The Cliffs of Madness, Path of Hades The Final Battles Description: In Greek and Roman mythology, there was one Minotaur. In this game, they come by the hundreds. They are very strong and vicious half-man, half-bull monsters, armed with heavy weapons (usually hammers or axes). They have a high offense and defense. Not only will you have trouble knocking them over without using good combos, they may -- especially in later parts of the game -- plow through your block, and knock you over. Special Kills: - After you damage them enough, a circle wwill appear over there head. Grab them at this time, and Kratos will knock them over, and jump on them. Rapidly press circle, to shove his sword down their throat and kill them. If you do not press it fast enough, the Mintotaur will toss you off. This type of death will always yield health orbs. <<<-------------------------->>> Cyclops (With Mace/Club) <<<-------------------------->>> Locations: The Gates of Athens, Rooftops of Athens, Pandora's Temple Challenge of Poseidon, Architect's Tomb, The Final Battles Description: Now these are some tough SOBs. They are huge, and carry giant maces that will more often than not, crush your defenses. Due to their large size, they are also able to take your attacks very well. And although they have only one eye, their senses have not dimmed in the least. These guys are dangerous. You can go toe-to-toe with them, if you are using the Blade of Artemis though. Also note, that if they miss you, and get their mace stuck in the ground, you'll have a second to really damage them. Special Kills: - If you weaken them to a point where a ciircle is above their head, grab them. You'll then have a sequence of button presses to do. If you get them all right, Kratos will slide under them, stab them in the back, climb up to their head, then wreck their face, with his Blades of Chaos. <<<-------->>> Gorgon <<<-------->>> Locations: The Gates of Athens, The Road to Athens, Athens Town Square, Temple of the Oracle, Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Hades The Final Battles Description: These Snake-women, are very similair to the Medusa BOSS you fight. In fact besides the fact that they are slower and weaker, the only difference is color. You still have to watch out for their gaze attack though; If you spend too much time in that green beam, you'll be turned to stone. If this happens, you can escape by quickly moving the control stick around, but be careful -- One hit is death. Also note, that your Medusa's Gaze attack does not work on them. Special Kills: - If you weaken them to a point where a ciircle is above their head, grab them. You'll see either two or three (depending on how far you are into the game) icons of analog sticks above them, one at a time. These icons have arrows on them. Move the left analog stick in the direction and angle shown. If you get each one right quickly enough, you'll wrench their heads off. If you mess up, or go to slow, however, they'll escape from you. <<<--------------------->>> Cyclops (With Sword) <<<--------------------->>> Locations: Athens Town Square, The Sewers of Athens Description: These guys look like the Mace-armed versions of the Cyclops, but they fight differently. See, these guys have swords, so their attacks are a little quicker, and not as hard-hitting as the versions with maces. However, you'll still be easily out-powered by them, so stick to rolling, or keep them back with the Blades of Artemis. Special Kills: - Weaken them until a circle appears over their heads, then grab them. Kratos will hook his Blades of Chaos into their head, and smash their head into the ground. This does huge damage, but it usually takes two or three to finish one of these guys off. <<<------------------------------>>> Undead Warrior (With Shield) <<<------------------------------>>> Locations: Athens Town Square, Challenge of Atlas, Challenge of Poseidon Description: These are upgraded versions of Undead Warriors, however, instead of holding armor, they hold shields. They'll be invulnerable to most of your attacks while they have this shield, but if you hit them with a Plume of Prometheus, their defences will be completely shattered. Without their shields, they literally have no defence; You can grab them, even with no circle icon above them. Special Kills: - You can rip their spines in half, by grabbing them, and pressing triangle. - You can shove your sword through their sstomache, and swing them through the air, possibly hitting other enemies, by grabbing them and pressing square. - You can repeatedly punch them, by pressiing circle after grabbing them. Once they are weaker, instead of punching them, you'll knock them onto the ground, and smash their head apart with three slashes of your sword. <<<-------->>> Wraith <<<-------->>> Locations: Rooftops of Athens, Pandora's Temple Description: These looks similair to Undead Warriors, but they are completely different. The main differences, are that these guys have blades for arms, and can sink down into the ground, and move around as a shadow of sorts. They're also quite quick, and will utilize spinning, to hit you with their blades. Special Kills: - This kill is rare, but possible. If they are weak enough and you push circle, Kratos will slam it against the ground, tear off one of its blade-arms, and use it to deliver a killing blow to the head. Thanks goes to Keith Dembek for e-mailing me about this special kill. - You can grab these guys at any time. Doing so will automatically initiate a move. Kratos will knock their blades into the ground, then launch them into the air. You can follow up on this combo as you see fit. <<<------->>> Siren <<<------->>> Locations: Desert of Lost Souls, Challenge of Atlas Description: These monsters sing songs, from far away, to lure you to them. The song's volume is directly related to how close you are to them. Of course, once you get really close to them, they'll fight you. They'll toss electricity balls at you, as they attempt to slide away. Try not to let them escape, it's no fun having to find them more than once. Special Kills: - There are two versions of Sirens. For the first version, weakening them to a point where there's a circle above their heads, and grabbing them, will cause Kratos to immediately snap their neck back, killing them instantly. - The second version, works in a similair way, however, instead of snapping their heads back, Kratos will do another type of kill, which appears to be random. He can either repeatedly bash their heads on the ground, or fling them against the ground after piercing them with the Swords of Chaos. <<<---------------->>> Large Cerberus <<<---------------->>> Locations: Challenge of Poseidon, Architect's Tomb Description: These monsters are huge, strong, and dangerous. In fact, they are possibly the strongest enemies in the game. These three-headed dogs can jump around and scatch you, bite you -- where you'll have to rotate the left analog stick to escape -- or even spit fire balls at you. Thankfully, these enemies aren't all that common. Special Kills: - If you weaken them to a point where a circle appears above their head, and you grab them, Kratos will jump on their back, and stab one of their faces for big damage. If you get them to a point just before death and then grab them, Kratos will impale their skull, pinning it to the ground with his sword. The former is just for damage, but the latter is a one-hit kill. <<<---------------->>> Small Cerberus <<<---------------->>> Locations: Challenge of Poseidon, Architect's Tomb Description: These baby Cerberuses don't even have all three heads. They aren't much more than normal dogs -- that do flaming headbutts. You can take them out easily, but if you let them be, they can ignite at any given moment, and grow into full- grown Cerberuses. That's what makes them so dangerous. You do _not_ want to face more Cerberuses than you have to, so take these ones out as soon as possible. Special Kills: - You can grab them at any time, and Kratos will slam them onto the ground for some extra damage. If you do this when they are very weak, Kratos will impale their heads with his sword, drilling them into the ground. That is a one-hit kill, but the first is not. <<<------------------------------------>>> Undead Warrior (With Strong Armor) <<<------------------------------------>>> Locations: Challenge of Poseidon, Architect's Tomb, Path of Hades Description: These are similair to Undead Warriors with armor, but these guys fight with Scyth-like weapons, and have stronger armor. They're also faster and stronger, but the fact that they are even in the Undead Warrior "family" should be an indiciation that you won't have much trouble with them. Special Kills: - Weaken them until a circle appears over them, then grab them from the front. Kratos may grab their arm, wrench it behind them, then shove their own sword and arm through their stomache, in a brutal kill. He doesn't always do this though, and it seems random. Sometimes he'll smash them against the ground. - Grab them from the back, after weakening them until a circle appears over their head, and Kratos will simply smash them against the ground. <<<--------->>> Centaur <<<--------->>> Locations: Challenge of Poseidon Description: Centaurs are half-horse, half-human monsters, armed with double-bladed scyths. However, not only can they use that, they can also charge at you, or send out shockwaves along the ground. They're quite dangerous, especially while they are in groups -- and they _will_ be in groups. Special Kills: - If you weaken them enough, and the circle icon appears above their head, you can execute the special kill. Kratos will slash off the front two legs of the centaur, and as it falls onto the stumps, imaples them through the chest with the blades of chaos. Thanks to Joe Prine for this submission. - You can weaken them until they have a circle over there head, then grab them to flip them over, and smash them onto the ground for extra damage, though. <<<------->>> Satyr <<<------->>> Locations: Challenge of Hades, The Cliffs of Madness, Path of Hades Description: These, like the Centaurs, are half-human, and half-beast. What beast it is, however, I have no clue. Now the Cerberus may be the strongest enemies, but these are definitely the most dangerous. They are weapon masters -- They can block many of your attacks, evade and flip around as they do combos, and even try to stab you, and flip you over, smashing to the ground. However, they are pretty cocky, and will take time off to taunt you if given a chance. Special Kills: - At any time, you can grab these guys -- assuming you can get close enough to them to do so. You'll then have to rapidly press circle. If you don't go fast enough, they'll jump away. If you do go fast enough, Kratos will stab them in the head for big damage. Note though, that the weaker they are, the easier it is to "beat" them in this test of strength. If you grab them right at the start of the battle, you'll have no chance to do so whatsoever. <<<--------------->>> Kratos Clones <<<--------------->>> Locations: The Final Battles Description: These creatures aren't physical beings at all, but they can certainly kill you, when you encounter them. They look like Kratos, but they fight like souless beasts. Their weapon are two swords, however, not the Blades of Chaos, which you can be thankful for. Special Kills: - There's no special moves at all here. _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 06. Boss Strategies [BOSSS] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Hydra Head | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + When he first comes out of the wall, you'll take damage. | | + He'll stretch his head back, than take a couple of bites at you. | | + He'll make a quick head thrust, from side to side. | | + He can stop and roar, which is really more of a taunt. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | To start off, first, make sure that you either press block, or move | | away when you first here him breaking through the wood ahead, so that | | you don't get hurt. After that, hold bock until he sticks his head at | | you, and it hits twice. Then, slash him a couple of times with your | | Blades of Chaos, then hold the block button again, until you get a | | chance to attack again. Keep this up, until his life reaches near the | | two-third mark. At this time, he'll put his head down, and a circle | | icon will appear above it. When this happens, grab the beast with the | | circle button, and hit the correct buttons, as are shown on screen. | | Kratos will start whipping the Hydra into walls, and will end the | | combo by stabbing it's eye, causing it to retreat for now. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Hydra Head II | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He'll roar, than sweep his head in a full circle, along the ground. | | + He'll smash his head on the ground, 3 times -- Right, Left, Center. | | + He'll bite you, and toss you into his mouth. (You can counter this.)| | + He can do quick bites at you. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | This fight actually has more of a pattern than the original, and if | | you know what to do, it's much easier as well. First of all, stay in | | front of him, in the center. It will really make this fight easier. | | Hold L1 to block his attacks, if he roars and sweeps his head. If he | | smashes his head on the left, know that a smash to the right, followed| | by a smash in the center are coming up, so after you see that, roll to| | the left, until he finishes, then move back into the center. Make sure| | to be blocking as his head hits the floor though, or the shockwaves | | may knock you over. You can block his bite attack too. After each of | | these attacks, attack him a few times. Now, if he uses his *other* | | attack -- a quick side-swipe with no notice, take it like a man. It's | | actually going to help you. He'll take a tiny bit of health, and toss | | you into his mouth. There, you'll be able to rapidly press circle to | | push your way out. Doing so, will cause big damage on the Hydra, and | | it will even stun him. Furthermore, it often releases green orbs as | | well, which make up for the damage taken being bit in the first place!| | This is your only chance at a fancy finisher, but the Hydra will be | | going down eventually, reguardless. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: The Hydra | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + The first two heads, can do quick bite attacks. | | + The first two heads, can do sweeping attacks. | | + The first two heads, can pull you towards them, with their breath. | | + The first two heads can knock you off the mast, if you try to climb.| | + The main head can bite down on you, as well as the platform. | | + He can roar, and attempt to knock you off of the platform. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Now if you payed attention to the cutscne, you would have heard one of| | the men screaming, that the main head keeps healing the others. If you| | try and climb the mast to reach him, however, you'll be knocked down. | | So, you'll have to do something about it. Stand in front of either one| | and hold block, to avoid damage. Then, whenever you get a chance to | | hurt them, do so. Throw in Poseidon's Rage now and again too, for a | | bit more damage. When one pulls you away from the other, with its | | breath attack, don't fight it. Just head over to the other one, and | | start hurting it instead. You should be getting both blue and green | | orbs from this damage, so it shouldn't be hard to keep up your assault| | on them. After you have one head to about a fifth of it's total | | health, it's head will smash into the boxes nearby, and it will be | | stunned. At this point, you'll have to focus on it, before it can get | | up again. Jump to the nearby crates, and jump up them, until you reach| | the top. There, you'll see a platform with a harpoon on it. Jump to | | it, and you'll cause it to drop, piercing their head to the deck. Now | | *that* will keep them out of the fight permanently. After doing this | | to both of the first two heads, climb up the masts in the middle of | | deck, to reach the main head. | | | | Now the main head looks intimidating, but it isn't too bad either, if | | you know how to take him down. First of all, he'll do two attacks | | that you'll have to watch out for, a roar, and a bite, where he'll | | slam his head down onto the platform. If he goes for the roar, just | | hold L1 to block, and you'll be fine. If you don't you'll fall off | | the platform, but you'll just be able to climb back up anyway. If he | | bites however, make sure to roll away. That attack will own you, if | | you try to stand still and just block it. Assuming you dodge it, he'll| | be stuck in the platform for a second, and will spend a few more | | seconds after that, shaking his head. Take this time to hit him a few | | times with your Blades of Chaos -- and if you can reach him before he | | pulls his head out of the ground, try nailing him with Poseidon's Fury| | as well. After you take off about one third of his health, his head | | will drop down. Take this time, to grab him, then rapidly press circle| | to ram his head into the column in the middle of the platform. After | | this, he'll restore some of his health, but don't worry. Just do it | | again. The real point of this, is to break the pole in the middle, | | apart. And on the third time, you'll succeed in doing so. After that, | | you'll be able to get the Hydra's health down to about 20 percent. | | Soon after that, a circle icon will appear above its head. Press it | | once, to jump on the beasts head, then press the button shown, to | | latch your swqord into its eye, as you jump off onto the netting on | | the side of the mast. Then, rapddly press circle, to impale the Hydra | | onto what's left of the pillar, killing it! | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: Medusa | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + She has a green beam attack. It can turn you to stone. | | + She can rush forward, and scratch you. | | + She can do a tail swipe at you. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | She does have a few melee attacks, but you don't have to really worry | | about them. Just be on the lookout for her green gaze attack. When she| | does that, start rolling left and right; Just don't stand still, and | | don't try to attack, while she's doing this. A few seconds under the | | gaze, and you'll be turned to stone. If you do become stone, start | | moving the analog sticks as fast as you can; Because one hit while in | | this form, will kill you. Whenever she's not using her gaze attack, | | you can get in hits. It can be basic hits, combos, or even Poseidon's | | Rage -- All work. Just be ready to roll away if you see her going for | | an attack. When a circle icon appears over her head, grab her. Two | | analog stick icons will then be shown above her head (one after the | | other.) If you press the analog stick in the directio and angle shown,| | both times, you'll tear Medusa's head off, killing her. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARMORED MINOTAUR | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + While on the ground, he can headbutt at you. | | + While on the ground, he can punch at you. | | + While on the ground, he can punch the ground, causing shockwaves. | | + While on the ground, he can do the above moves in combos. | | + While on the ground, he can breathe fire at you. | | + While you're on the platform, he can slap his hands together. | | + While you're on the platform, he can grab you with his right hand, | | do a flip, then toss you back to the ground. | | + While you're on the platform, he can charge into the wall, and shake| | the ledge, knocking you over, and making fire shoot up. | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | At the start of the fight, retreat to the stairs on the right side of | | the area. Stand near the top, just behind the railing, and hold block.| | This is easily the safest place in the area, but you'll still have to | | use caution if you want to live. Wait for the Minotaur to climb onto | | the ledge, then do a quick attacks on his left hand (the one near | | that is right near the stairs.) Use the Blade of Artemis for this. | | Repeatedly do this, stopping only to block his attacks, when he lifts | | his hand up; And if you happened to get knocked down, immediately | | reposition yourself at the top of the stairs. After you damage him a | | little, part of his armor will get a blast of light through it, that | | means you're starting to hurt him. Keep this up until he has five or | | six beams of light shooting from him. After that, you'll stun him, | | causing a circle to appear over his head. He'll only be stunned for a | | short while, so as soon as that happens, jump down and grab him. You | | will then have to match seven onscreen turns of the Analog stick. | | Getting them correctly, will cause Kratos to smash the Minotaur's | | head into the ground. The Minotaur will pretty much be seeing stars | | at this point. So quickly run back to the platform, and pull the | | lever that's on the left there. A flaming log will be shot at the big | | guy, shattering part of his armor. Repeat this process again, and he | | will be quite weakened -- Even normal attacks will start to chip off | | at his armor. You'll also notice the horns in the corner of the screen| | falling apart, to reveal a life bar. Continue to slash away at its | | hands, and stun it/hit it with a flaming log, when possible, until the| | last of it's armor, is gone. When this happens, each hit you do will | | drain the beast's health slightly; Other than that, it will keep the | | same attack pattern. It won't be stunned this time, until you've all | | but killed it. You won't have to grab it though; It will immediately | | become wobbly while standing up. Go and pull the lever one more time, | | and a flaming log will shoot out, and pin the Minotaur to the door, | | finishing it off. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARES I | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He can hit you with the blades on his back | | + He can hit you with a warhammer | | + He can do a spin attack, with the blades on his back | | + He can swing an axe at you | | + He can do a devestating flamethrower attack at you | | + He can do an attack, where he transforms, and shoots Meteors at you | | + He can launch his axe into the ground, sending out shockwaves | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Now if you have Blades of Chaos at max, it will really help, because | | you will be able to use infinite magic during Rage of the Gods. That | | being said, having Army of Hades at max will also help, but it is not | | necessary. What you should do, is use Army of Hades right from the | | start, then doing combos, blocking as necessary. Use Army of Hades | | again, as soon as it stops, if you have the magic to do so. And if | | Ares ever goes for his Meteor attack, roll around in a large circle | | to avoid taking big damage. When you get Rage of the Gods, use it, | | then if you can, summon Army of Hades (which you'll be able to do | | twice before the Rage of the Gods wears off, if your Blades of Chaos | | are at level 5.) If you keep hacking away at him in this state, while | | Hades's souls are tearing him apart, it's possible to take him out in | | under a minute. However, if you don't have the necessary upgrades, you| | can make do by blocking his attacks, and using combos when possible. | | It sounds simple for both methods, but believe me when I tell you, the| | second method is not. For your own good, it is highly reccomended that| | you have both of the mentioned powers upgraded completely. Once you | | weaken Ares until a circle appears over his head, grab him, you must | | then rapidly press circle to beat Ares in a test of strength, to get | | Kratos to jump onto Ares. Then, press the button sequence shown, to | | have Kratos send Ares's own back-blade through his back -- This also | | gives an insane number of red orbs -- several thousand! So, you could | | use this time to upgrade yet again, before the next fight. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' .-----------------------------------------------------------------------. | BOSS: ARES II | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Attacks: | | ------- | | + He can do basic weapon swings at you | | + He can do a swinging blade attack | | + He can shoot a fireball at you | | + He can cause four rocks to come from the ground, and shoot at you | | + He can do an attack, where he transforms, and shoots Meteors at you | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Strategy: | | -------- | | Here, you'll be using a new weapon: Blade of the Gods. It has only | | four special moves (L1 plus any of the face buttons.) Now, how this | | works, is there's a meter at the top of the screen. The left half of | | it is you, and the right half of it is Ares. Each time he hits you, | | the green goes towards his side. Each time you hit him, the green goes| | towards your swide. Whoever gets it all, leaving their opponent with | | none, is the winner. Ares can still do most of his form one attacks | | but you, on the other hand, are left with much less. Blocking will be | | your friend here, as you try to hit him whenever possible. Note, that | | if you and him strike eachother at the same time, there will be a test| | of strength, where you rapidly hit the circle button. Whoever wins | | this test, will score some more damage on their opponent -- and should| | that be you, press circle immediately afterward, to follow it up with | | a nice combo for more damage. AS for your combos, L1 and X, as well as| | L1 and circle work fine. However, stay away from L1 and square, or L1 | | and triangle. They both leave you open for attacks. Personally, I | | think sticking to basic square attacks works best. After you defeat | | Ares in this battle, you'll see an amazing cutscene of Kratos | | delivering the final blow to the God of War. | '-----------------------------------------------------------------------' _ _ |\___/ |----------------------------------------------------------------| \___/| | ___ | 07. Credits [CREDS] | ___ | |/ \_|----------------------------------------------------------------|_/ \| Chris Quigley - Author of this FAQ. A I e x - His FAQ actually helped me on my first playthrough. Manual - Some names and information taken from the manual. Pakokorn77 - His block puzzle image, was used as a reference for one part. Keith Dembek - He e-mailed me about a special kill I had overlooked. Joe Prine - He e-mailed me about a special kill I had overlooked. Do you think this FAQ was useful? If so, please consider donating a small sum of money to my PayPal account. Any amount is appreciated! https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/[email protected]