Review: God of War: Chains of Olympus

God of War: Chains of Olympus
SCEA, Ready at Dawn
Available for the PSP

If ever there was a reason to purchase a Sony PSP, it would have to be God of War: Chains of Olympus. Ready at Dawn studios have created an amazing new game around our favourite Ghost of Spartan and I promise you that God of War fans will not be disappointed.

Instead of continuing the God of War II storyline, Chains of Olympus takes us back before Kratos kill Ares to a time when he was still a servant to the Gods. After protecting Attica from the Persians, Kratos is charged by Athena to return Helios, the Sun God, to the Sky before he burns out and the Earth dies under Morpheus', the Dream God's black cloud.

The fighting system is fairly similar to past God of War games, but this time around you don’t have a second analog stick, so dodging is done with the trigger buttons. Kratos still has his Blades of Chaos, but this time around he also gets a Sun shield and the Gauntlets of Zeus, as well as a new bag of magic tricks. Much like a fighting game, Kratos has button combos that unleash certain attacks on his enemies, but you can still button mash on the easy setting and still make it through. The harder the mode though, the more cool features you’ll unlock, so don’t be afraid to attempt harder levels.



Luckly the whole game isn’t just fighting and has a certain amount of puzzle solving which will keep players on your toes. The puzzles aren’t too hard that you‘ll have to keep running to your online FAQ for help, but they’re hard enough to make you try 10 different solutions before you find the right one. I was disappointed to see the lack of big boss battles throughout, but if you get a chance to unlock the lost levels video, you get to see a lot of puzzles and bosses, the developers left on the cutting room floor for whatever reason. Big mistake cause they look friggn’ amazing and would have really added to the short game play.

Graphically, Chains of Olympus is a feast for the eyes with its detailed 3D environments and it is easily just as pretty as its PS2 counterparts. Maybe not as detailed as the PS2 games, but the fact that I can even compare a PSP game to its PS2 brothers when comes to graphics, is just a phenomenal fact in itself. More PSP games should be made this well, especially when so many have been ports.

The sound is full and gripping on the PSP's little speakers and to hear Kratos’ thundering pipes as he yells to the Gods is just stellar, especially if you play with headphones on. The music was again the usual theatrical epic battle music which fits well in the God of War series and to this day, I am glad that the creators of the God of War series voted against the use of 80s heavy metal music. It would have just cheapened the experience.



I've only had the pleasure of playing 3 PSP games since I got my system, but from everything I've read, heard and played on the Sony PSP, I can honestly say that God of War: Chains of Olympus is the best game available for the system to date and there is no better reason out there to purchase this system. If God of War: Chains of Olympus had been released a year ago, I think the PSP would have sold a lot better than did and I truly hope all game developers take note of this game and make more PSP games like it.

Rating 9 out of 10
Buy it!