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The Ghost of Sparta has a horrible curse on his life. We all know that
from the exceptional PS2 titles which have taken us along with Kratos'
journeys, across practically every inch of Greek mythology ever
written. Yet the god of war was once human, and even acted like such,
bu the death of his wife and child left him all but soulless.
Ready at Dawn Studios, developers of "Daxter" on the PSP, had their
work cut out for them. Following up two of the biggest games from the
biggest franchise on the PS2 is no small task, and for a PSP version
they did an amazing job. Considering that everything from controls to
graphics to storyline had to be different and yet the same. they really
pulled it off.
As the story goes, Kratos killed his wife and
daughter in blood-lust (unknowingly), and forsook Ares wishes. Left
wandering the earth for 10 years, he was a slave to Olympus until that
fateful day upon defeating the sea serpents for Poseidon that he
summoned Athena the first time. That was the first "God of War" title.
Chains
of Olympus takes place just as his wandering began ten years earlier,
at the shores of Attica during a Persian invasion (300 reference
anyone?). Kratos battles a giant Basilisk, and upon defeating it
watches Helios' chariot falling to earth. Not long after Morpheus, the
god of dreams, threatens to take over the world because there is no
sunlight, and of course Kratos is called to save the day.
However,
it isn't merely about Kratos searching to rid himself of the horror of
his past. We are led to learning about who Kratos actually is, as a
human being, through the hope he gains in finding he may be able to
save his daughter. As a prequel, it's not hard to figure out how it all
turns out, but keeping it secret was never the intention.
Control
was an expected issue, since the PS2 titles had access to two sets of
triggers and a second analog stick. Chains of Olympus instead makes
excellent use of what the PSP has to offer, using the triggers as
sub-command buttons (ie, hold down the left trigger and square to
perform a certain attack).
It has improvements over the PS2
design by using the different magic attacks as sub-commands rather than
switching between them, which was easy to use previous magic energy
wrongfully. Leaping away/toward enemies is done marvelously by holding
down both triggers and using the analog stick to point where to jump.
Finally, weapons changes are done by using the D-pad. Everything else
remains identical to its PS2 counterparts. If anything, the biggest
flaw is the excessive use of the PSP's analog stick which can drive one
mad (it simply is not made right), though that's hardly Ready at Dawn's
fault.
Everything including most of the attacks. Through the
course of gameplay it becomes easy to identify and use combo's from the
previous titles, which we tested to make sure. Not all of the
combinations are present, but most are. Side by side comparisons show
just how great a job was done.
That goes for how the game looks
as well. Even at a low 480x272 resolution, Chains of Olympus is the
best looking PSP game ever made. It shockingly runs completely smooth
on both PSP versions, though the older ones will have longer loading
times between levels and occasionally in-game, which is attributed to
the lower RAM count on the older PSP systems. But put the smooth,
fast-paced slashing gameplay together with top-of-the-line graphics
never before seen on the system and you've got the most amazing viewing
experience available on a portable console.
The limitations of
the PSP's smaller UMD's do cut in pretty visibly though, but for the
most part don't really cause too much trouble. There are only a few
different types of enemies, and on the mortal or hero difficulty
settings (easy and normal, respectively) there is little variation in
gameplay mechanics. It's very easy to figure out which enemies succumb
to which tactics, and then follow those guidelines. Typical battles can
be very easy once you understand how each NPC functions.
On the
Spartan or God mode, that doesn't happen. Health fades much faster and
suddenly every attack isn't just a flesh wound. The variation of
different enemies will be treacherous, and like it's PS2 brethren it
can be amazingly hard. And even if you know the Weakness of each enemy
type, the different combinations of enemies and landscape will leave
you ducking and dodging and, undoubtedly, restarting.
As a God
of War title, Chains of Olympus fits in perfectly. The combat system,
graphics, story, and controls are all optimized for the PSP, but play
like it's on the PS2. A title this strong doesn't deserve merit or
applause; sheer awe is the best description. It's almost a shame that
Patapon came out just a week before, because it's spot as current game
of the year for the PSP just changed hands.
Final
Verdict
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Gameplay
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10
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Graphics
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10
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Audio
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10
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Lasting
Appeal
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9.5
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Overall
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9.7
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