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God of War: Chains of Olympus
Publisher: Sony
Developer: Ready at Dawn
Genre: Action
Release: March 4, 2008
Platform: Playstation Portable
Reviewer: Eric
 It was only a matter of time before Sony released a God of War game on their
portable system. The wait was a little longer than expected, but the finished
product is worth it. Move over Nintendo DS because the portable wars are about
to heat up with God of War: Chains of Olympus.
God of War: Chains of Olympus is a prequel to the first God of War. The story
fits well and Ready at Dawn didn’t leave anything out. Kratos is still a pissed
off son of a gun and he gets to take his anger out on his enemies. Expect to see
some familiar faces in Chains of Olympus.
Fans of the God of War series will find a lot here. Some moments in the story
will have you on the edge of your seat. Hopefully you won’t be playing this game
in a crowded area, you may find yourself cheering at some of the more intense
parts of the story. Headphones should be a necessary if you plan on playing this
game in public.
Chains of Olympus has the same game play as the other two God of War games on
the Playstation 2. Don’t start complaining just yet about this. Both God of War
games had top notch controls, the only problem was the difficulty level. So by
adding the same game play we are use to on the PSP is a blessing.
 At first I felt a little lost without two thumbsticks, but I shortly forgot
about this after an hour. Doing certain moves with Kratos is different and may
take some time getting use to. It is a whole lot easier learning to do different
button combinations than taking out a stylus to touch a screen. Could you image
this game on the Nintendo DS?
Some of the button sequences in Chains of Olympus seemed to give you no thinking
time. Make sure you know where everything is on your Playstation Portable before
a boss battle. I may have had a problem since I haven’t picked up my PSP for
awhile.
Most of your time spent on this game will have you clearing out rooms with
enemies. Enter a different area and kill everybody in sight. Chains of Olympus
does offer puzzles, but all of the puzzles I’ve run into just had you pushing
object A to object B. This is nice considering some of the puzzles in the second
game were hard, but a little more of a challenge would have been nice.
The games visuals almost mimic God of War 2. You have to consider that Ready at
Dawn had to congest everything for the PSP debut so certain objects might look a
little smaller than normal. Out of all the other games out on the PSP right now
though God of War: Chains of Olympus is the most impressive in the graphics
category.
 I was glad to see the lack of loading in Chains of Olympus. For a game like this
you would aspect more loading than normal. This is not the case here, which
makes the game that much better. Moving from different areas has such a small
amount of loading you would think it was almost nonexistent.
Some of the down sides to this game might have God of War fans upset. It takes
less than eight hours to beat this game, less if you are familiar with the God
of War series. You can get more out of your money with the God Mode difficulty.
The game is also lacking in a few other categories, but I don’t want to give
away some parts.
Final Verdict
If you own a PSP then you better buy this game. There is nothing else like this
on the PSP and Nintendo DS. Chains of Olympus has the same feel as both God of
War games on the Playstation 2. You may not get as many hours as some other
games on the PSP, but do those other games have a badass like Kratos?
Rating
9.25 out of 10
God of War: Chains of Olympus
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