Just a note, I wrote this first on my user page and then added to it in order to create this blog post. This review is a matter of opinion and the overall score is compared to the other God of War games.
God of War: Chains of Olympus[]
(Just a note: I haven't played this game on the PSP, I played it on my PS3 on the Collector's Edition Volume II so the PSP game may have slight differences from the PS3 port). Most God of War fans consider this as the worst God of War game (by no means is that bad, however) but I actually like it more that God of War III. You might think I'm mad to even consider this five hour add-on better than the 'mighty' third instalment, and I wouldn't if it was a console title but it's a handheld game and they've done a great job. The scale is impressive, even on my TV screen, so I can imagine it being pretty amazing on the PSP. The combat is the same, not that I'd want it to be different, and this makes it stand out among the other hack-and-slash games available to buy. The only complaint I can make about the combat is not directly linked to the game mechanics but to the camera angles, I was completely destroyed a few times because the camera decided that a nearby wall was more interesting then a bloodthirsty Minotaur that was quickly approaching. I won't go into too much detail about the magic for the simple reason that I only ever used the Efreet. The Efreet caused massive damage (perhaps I've been watching too many 'giant enemy crab' videos) to surrounding enemies and proved useful in tight scrapes. The other magical abilities were the Light of Dawn, and Charon's Wrath (I really think I've forgotten something but I cannot think of anything else), these were both ok but neither were anything special as they didn't do as much damage as the Efreet. The only other extra that I used was the Gauntlet of Zeus, it completely obliterated slow enemies and the L+O attack in the air got me through the Persephone battle almost unscathed. There weren't that many bosses but the ones that were included certainly pushed the PSP to the limits. The Basilisk was the epic opening boss that has been continued throughout the series, I remember it being quite hard as the fireballs delt tons of damage and they couldn't be blocked. The Persian King (I know the battle came before the Basilisk battle but we get to see and deal damage to the Basalisk first) was alright, nothing overly special but he was satisfactory, with a pretty violent kill. Charon was probably the easiest boss I've ever been against, it was simply block/dodge his slow and predictable attacks until he stayed still. Persephone was my favorite in the game, she was challenging (the fist time I went against her I hadn't upgraded the Gauntlet of Zeus) and seemed to possess a huge amount of power even though she's kind of a minor goddess. The story, although not compulsory, was nicely implemented and help explain a bit about Kratos' past (although he was more shouty than in the first game). That's all I really have to say about Chains of Olympus, it was exceptional for the PSP (even if it seems I haven't said that many good things about it) and I'll give it a 7.5/10.
Pros of Chains of Olympus[]
- Great combat that satisfies every need.
- Nicely implemented story.
- The Gauntlet of Zeus was an amazing secondary weapon.
- It pushed the PSP to its limit and looked great on my TV.
Cons of Chains of Olympus[]
- I'm convinced that the camera angles are evil.
- The magic (other than the Efreet) proved useless to me.
- The whole Morpheus dilemma was resolved embarrassingly quickly.
Feel free to post positive or negative feedback. I hope you enjoyed the review and I'll be releasing a new one in a week or so (God of War), if you feel that I've missed anything, either post a comment or contact me on my talk page.
Thanks for reading, regards, Shmeagle.