PSP Review – God of War: Chains of Olympus
by Wade Larson on April 3, 2008 at 4:13 pm
If you’re wondering whether or not you should pick up God of War: Chains of Olympus for the Playstation Portable, ask yourself these simple questions:
1. Did you play either of the first two God of War games?
2. Did you enjoy them?
If you answered “yes” to both these questions, go out and get yourself a copy of Kratos’s latest adventure. Go on! The internet will still be here when you get back. For those uninitiated into the world of hacking, slashing, gouging, piercing and general fatal maiming, hit the jump for more.
I was concerned about how well the game would translate from the Playstation 2 to the PSP, but have no fear. The game isn’t a port, but a draught of awesome, wrought from the same essence of excellence that made the first two games so unforgettable.
All the familiar parts are there, albiet in a miniturized form, which is both good and bad. Good, because if you take awesome and condense it, it should still be awesome. Bad, because there must be some sort of God of War playbook which the makers copy meticulously. But we’ll get to that.
Perfect for the sadist in you.
The fast-paced, savage combat– the backbone of the series’ success — returns in fine form for another round. And, in a stroke of genius, the enemy’s weapons light up before attacking, which is a huge help when trying to figure out when to block and when to roll on the small screen. It doesn’t feel cheap – only helpful. You still have to get out of the way of that giant yak’s ten-foot sword yourself.
A few control tweaks have been made to make the game work on the PSP, such as rolling requiring use of both shoulder buttons and the analog stick, but adjusting to these minor differences shouldn’t take more than the first level.
The timed button presses are back, keeping players on their toes and the action blood pumping. However, executing analog button prompts requires some aggressive thumb work, and I’d still like to be able to watch the kill animations without having to look out for buttons, especially on boss fights. Maybe in God of War III.
Speaking of boss fights, the trend to include an absurd number of unique and badass bosses that started in God of War II has fallen a little. The list of Greek legends for Kratos to kill must be getting short. It seems that they couldn’t pack quite as much ancient Greek ass-kickery into the PSP version, but the bosses that do show up are not slouches, and will require some serious finger dexterity to dispatch.
Kratos doesn’t need as many Gorgon Eyes or Phoenix Feathers to upgrade his health this time around (plus they’re ridiculously easy to find) and there are fewer abilities to gain along the way, meaning players need less experience to max out all the elite skills. But don’t think Kratos can sit back and let it all come to him either.
The game only takes about 5-6 hours to complete, depending on personal play style and difficulty level. It’s certainly not a very sizable game, but then the PSP isn’t exactly big either. So it works.
The first two God of Wars managed to bring breathtaking visuals and killer action together like some kind of homemade napalm that just brightens up your day. The PSP obviously doesn’t have the system resources to accomplish what God of War II did, but for a PSP game the environments are plenty impressive.
Only once or twice while I was playing did I notice the graphics and think, “Oh yea. PSP.” Now, this may seem odd, but playing Chains of Olympus essentially felt like playing on a tiny PS2, and its not hard to see that the developers really know how to work the hardware.
All the staple ingredients are in the mix, so why does this God of War have a faint taste of stale? Because Chains of Olympus doesn’t offer anything new. For any veteran of the series, every puzzle will be easy, every enemy’s attack pattern won’t take long to figure out, and every treasure will be in plain sight.
The two major differences in Chains of Olympus are the plot and the secondary weapon. Yes, weapon. You only get one. And this is one of the points where this game actually outshines previous iterations. In God of War II the three secondary weapons never compared to the Blades of Chaos in usefulness or fun, and thus never saw much use in battle.
The Gauntlet of Zues, Chains of Olympus’ secondary weapon, is a smashing good time. It allows Kratos to introduce a giant godly fist into opponents’ faces – a love tap that sends baddies careening across the screen in a flash of blue light and a crunch of bone. Beautiful.
It’s the most satisfying (and useful, pouring on thick helpings of whupass) weapon in the game’s history aside from the standard blades. Here’s hoping it makes another appearance in God of War III.
The plot plays out pretty much the same as in Kratos’s other adventures, but with a twist. It’s a prequel, setting up the events that lead to Kratos’s decision to kill the Gods rather than serve them. Of course, another member of the Pantheon dies in the end, but I won’t spoil who.
The story also ties in neatly with God of War II for those who are uber nerds like me and felt they were missing something in the little chat Kratos has with Atlas in the underworld. Well, never fear. Questions shall be answered.
God of War: Chains of Olympus is the perfect little appetizer to whet one’s appetite for the upcoming God of War III on the Playstation 3. It takes all the best parts of the series and brings them together into a miniature, portable version.
Like a cup of soup to go, except instead of broth and vegetables you get blood, mayhem, upgradeable weapons and killer… well, kill sequences. It’s Cream of Kratos soup, and it always goes down smooth.
What does this score mean? Check out our review scoring breakdown.
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4 Comments » |
on April 4, 2008 3:50 am
Best part about you guys and this site is that you give the best reviews irrespective of the console. Means that there are many sites out there trying to be fanboys making good reviews for the consoles they like. All you need to focus is on the games and help the best games prosper irrespective of the console. Thanks for all your great reviews and keep the good work going… :)
on April 4, 2008 2:21 pm
I too like soup, and this is looking to be the game which makes me finally buy a PSP
on April 6, 2008 6:39 pm
The psp keep selling out every time I go to buy one mainly the slim version I need this game I should have never sold the other two psp I brought when they came out.
on September 24, 2008 8:23 pm
keren……cool super hebet
kapan keluar yang fersi ps2nya?