I was pretty stoked that they were releasing this as I never really played either game. Naturally I started with the first game and played on normal. To me the gameplay just feels kind of tedious. I don't find it hard, it just seems that enemies take too long to die and I'm mashing the same attacks over and over. And for it being set in ancient Greece I seem to be spending a lot of time in gray bland environments. After the awesome first level it seems like the pace slows to a crawl and never really finds that level of momentum again.
 
On one hand I can see how far ahead of its time this game was. It's really obvious Naughty Dog used this style of cinematic and varied gameplay as a template for the Uncharted franchise. On the other hand after playing these newer more polished takes on the genre it helped create, I can't help but compare it against those.

It felt a little dated when I went back to the first one. It definitely holds up better in my memory...
 
But it's still one of my favorite games of all time, and the same goes for the sequel. I'm completely stoked for GoW3.

Athen in GoW was a pretty boring section, compared to the suff that comes later. I don't know how far you're into the game, but if you're still in Athens, it will get alot of better later on. imo GoW II has better design, environments, enemies, graphics and overall it seemed more kickass ^^ So you should definitely try that out.

I'm liking it so far, it's GoW but on PS3. No surprises.

Dude just play GOW 2 its the shit.

The allure of God of War for myself was the epic scale of events and crazy boss encounters. For a 2005 PS2 game, this was something amazing to witness. However by today's standards it likely won't impress many. God of War has its place in history, but you're late to the party and the beer is kind of flat. Sorry dude. You also likely won't enjoy God of War 3, or Dante's Inferno; which would be a carbon copy of GoW2 if it took place in acient Greece. God of War has always been more about cinematic excellence and over the top violence, not innovative game play; or to an extent, challenging gameplay.

I just got the collection the other day. Just got through God of War a couple of hours ago. In my opinion the game looks amazing, and by todays standards it actually holds up pretty well against Dante's Inferno. I've played an hour or so of God Of War II and in my opinion that game actually looks better than Dante, and both of them play way better. I'm so psyched for God of War 3 now.

You still should play God of War Collection, especially if you plan on playing God of War III. Not just because of the story, but because God of War is better than God of War III and God of War II is better than God of War.