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God of War: Chains of Olympus Review
Written by Robert Falcon on Thursday, March 6, 2008
Awesome gameplay; outstanding presentation; meaty challenges for those who wish to seek them out; extra unlockables rock; boobies.
Story's slightly weaker than the previous adventures; some puzzle and action segments are somewhat frustrating; needs more boobies.
Surprise, Kratos strikes again, and he does so in the same bloody, unforgiving style as the first two games. Really, were you expecting anything less? Ready At Dawn Studios already has a strong resume when it comes to PSP development, thanks to the awesome platforming adventure Daxter. God of War: Chains of Olympus, however, doubles the pleasure with an even bigger - and meatier - adventure. You aren't swatting down flies here. You're taking on big-ass basilisks, pesky Persians and other challenges as you try to prove yourself worthy of the God of War moniker. Yeah, like you needed to do that.
The story's a decent placeholder, but longtime God of War fans may find it slightly weaker than the previous two games. Kratos sets out to crush the Persian threat under his boot to please the Gods and save his city, but one of the more powerful Gods, Morpheus, the God of Dreams, has an agenda all his own, and it's up to Kratos to stop his devastating plan and put forth the motions that will carry over into the original God of War game.
Ready At Dawn is definitely up to task with the work of David Jaffe's team, and the game shows it every step of the way. Even without the benefit of a second analog controller, Kratos handles superbly on the PSP. Being able to evade attackers and strike back with an arsenal of moves is very bad-ass here, particularly when Kratos begins powering up and possessing even stronger attacks. Other items are available here, including a cool sun shield to defend against incoming threats and an awesome demon-summoning maneuver that pounds the entire ground surrounding him. It's really great stuff, mapped out perfectly around the PSP's control set-up. There are slightly frustrating segments in the game, though, including a couple of puzzles that take time to solve and, of course, overwhelming odds that may be too much for amateur gamers to bare. (Fortunately, they have an easy difficulty to turn to, if they're feeling "pansy"...er, "mortal".)
Presentation-wise, Chains of Olympus is an absolute stunner, the pinnacle of PSP development. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking, bringing Kratos' tormented world to life without missing a single beat. The game moves beautifully throughout, with very little loss in detail or speed. And, of course, fans of boobies will be happy to know there's plenty of hot topless women here. You even get to please a couple...off-screen, of course. More would be nice, but oh well. As for sound, Kratos and the narrator (Linda Hunt) return for more, along with incredible music and bone-breaking sound effects. Trust me when I say get the headphones out for this one, you won't be sorry.
God of War: Chains of Olympus comes to an end after a few hours, but you can unlock a super-hard difficulty level, along with various challenges that are a real pain-in-the-ass to complete. Fans of God of War will absolutely eat them up. There are also unlockable outfits and behind-the-scenes goodies to unlock, which are definitely worth the effort. Again, it may be too much for do-gooders who like hand-holding to handle, but this game wasn't built for them.
Overall, you'd be a damn idiot if you didn't pick up God of War: Chains of Olympus. It rocks on every accord and doesn't let you down, unless you're expecting a game that tops the original two releases. It's an excellent follow-up that'll leave you begging for more - which, unfortunately, you won't get, as Ready At Dawn is moving on to consoles. Hmmm, maybe we can see them get to work on God of War III. Couldn't hurt. We'll bug them after they finish up with Okami for the Wii.
For now, get to God praising and get this game. NOW.
posted May 20, 2008