God of War: Chains of Olympus

This is my first God of War game. Yes, I know, I know. PSP isn't exactly the best way to be introduced to any big-sibling franchise, but thems the breaks. I had never played a GoW game and wanted to give it a shot for a fair price. Right off the bat I noticed two things: First, the graphics on this are great. Almost up to the standards of the PS2, which is impressive. The second thing I noticed was how the lack of a second joystick really mares the experience. While the game does an admirable job trying to accommodate for this fact, it never really succeeds.

Otherwise this seemed like a pretty standard hack and slash that I don't think I can be bothered to finish. The story is pretty unsympathetic, and the gameplay never really changes from 'mash buttons in order to get to the next arena to mash buttons and then fight the boss by mashing specific buttons.' It's not a bad game by any means, and I'd be willing to give an HD collection a try, but this specific entry is one for those who are already in love with the series.

All one could hope for is a faithful God of War-lite out of Chains of Olympus, which it fully delivers on. So much so that the only true surprise of the game is that it's one of the select few to accomplish such a seemingly capable feat (from the eyes of a consumer). In the vein of Metroid [メトロイド] series, the Grand Theft Auto series, and the Castlevania [悪魔城ドラキュラ] series, Chains of Olympus is a near excellent addition to a series that could hold up as a triple AAA release on the past generation's consoles, as well as a generation later on a handheld.

Ready at Dawn, developers of this side-story in the GoW cannon, have once again, as they did on Daxter, brought a PS2 mainstay onto the PSP with surprisingly little missing. The graphics look near PS2 quality, the production lives up to the series, and the fighting is as addictive as ever. The game truly is GoW-lite, taking the best of both games and makes a much more tame pace and plot built around the always compelling gameplay of the series. The game is worth playing, if you found yourself going through either of the God of War games a second time or have a desire to fill in backstory. I can't fault Ready at Dawn for not making a game as rich or exciting as the previous games, but there is a bigger problem that takes away from the experience.

The controls are horrid in this game and it's entirely the PSP's fault. I've always defended the system for having better graphics and being a better multimedia hub than the DS, but Chains of Olympus is "exhibit A" on the detractor's side. It's tragic that Ready at Dawn created a faithful portable adaptation that I want to immerse myself in, but couldn't for more than an hour because how bad my fingers would hurt. To the game's credit, I fought against the pain, most of the time, because how addictive it is but found the problem to take much fun away overall. This largely has to do with the weight of the system and how hard it is to hold on to the triggers for hours. I own the original PSP model and I know the later models are lighter, so perhaps that addresses this issue. Either way, I'm going on my experience on my legit PSP system -- a valid point that many who play the game may share.

Despite not being as original as the previous games and having cumbersome controls, Chains of Olympus is one of the best handheld experiences I've had in some time. If I played the game on consoles I would bump it up half a star, but, for better or worse, this is the handheld, high production action/adventure we've always wanted. I couldn't ask for much more without sounding unreasonable, so I accept the game for what it is. It doesn't have equal ground as its predecessors, but considering where it's coming from and who it's coming from -- in a way it does.