God of War: Chains of Olympus

God of War: Chains of Olympus is a video game for Sony’s PSP. This is the first review I am doing for a PSP game and I feel like it’s a great introduction to the handheld.

Gameplay: Okay everyone knows why the God of War series is so popular. Because the gameplay is superb, the hero is extremely likeable, and sex minigames. First thing about gameplay, lets talk about the controls. The controls were very easy to get used to and followed a basis of what most action games would use. The button on the bottom (X) is used to jump, the button on the left (Square) is used to attack, the button on the top (Triangle) is used as a strong attack, and the button on the right (Circle) is used for whatever unique mechanic the game can use it for. The game is an action game for a good reason. You will be going around from level to level fucking dudes up! Kratos uses his double blades on chains to string together lengthy combos and you also have a good range from them too. Aside from regular square, square, triangle type combos there are extra moves you unlock by upgrading your weapons. These moves are initiated by holding L and pressing one of the 3 buttons. All of these moves are used to swing your twin blades around the area vertically or horizontally to wreak havoc on your enemies. The game is extremely brutal with lots of blood and gore. But the game wouldn’t be as brutal if it wasn’t for the brutal protagonist, Kratos. Kratos is badass in everyway possible. He is also really violent and kills anybody who gets in his way in very painful manner. He manages to do all of this and remain extremely likeable throughout the story. Part of the reason why he is so well liked is because his story is mainly all about how he keeps getting screwed over by the gods and you start to feel sorry for him. There are also magic attacks which are not really used for puzzles but just as extra attacks if you need a few extra seconds to get to safety. On top of all this there is the new weapon in the game. The gauntlet. The gauntlet is just a big, huge glove Kratos wears to beat his enemies into a pulp. This weapon is really fun to use and the most powerful weapon in the game. The gauntlet is used greatly for most puzzles that you will see, until the game ends. That is one of the problems with this game. The game is too short. I beat it with about 5-7 hours of gameplay time. Another great part of the game is the unlockables, you can collect items called Gorgon eyes or Phoenix feathers which when you collect 5 you will expand your life or magic meter. Also the famous sex minigames are back but in handheld form. Handheld sex minigames are what made me start playing this. 5/5

Story: I did not play God of War or the sequel so I will not be reviewing this part in depth and it will not influence my final score of the game. If anyone has any dispute that I am not reviewing this because I have not beaten it you can message me and I will explain to you in detail the ending. I will not talk about it here to prevent spoiling.

Graphics: The graphics in this game are beautiful. Everything looks crisp and clean. The character and enemy models are all sharp. This game seems to really push the technical prowess of the PSP and I was surprised any handheld game could ever look like this. Kratos looks great throughout the game. All of the death sequences and little minigames are extra brutal and just look right. A lot of these death scenes look really brutal with a lot of blood until you realize, wait skeletons aren’t supposed to bleed. The game has amazing FMV sequences located all over the game throughout the story. There is very little dialogue in the game that is not put into a FMV sequence. 5/5

Sound: The sound in God of War is where the game starts to dull down a bit in my opinion. The music had nothing extremely memorable to me. Most of the sound affects also weren’t very interesting or realistic. I would keep hitting some rocks or wooden walls and hear the sound of my blades hitting metal. And those sounds themselves aren’t very clean either. The best part about the sound is defiantly the voice acting. As stated before this game is not shy about cut scenes and all of these are fully voiced. All of the characters have fitting voices to their characters and their character’s personality. Kratos’ voice sounds extremely badass. The music not only was not memorable but I actually felt the need to turn it down and listen to my own stuff while I played. I was extremely disappointed by the music and the actual quality of the music. 3/5