God of War: Chains of Olympus Preview (PSP)

God of War: Chains of Olympus Preview (PSP)

Navneet Prakash, Mar 01, 2008 1438 hrs IST

It's a wait till the end of March, so here's a preview

Expert Review

The God of War series is a true milestone; every release leads to a new benchmark in gaming. The graphics, the presentation, the combat, are par excellence. The newest members of the series, called God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP will be out in a month. The screenshots looked good, but I've now got my hands on a preview copy. Let me tell you, the game may have looked in screenshots -- but hands on its even better!

The Summary
If you're new to the GOW series, here are the basics of the game. It's a hack-and-slash game, wherein you play Kratos, a mortal who defeated Ares, the God of War. Kratos is the new God of War; apparently the Greek had a kill-and-exchange program we didn't know about. Kratos features in two PS2 titles, on a cell phone game, and a new PS3 exclusive is in the works. I'm previewing the PSP version now; it's due for release on the 29th of this month.

Chains of Olympus is a prequel to GOW II and a spin-off from the original GOW. The game takes place in the period where Kratos was running errands for the Gods as a payback. Ares saved Kratos from a barbarian king, and Kratos has been serving him ever since. The plot is something I'll talk about next month in the full review; let's jump right into the action.

Gameplay
The game starts in the city of Attica, where Kratos has to defeat the Persian army and save the city.

There is a huge Persian basilisk (a monster with an appetite for God-killing mortals) which is destroying the city, and your job as the main "dude" is to kill every Persian -- and the huge meatball a.k.a. basilisk. A first look at the game will stun you: the game looks ber-cool. No other PSP title can compete with it in terms of graphics.

You start by slaying a few Persians. The first time your blades of chaos strike the enemy, you hear that familiar sound of blade-cutting-flesh, which GOW immortalized. The sound quality is really impressive. The basic moves are similar to those in the PS2 titles -- you can use fast attacks on a group, or focus on one enemy and shred him to pieces. You need to realize that the PSP doesn't have L2 and R2 buttons and a second analog; if you think these shortcomings will hinder the game's progress, you are so wrong. You can roll to evade using the L+R buttons and using the analog for directions. There are many more teaks in the controls: you can use your spells by pressing the R button and any of the face buttons (X, O, ...). Each spell is assigned to the face buttons, and using them is a breeze.