Plaintiffs in God of War Copyright Suit Sued By Collective Geniuses

Seemingly inspired by--or perhaps in direct response to--the lawsuit filed against Sony and game designer David Jaffe by screenwriter Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and concept artist Jennifer Barrette-Herzog over supposed similarities between the God of War series and their unproduced movie, Olympiad, a joint suit was filed against the two by a cavalcade of artists and writers--most of whom long deceased--who claim the duo ripped them off long before Sony and Jaffe. Robotronic Dynamite met with a few of the plaintiffs at a popular, downtown cafe.

"Animated skeletons armed with bad ass swords; I came up with that shit!" exclaimed an irate Ray Harryhausen as he thumbed through the rejected screenplay, "It just goes to show that no one wants to bother with new ideas anymore."

"Yeah, good artists borrow, great artists steal, but hacks turn your creations into garbage," added a more reserved Sophocles, renowned genius. He continued, "A guy whose foul temper
results in the unraveling of everything he loves. I wonder where they got that idea?"

I asked the acclaimed tragedian if he were still talking about Olympiad or if he had moved on to critiquing God of War, to which Euripides stepped in:

"It's not like God of War is the most creative thing in the world. I mean; it's fun, but it's also
kind of thugishly stupid. They pretty much cast Stone Cold Steve Austin as the cliched, tragic antihero whose only function is to murder countless people, animals, and gods while occasionally shouting 'Ares!'. Where's the drama? Where's the comment on the human condition?"

The mind that birthed Medea paused for a moment, but continued, "Look, we really
didn't mind all of the blatant ripping off of our work. We're just annoyed that someone would claim that they created it. And that they would lay claim to something as hilariously dumb as God of War. It's insulting, to be honest. I mean, I guess that's what you get when two
hyphenated last names team up with each other."

In response to this lawsuit, Bissoon-Dath mostly shrugs, "They claim that I'm not that
creative. Did they even read my script? Zeus's hands turn into fucking light sabers. That's creative as hell!"

Barrete-Herzog echoes in agreement, "They have the audacity to suggest I didn't create
the idea of rickety bridges spanning bottomless expanses. That's insane! That's never been thought of before. Ever."

Legal experts expect the suit to be a "slam dunk" for the plaintiffs.

Retro Review: God of War

Grade: B+
Time Spent Playing: 8 - 10 hours

I actually did try to play this one when it first came out, but the disc was bad and the rental store didn't have any more so I traded it for Doom 3--which I liked, thankyouverymuch.

In God of War, you spend most of your time mercilessly smashing your controller buttons and grunting. In this respect, you really become one with Kratos.

Kratos is actually a character I designed for my never-developed, mid-nineties fighting game, Phancy Disembowler II. To their credit, Sony added a nice dimension to his character by having him yell "Ares!" every few minutes. Plus, he totally bangs chicks (two at a time!) and
feels nothing for his fellow man.

Ok, so I think Kratos is a stupid character. Luckily, this game is really fun. The detailed level deisgn is spectacular and the graphics are amazing for their time. The puzzles, in particular, I found to be truly a joy. The melee combat is fun, though you have to do way too much of it. In fact, it will be a while before I play God of War II because getting locked in a room and fighting off hordes of monsters for 30 minutes just doesn't sound too appetizing at the moment.