Chains of Olympus does not dissapoint.
When I first got CoO I had read heaps of Gamespot and IGN revews saying how dissapointing this game was, so when I got it I had my doubts. But when I started playing CoO those doubts vanished. I will tell you why...
Like all God of wars so far there is a complex and intriguing story, it is a lot more focused on Kratos's past and family like the first God of War game. This game is set before the first two games where Kratos is a servant of the Gods of Olympus, and is still trying to rid himself of his terrible past. The Gods promise him that they will remove those nighmares and torments from his head, but first he must serve them.
So lets go over the gameplay etc...
In CoO the controls are a bit diffrent from it's Ps2 counterparts. It takes a bit more effort to evade attacks and takes some time to get used to. Also the interactive button in the game is O not R1 and R2 like in the other games, so if you are playing this after the other games you may have minor difficultys while ajusting yourself to the controls. But Kratos's moves and combos are almost identlical to the first game, and you still wield your fearsome Blades of Chaos. I must add that in CoO there is a lot less puzzles and the gameplay is more focused on the fighting, so if you hate the God of war puzzles then this game will appeal to you. You have the same varietys of enemy's in CoO like the Cyclops, harpies etc, but there are some differnt ones that are really cool.
There are the same types of GoW minigames in CoO that really inhance the gameplay and makes it more enjoyable.
Now to the bosses. There are a lot less bosses in CoO, as your main foes are just normal soldiers, but there are some good people in there like...Charon, Hades wife, and a few more that I have forgotten. The bosses in this game are easier and usually require a minigame to totally kill, and some of the minigames are very intense.
Now this game has an odd vive to it. I don't really know how to explain it but when you go through the story and see a dead body etc, or a boss, you felll like it should be there and nothing is out of place in the game, like they do not just chuck enemy's at you willy nilly, but every enemy you meet etc feels like it should belong there.
Oh I should also talk about weaponry, along with your trusty blades, you get a cool shield which can reflect enemys attacks against it, and my fave weapon is the Gauntlet of Zeus. Now this is like a giant fist that you use to smash your foes and maul them into submission, but you do not get this weapon until later in the game so your blades are your main weapon and defense.
You also get some awesome magic in this game. You get 4 magics which are all great and do alot of damamge to your foes. Now I shall tell you the first one you get, which is the Ifrit and it burns your foes and is great to watch.
Now to the bad bits. This game like all God of War games can be slightly button-mashy and that annoys some who like complex combos, but for a GoW veteran it does not affect you. The game is also a little short, with me finishing it in 2:54mins on Easy mode, so I think overall you will get only about 15 hours of gameplay and that includes if you do the challenges and god mode. The game is a bit watered down compared to the Ps2 GoW's and that to may annoy some people, but trust me where it lacks in grapics it makes up for it with a good story and gameplay.
So that is it really, if you have played God of War before you will love this game. If you are new to God of war then thi would be a good game to start with as I find it easier than the other console versions. So overall it has good gameplay, grapics PsP version grapics, and of corse a good story, so bottom line...If you own a PsP this game is a must have and offers much replay value as you play the game on harder difficulties.
