Being a big fan of God of War games on the PS2, and having played God of War 3 with a rented game disc, when Sony announced the big collection of all the God of War games in one complete set, I knew it was what I wanted – instantaneously. I might not be the most avid gamer out there, but I do know for sure that I love slashing monsters as the muscular Kratos. And for £30 , this was the easily the best bang I could get for my buck.

Even if I was to go and buy the pre-owned games, it’d cost me more. (At CEX , it’d cost me: (GoW I+II) £20 + (Gow III) + £12 + (GoW Collection Pt II) £25 = £57). Simple maths, I’d make a saving.

But Sony HAD to ruin my party.

Have a look at the front cover of the game box. It clearly mentions “INCLUDES 5 FULL GAMES” in big bold letters, and in quite a cunning way, a very tiny asterisk mark (almost invisible to the inattentive human eye) is placed. The tiny asterisk refers to a note written in a further tiny font, not on the front cover – but on the back cover. And surprise, surprise, there are NO high resolution images of the back cover (big enough for the print to be readable) on Amazon, or eBay.

Anywhere in the online world, (unless you read deeply into the reviews on Amazon), is there a mention what that asterisk refers to.

And even the product description reads:

Technical Details

You know what that asterisk refers to? It refers to this ->
* God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War:Ghosts of Sparta available via downloadable game voucher.

So, when I received the game box, I thought I was missing a disc. There are only two physical discs, and you get a voucher code to download the Origins Collection  from PS Store. That’s an almost 8GB download. I’m fortunate to have a reliable fast broadband service that doesn’t charge me by the GB (or even worse MB). Also, I paid for the collection, and I  want a physical disc.

Here’s the back cover: [Click to view the large file ]

As if  the voucher lie wasn’t enough, there is an expiry date on the download availability ( Mar 2013, also with an asterisk mark suggesting Sony can change that). I feel cheated. I know I can possibly backup the downloaded game on an external hard drive or a USB stick. But it still bothers me not to have a physical disc, even though I was tricked to believe that I paid to own it on a disc.

Then, there’s the 3D lie. The product description, as well as the product itself claims GoW3 to be in glorious 3D. But hang on, it is not. GoW is not in 3D. How is it possible for Sony to have released this without any form of scrutiny? Ermm, isn’t this one of their flagship games? And if it was indeed a mistake, why hasn’t Sony released any statement on their blog, admitting this mistake, or at least make sellers post a notice on the box.

TLDR ?

#1: God of War Saga has only 2 discs , not three. The origins collection is DLC, which expires in March, and Sony can change that with 90 days notice.

#2: Contrary to what the back cover says, God of War 3 isn’t 3D.

This obviously does not take anything away from the awesomeness of this Santa Monica Studio gem. There is a free 1 month PS+ coupon included in the box, which will give access to God of War: Ascension multiplayer Beta. That is absolutely awesome. And having played both the multiplayer and the single player demo of Ascension (at Eurogamer Expo), I cannot wait for the new installment of God of War to get released. As for now, I just hope PSN is up and running, and I get to download the Origins Collection successfully.

Rant over!