So thought I would post my findings (?) here ;) (there may be spoilers for those that haven't played)

Just before I start, back in the day, I played and finished 1, 2 and 3. but never played the psp games, or Ascension. So I went out recently and bought the collections, 3 and Ascension, and decided to play them (in production order) back to back.

So far, I have rattled through 1, 2, and Chains of Olympus.

I finished 1 in around 3 or 4 sittings, just playing a chunk each night. And that game is still pretty good. Sure there are some absolutely PURE BULLSH'T platforming moments, but overall it's still a worthwhile enjoyable romp. The story is pretty good, the action is still good, it's just a solid game still.

Onto 2.

Man, that game/story just keeps going on and on and on. Took me a fair while longer than 1 to get through (maybe almost twice as long). In places, it does feel like they are stretching it out a bit, by having numerous monster rooms, that just seem to go on forever. And yet again, there are some TERRIBLE platforming moments. One that springs to mind is pressing a timed switch to open a door, then jumping over some moving platforms, complete with spinning saw blades, to get to the door before it closes. It's easy once you nail it..............but not so much when you don't.

I really like the story in GOW2, the whole "find the Sisters of Fate to turn back time and kill Zeus" thing was pretty cool I thought.

Next, Chains of Olympus (the first one so far I had not played)

I rattled through this one relatively fast, over a 2 to 3 days playing a few chunks here and there. Right off the bat, you can tell it was made by 1) a different team, and 2)for a different platform originally. Obviously little things like having certain controls bound to different buttons to 1 and 2, and also the world geometry feels a bit more simplified behind all the graphics. But hey, it looks like GOW, and it plays like GOW.
There seems to be a lot less voice work in this one, and I wasn't massively keen on the story. At times, I wasn't even sure what I was doing, and why. Turning some stone horses at Helios' place into fire horses so I could ride a chariot up to Mount Olympus? Something like that. On saying that, there are a couple of great story bits. Like the moment you ahve to make Kratos choose not to stay with his kid (done in typically ridiculous fashion). So overall, still a good, fun, romp, but not my fave so far.

I then made a quick start on GOW3 last nigh, just to get past the initial boss stuff, and get to the first main save point. Straight off, it obviously looks amazing compared to the last game I just played. But the combat feels much lighter then I remember, and definitely much lighter than the last 3 games I have just completed over the past week or so.

I shall add more once I have have finished 3. It's then onto Ghost of Sparta, and finally onto Ascension after that. Then I can turn off the PS3 and go outside...............maybe. ;)

By the 3/4 mark of 3 you will want to abandon your foolish quest. Turn back, only despair and bad writing lie ahead.

Well, to be fair the apeal of those games is in the action and spectacle rather than the writing and plot.

However I do agree that this endeavor will likely to start to feel like a bad idea a few games in. I do enjoy the God of War games, but they are all pretty much identical in terms of gameplay and design with very little of any substance added in each sequel beyond improved visuals and presentation. Playing all six games in a row is basically 60 hours of hitting square, square, triangle nonstop.

@ll_exile_ll: I assume he is atleast partially in it for the story because why else would he play every game in the series, especially the PSP ones which don't have nearly as impressive set pieces as the console games.

@ll_exile_ll: I think that's a little unfair to the first game. The franchise turned into a spectacle yes, but the first game was well thought through and executed in it's plot. Maybe that kind of story isn't everyone's cup of tea anymore, but it's still a classic format.

I have kind of always liked the Greek mythology stories. So part of me does want to see what stories were told in the games I initially missed out on.

Like I said, I mainly liked the story in 2, but not so much in Chains. I remember somewhat liking the story in 3 when I played it years ago, but from what I gather, the story in Ascension is pretty whack right? (I guess I will find out in a bit)

Either way, I kinda just want to play all the games in that series, because, for the most part, they are pretty fun.

But yeah...lots of square,square,triangle. :)

The ending to 3 is a complete farce when juxtaposed with the sheer brutality exhibited throughout the rest of the game.

Playing all those back-to-back sounds like a terrible idea. Odds are, you will be completely done with that series by the time you finish.

Ghost of Sparta is, gameplay-wise, probably the best in the series with some cool writing thrown in.

Chains of Olympus is pretty bad, though, especially considering how obviously it was rewritten to follow a different plot around the middle.

Yeah, the story in Ascension is pretty bad. That game feels like a cash-in in every possible way, just like the last Gears of War game did.

I think the God of War games are really fun to play, but suffering through 6 games worth of puzzles will really test your patience. I'm not smart enough to solve the quickly, and I almost gave up on Ascension when I hit a more difficult puzzle.

All I can say is god speed. I got sick of the entire franchise after playing 1 and 2 back to back.

I liked the God of War games, but I think part of that enjoyment was getting one every 2-3 years. I don't think I could marathon them like this.

Good luck, duder!

I'm having a night off tonight I think. Deffo feeling the burn a little ;)

But all in all, It's not been as much as a chore as I thought it might be. I'm still enjoying what's what about GOW. (I do remember the last few hours of 3 being a bit rubbish....so I may change my mind in a couple of nights or so).

What other stuff can I marathon after these are done then guys?

I have all 3 uncharted games (never played any of them before)

I actually have the Chains of Olympus PSP bundle. It was ok, but really at the time I was more impressed with the fact that they got God of War on a PSP, since it still had that new hardware aspect for me. If I replayed on PS3, i'd probably agree.

I would like to do this, at least play the main 3 again but the fucking tower of death at the end of the first game kills any idea of doing this. First time I did that it took me....2 hours of constantly trying to climb that tower and I was just getting more and more pissed. I played 1 & 2 again on the HD collection and it didn't take me near as long but it is still frustrating as hell.

I tried a chronological playthrough and stopped halfway through 3. That may have been because I stepped up the difficulty in 3. I never played Ascension but whenever I see it I get tempted. Before MGSV comes out I'll probably marathon all the Metal Gear games I own again. Each year that stack gets larger too.

@nightriff: yeah. I remember playing that on my ps2 back in the day, and it took me about the same amount of time it did you. Just the worst bit int he game.Managed to get through it in much less time on this playthrough...but it's still total bullsh't.

The Hades platforming section in 2 isn't too far off on the bullsh't scale too :)

Coming from someone that considered it one of my favorite series of the PS2 generation, and did a similar marathon up until 3, let me advice you: abandon this quest. Nothing like too much of a good thing to lose all interest in it.

By the time you reach 3 you will be so overblown by the samey combat, poor writing and characterizations that go all over the place, that you will end up hating the series.

When I first played Chains of Olympus, I was utterly lost on what was actually going on. I think the gameplay is all right, though.

That they got Ghost of Sparta to run on a PSP is fucking amazing. I mean, it's been a while since I played it, but I still remember being super impressed with the way that game looked and played on the portable.

I still like the first game best, if only because its story builds up and then delivers pretty well. It would have been more fitting, in a classical sense, if his suicide had actually worked (i.e. like a tragic Greek hero), but it still works pretty well.

As a newish PS3 owner, I bought the God of War anthology that has 1-3 + PSP games and I have zero idea if I will even go past the first one or not. That isn't so much a jab at the gameplay as it is an acknowledgement that all 6 games in the series play pretty similarly.

So, basically you're crazy and I fully support your endeavors that will only end with you sort of hating everything.

So hey.

It's been a while.

I had a few days away from Kratos. Much needed.

Anyway, GOW3 is now done!
There are some sections in the 2nd half of that game that are AWFUL!....but I got through it. I actually quite liked the Zeus battle this time around, and the darkworld stuff at the very end, was interesting at least (I wish they had done something more "gamey" in that section though.

Some of the level design was a bit off in this one. Like a couple of times, it wasn't immediately obvious where to go next (and a couple of times, the camera was places so bad that, what I thought was a small gap, actually had me falling through a massive gap. hey ho!

The flying sections were pretty cool this.

So...onto Ghost of Sparta.

As with "tradition", I played through to the 2nd save point. Seems pretty good so far. Obviously the graphical quality jump from 3 into this is a little off putting, but this must have looked amazing on the PSP!

Catch you next time.