Bite-Sized God of War Just as Good

By Connect Mason Reporter Daniel Sims

As Kratos watches the sun fall from the sky and crash into the earth, it becomes apparent that being on a handheld does absolutely nothing to diminish the epic scale of this God of War title.

God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP is every bit as thematic as its Playstation 2 brethren, cementing its position on the portable Playstation console far better than any other PSP game before it.

Chains of Olympus retains all of the visual polish, cinematic presentation, and grim mythical tone of the previous two games. While playing, I honestly forgot that I was playing a handheld God of War game because it felt exactly like I was playing either of the console editions.

That said, Chains of Olympus is largely the same game as God of War II, just bite-sized. Players can still play as Kratos in ancient Greece fighting through hordes of mythical creatures and solving puzzles in landmark locations like Attica, Marathon, and Hades. Other than the story, which serves as a prequel to the PS2 games, players won’t find much new content outside of a few small adjustments to the PSP interface that end up improving the overall game.

Kratos acquires a couple new tools and some adjustments have been made to fit the controls. Despite the PSP having fewer buttons than the Playstation controller, Chains of Olympus actually ends up controlling better than the PS2 games with functions like magic and weapon cycling that feel slightly more natural.

These subtle adjustments to the God of War formula definitely improve the overall game, but they probably won’t do anything to change people’s minds on it. Fans of GOW will play and enjoy this game for exactly the same reasons they did the PS2 games. Those who didn’t like the PS2 games – possibly because their combat system has never come anywhere near that of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden for instance, will not be swayed by this one.

Bottom Line

God of War Chains of Olympus is a full God of War title that just happens to be on a handheld. Players shouldn’t expect any big additions to the GOW formula.