A God amongst action games.
Introduction:
God of War: Chains of Olympus is the prequel to the critically acclaimed Playstation 2 games God of War I & II. You'll once again take control of the merciless Spartan Kratos, serving the Greek Gods to rid himself of his nightmares. Chains of Olympus is a 3D action game with hack 'n slash elements, and was developed by Ready at Dawn Studios.
Good Stuff:
The Art of War
Chains of Olympus looks really, really good for a PSP game. Everything is crisp and detailed, and the animations are really smooth. The framerate was conistent, aside from a noticeable drop in the final boss battle. The artistic side of the graphics is really good too - you'll fight in cities invaded by Persians, ancient temples and the depths of Hades amongst other places, and all of them are impressive in the looks department. Furthermore, the game's sense of scale is great, and the cinematic camera angles don't really hurt.
Brutal Combat
The combat in this game is... brutal. While you only get two weapons - you start off with Kratos' signature weapons, the Blades of Chaos, and get a massive glove later on - , they are more than enough to keep you entertained from start to finish. If you do get tired of them, you can always use the magic attacks Kratos gains throughout the game. Plenty of blood is spilt as Kratos plows his way through enemies, and the QTE finishers are especially violent. When enough damage has been done to the enemy, a button prompt will be visible above it's head. Pressing the corresponding button will make you enter a sequence of fast button prompts - failing to press a button in time will result in Kratos taking damage, but if your fingers are quick you'll be rewarded with a cinematic finishing move, instantly killing the enemy. The finishing moves range from slicing a dude in two to stomping down your blade into a cyclops' head, but they all have one thing in common - they're bloody brutal.
Of Gods and Kings
While fighting regular enemies is pretty fun, the boss battles are where the game really shines. Whether you're fighting a gargantuan beast or a magic-wielding king, you'll have great fun, and the boss fights always end with extremely satisfying QTE finishers. Unfortunately the bosses aren't exactly plentiful, and while they partly make up for that in quality, one or two additional bosses wouldn't have hurt. But then again, I suppose the fact that I was left wanting more just proves how good the fights are.
Epic
If I had to describe the game in one word, it would be "epic". I've already mentioned the sense of scale, but that's not all. The music isn't something that you'll think about a lot, which proves how well it fits the game's setting, but when you do think about it you'll realize that it's really good. The story isn't deep, but it doesn't need to be - it does it's job, and the Greek mythology setting helps a lot. Story, setting, music, camera angles, scale; they all work together to creat a feeling that, to sum it up in one word, is... epic.
Bad Stuff:
Short
If you've actually read all of the above text, you've probably realized that I think God of War: Chains of Olympus is a pretty awesome game. Unfortunately, the awesomeness doesn't last long, as the game only is around 6 hours long. I didn't really mind this, since the harder difficulty levels(there are four difficulty levels, ranging from Mortal(Easy) to God(Very Hard)) added more than enough replay value for me. The optional Challenges of Hades can also add quite a bit of playtime, as they are absolutely brutal - I only managed to beat two of the five. If neither replaying the game nor completing the challenges interests you I would still recommend the game, albeit not at full price.
Final Verdict:
