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The third title in a series that has garnered much
respect since its arrival in 2005, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus
marks somewhat of a change for SONY’s twisted vision of Greek
 mythology. Not only is it the first in the series to stray away from
the PlayStation2 – and onto the PlayStation Portable, no less – but
also it’s the first title being developed outside of SONY’s Santa
Monica studio.
That honour has now been given to Ready At Dawn, a team
made mainly of former Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment
employees, and who found success with their first PSP release
Daxter. The team are also currently responsible for the Wii port
of Capcom’s unsung PlayStation2 hero;
Okami.
In adapting
God Of War to the small screen, Ready
At Dawn have pulled-off a convincing job. The title plays as it
predecessors; set camera angles play host to a series of combat
routines interspersed with puzzles. The Camera is as exquisitely
developed as that of the original and never leaves the player
feeling cheated, the ability to swoop-out until the infamous Kratos
is nothing more than a handful of blinking pixels, and burst into
action as his Blades of Chaos illuminate the surroundings. The Level
design is again that of wonder, with screen-filling Bosses aplenty
and predictable but clever pacing through-out the first-half of the
title. The closing act sees the release stutter somewhat, delving
into a repetition of old Bosses and a distinct lack of anything
inspiring, but the handheld adaptations of gracious Checkpoint
placement and slick Frame-Rates will see the player continuing
regardless.
Much like The Creative Assembly’s recent
Viking: Battle For
Asgard, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus pushes the
Quick-Time Entry system a little too far. In the first outing of the
series, having to press a series of
 buttons as they appear on-screen
to finish-off Bosses or special enemies was an interesting and
well-used technique. Here, it seems as though Ready At Dawn have
taken the initiative of “more is better”, and ran with it. When
almost every enemy encounter results in needing to best several of
the enemies with a cut-away segment, it very much distracts from the
flow of the combat; an element which the God Of War series
previously excelled at far beyond any of the competition.
The controls remain identical to the PlayStation2 releases on the
Face Buttons, and the aforementioned Blades of Chaos remain the main
weapon in the title. The L and R Buttons are used to dodge and
defend, and the new glowing Sun Shield features some nice effects. A
few other new weapons are included and some new magic abilities, and
while they may not feel entirely original, the reestablishment of
the items within the storyline at least leaves them feeling fresh.
Levelling-Up your weapons follows the exact same routine – and even
uses the exact same Menu Screens – as the original title, and is
done by collecting Red Orbs from killing enemies or destroying
scenery.
God Of War: Chains Of Olympus features many concessions for
being a handheld adaptation, and the graphical quality is no
exception. While lighting effects are still dynamic and the
animation is excellently rendered,
 the Polygon Count on Character
Models and surrounding areas is quite clearly substantially lower.
Few graphical glitches occur, far fewer than the majority of the
title’s 3D Action competition on the PSP, but are a fault that
simply wasn’t evident in the title’s PlayStation2 brethren.
As many of the assets are reused, so is the soundtrack. Exactly the
same as that featured in God Of War II, there’s enough depth
to keep you satisfied, if not enthralled.
Sex is a topic which is currently rather controversial in the
videogames industry. With many harbouring a desire for a wider
appreciation of the adult notions that videogames can carry, it
seems that only the likes of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
and its’ Hot Coffee fiasco and the so-called full-frontal
alien nudity in
Mass Effect get any attention. God Of War’s
take on sexuality hasn’t progressed in the slightest however, and
it’s sexual role-play has now stagnated, offering the exact same
Mini-Game as the first title and unquestionably nothing more than a
titular affair. For all it’s worth as a product for gamers with a
taste for Greek mythology, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus will
never aid the industry’s desire to be seen as a serious medium.
While God Of War: Chains Of Olympus remains a very good game,
it would be difficult for any fan to say they weren’t slightly
disappointed. However, this may well be because the series has set
it’s own bar so high in previous titles, a handheld offering would
simply never be able to compete. Easily remaining one of the best
titles on the PSP, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus will provide
twelve hours of entertainment. But for those hardcore fans of the
series, the last five may well be considered a little frustrating.
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