Review: God Of War: Chain Of Olympus
System: PSP



Finally! The game that most PSP owners have been waiting for. This game was first
hinted in God of War II's manual for PS2. It is enough to get every GOW fans and even
non fans excited as GOW series has been known for its epic setting, gorgeous graphics,
interesting gameplay and puzzle solving. Frankly, I was hoping for the best as Ready
At Dawn Studios has done it on PSP with Daxter, bringing us console quality gameplay
and graphics on this powerful handhelds. So, how does RAD Studios fares with their 2nd
outings on PSP?

Graphics:



This is it. The BEST LOOKING GAME EVER ON PSP, yes, even better than Crisis Core: FVII
from Square Enix which already spotting gorgeous CGI and cutscenes. Graphics in GOW:COO
is always sharp and clear. You can see clearly what is happening on the small PSP
screen even if it is just some background movement. For example, in the first level
where the Persian fleet is attacking the Spartan city, you can see the vessels on the
sea, firing fire arrows at the city and it was a magnificent view in spite that all
these are happening on PSP screen. You can see Kratos clearly with all his animations,
the ever pissed off look on his ugly face, and decorated costume. The levels are all
beautifully rendered, with one of my favorite level, Temple of Helios is showing off
the power of PSP-rendered graphics with polished marbles reflecting the surrounding
and beautiful lightning and shadow effect. In fact, this PSP version even manage to
capture the grandious setting, the mega epic feel that is synonymous with the series
with vast setting and huge levels to explore. The only downside trying to portray these
grandeur is the camera will zoom out to show the vast surrounding and make Kratos 2mm
tall on the screen. As what Gamespot's review mentioned, a 2mm tall person won't scare
anyone Still, this is only a minor gripe and it will not lessen the enjoyment of
playing this game.



Graphics: 10/10 (this is THE game to show off and impress people)

Sound:



If there is no compromise in bringing console quality graphics to the PSP for this game,
the same can be said in the sound department too. The voice acting is superb in this
game, with Kratos sounding as pissed off as ever, menacing and still fatherly-like when
need to (part fo the story, you will know when you reach it). From what I read, the
voice acting for Kratos and the narrator were the same people that been doing the voice
acting for GOW1 & 2 for PS2, so the quality is there. The bgm and sound effects are all
there with the exciting and fast beat soundtracks to pump up your adrenalin while you
carve off a path of your own in the game. Best enjoyed with a pair of good earphones.

Sound: 10/10

Controls:

I found the controls responsive and easy to use. You have the usual weak and strong
attack and jump. And when you have acquired, magic, you only need to press the Right
Shoulder Button + the face buttons to activate it. And to dodge, simply press both
shoulder buttons and dodge to the direction you want using the analog stick. It works
really well and didn't take long to get used to. in fact, the control is so responsive
that sometimes I accidentally press grab button while doing a combo and the grab did
come out immediately despite Kratos is in heavy action.

Controls: 10/10 (very responsive)

Story:
The story was set before GOW 1. it narrates the story of Kratos while he is still in
the service of the Greek gods and the story here is like one of the adventures he face
during that period. Frankly, the story is just adequate for this game. it is well told
but you feel like it could have been more. It didn't reveal much of Kratos's past (did
he has a rich history anyway? ) but it is enough to give Kratos to be pissed off
and kill anything in sight.

Story: 7/10 (not the best story ever in a game but it is enough to get the game going)

Gameplay:


Blood, plenty of blood

Finally, the meat of the game. it wouldn't be God Of War if we don't have the usual
hack n slash, level exploring and the puzzle solving that is part and parcel of the
series. Ready At Dawn Studio pull out all stops here and bring everything that you love
on the PS2 series and put it in this PSP version, yes, even the sex mini game and the
occasional nudity is in it. You have the usual combos to dish out mayhem to the enemies
with chance to upgrade them through the red orbs that you find in chests or simply kill
the enemies. You will also obtain equipments and new weapons along the way that help you
in killing off the numerous enemies that you used to see in GOW 1 & 2. New weapons are
not many but they are adequate to provide some alternatives, plus the magic that you
are able to use, you'll have plenty to come out with some big combos.

Most of the enemies are making a comeback here, from the green snake-haired medusa to
the huge cyclops. Killing these bastards are satisfying with the ability to perform some
killing moves ala Shenmue button pressing to initiate those moves. The bosses are quite
interesting to fight with too but most of the bosses are the same size as Kratos. In
fact, there is ONLY ONE big boss fight in the whole game. I was a little disappointed
with this as i was hoping for more big boss fights. But still, it didn't lessen the
fun of playing this game.

The game was evenly paced out with more emphasis on combat actions peppered with
some platforming and puzzle solving in between. i like the way RAD pace out the game
as it give us time to gawk at the gorgeous graphics in some of the wonderful levels.
But the problem with this game is the length of the game. You are able to finish this
game in under 5 hrs at your first run in normal mode. And this was done with all the
moves upgraded and all secret areas found. A bit short but you can always replay the
game with harder difficulty and with different costumes that you unlocked (lol, the
SPUD OF WAR costume!). Of course, completing the game will unlock the Challenge of the
Hades where you have to perform specific objectives to complete these challenges, and
these challenges are not easy. I am still stuck at the 2nd challenges and there are 5
overall. The first one took me about 7 tries before i managed to beat it. The replay
value is not much but I would say it still warrant at least 2 - 3 playthroughs.

Gameplay: 9/10 (the length of the game might be a big put off to some, but I think it
is satisfying enough. In fact, it does better than a lot of other PSP games
where we only played it once)

Overall:
Graphics: 10/10
Sound : 10/10
Controls: 10/10
Story : 7/10
Gameplay: 9/10

Overall : 9.2/10

Yes, Ready At Dawn Studio has done it again. They have dispel the myth that PSP can't
handle console gaming experience on a handheld. One of the best PSP games and it is
definitely the 2008 PSP game of the year for now.

Well I can't remember exactly what I said before, but it was along the lines of 'this type of game is killing the PSP'. Good, fair review btw.

Have you play it? You might like it

I am on my 3rd play through on hardest difficulty now. I kinda like it now despite its short length. But the Challenge of Hades is still a tough nut to crack. Not being able to beat the challenge

Seems pretty awesome. I will check it out for sure.

Cool review, I just got through GoW2 and I need more. If only I had a psp...

And I was sitting here thinking that it was a GoW II port.

lol, you should read it more carefully.

Put it this way, if it was a GoW2 port it would have much more to offer.

This game is more like half a PS2 GoW.

BK, as pessimistic as ever. Well, you are right in term of length, i guess. BUT, GOW also offers 2 weapon choices, same as GOW for PSP. well, just "get" it

I have got it

You need to get the PS2 games. Then you'll see what I mean.

Unless PCSX2 is available, i don't think that is an option for me

I can see your point. But comparing it to a console version is not doing it any justice.

Don't disagree with me.

PSP graphics, look like Dreamcast graphics on a high quality screen.

I Disagree. lol. Soul Caliber on my 32' HDTV Looks Almost HD! and easily looks better then most PS2 games out.

This game is Great. Good Review.

soul caliber on the dc does look good,specially through a VGA cable.best version of SC there is.SC3 just sucks in my opinion.

I've finished this game on God Mode and I can honestly say, the game took me about 20 hours to finish with all the constant retries. It is annoying but also relatively satisfying.

Sure the game has some great combos, but, you never actually use them. Enemies don't flinch as often as they should and you never really have time to combo more than 4 or 5 hits. Maybe it's just because of God Mode, I don't know. I played it on God Mode from the start because my brother finished Hard Mode before I returned home to Romania. I played it on his PSP so yeah...

Overall, a very good game. Finally the PSP gets some of its own "killer apps".

Maybe I'll get a PSP and play it, of course I'm gonna get a back=up compay