Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, returns in a prequel to the legendary God Of War games on consoles. Now right from the start I am going to address the one main problem this title was faced with. The game is actually short-lived, some reports coming in that the game can be finished in just under 4 hours. This of course doesn't mean you should not play it.. In fact I think everyone should pick this one up. Please, let me explain.
You are not gonna find a better looking, smoother playing PSP game anywhere else. Chains of Olympus sets the standard now graphic wise. If Readyatdawn can make Chains look as good as it would on the Playstation 2 on the PSP... Well that only means Sony is making good on it's launch day promise. Other companies should take note.
Everything from the cutscenes to boss battles are brilliantly set up within the limitations of the portable unit. Everything you loved about the GOW series is here. Kratos is badass and angry, he hates the gods, and he's good at brutally killing people. If you own a pair of headphones, use em. The music is your regular epic GOW saga keeping you marching forward destroying everything in your path. The sound design is pretty excellent as well. Everything from Kratos's extreme grunting, to the sound of steel entering flesh is perfect. The voice actors get a bravo from me as well, for keeping me enthralled throughout the game.
As far as whats new to this series are some new control mechanics and your inventory of spells and weapons. As you know a few changes must be made due to the lack of a second thumbstick.
As far as replay value is concerned, whenever you beat the game you start a new one with all of your items, and if you try it on different difficulty levels you can unlock costumes and characters. So you might actually get more then enough play than just four hours. Definitely enough to keep your hunger for God Of War III satisfied.
Oh and do check out the manual for this game, there are some really pieces of artwork that I am thinking about blowing up and making some posters out of. They are really nice.
