God of War: Chains of Olympus review (PSP)

God of War and more appropriately, Ready at Dawn have done a lot for Sony consoles. To see what God of War one and two did for the Playstation 2 in terms of utilisation of hardware and claim it wasn't groundbreaking would make you a big fat liar – plain and simple. It was an honourable achievement to make the PS2's final exertion a truly gob-smacking marvel, and although the PSP is far from demise, Ready at Dawn has once again demonstrated how talented they are at achieving unparalleled synergy between console and game.

Old as New

As a prequel, set ten years before GoW1, we get to experience Kratos' first and foundational journey through giant caves, buildings and even Hades that, frankly, he should really learn to avoid. The game is instantly recognisable, and if you've played the previous two games you'll gain your bearings without the slightest hitch. In fact, having prior experience with the series proves an indispensable tool in progression since Chains of Olympus delivers encounters in exactly the same manner as the first two.

Impact Kratos

Unlike the PS2 outings, though, the intensity of combat is the defining factor - with only a handful of primitive puzzles to complete before getting back to the slaughter. Ultimately, it's not a detestable card to play since people looking over your shoulder on the bus probably don't want to see you angling beams of light, and it's competent at breaking up the action, but it's occasionally subject to repetition.

The advent of new attacks and abilities will keep you coming back to the action, though. Irregardless of the Blades of Chaos – Lord knows what we'd do without those – Kratos fortifies his already vast offense with attacks such as, among others, the Efreet ability's radius attack and the Gauntlet of Zeus which, I can only presume, is an over-sized, mythological knuckle-duster, capable of delivering the kind of punch you need when you spill a drunk chav's Bacardi Breezer at a night club – if only they released red, blue and green orbs so you could heal yourself, refill your magic and upgrade your abilities. Kratos has it easy!

Control of Olympus

I think it's safe to say that fans of the first two games, present company included, were skeptical of transferring the PS2's rather fantastic control system over to the PSP, and although there's an initial and somewhat steep curve to overcome, it takes minimal time to re-acclimate. With the PSP lacking a second analogue stick, Kratos' absolutely obligatory dodging is controlled by pressing both shoulder buttons together and then a direction. After a few instances of dodging into your enemy, you'll soon be avoiding arrows, stone beams and ground-pounding ogres like they weren't even aiming at you.

One thing that always has and still gets me, however, is accidentally engaging one of Kratos' unstoppable spin attacks with the left shoulder button and attack. So frequently do I make this mistake that I've fallen during even the simplest of challenges. Kratos has so many skills; why can't he cancel his attacks?! I can't help being stupid!

Bald Beauty

Graphically, as I indicated earlier, you're in for a treat. Seeing how incredible Chains of Olympus looks – running with a solid frame rate throughout even the greatest of battles, it's a wonder why other developers don't achieve equal levels of complexity. Everything from textures to animations to lighting is so well polished it's as close to the PS2's outings as could possibly be.

Unfortunately, overall, it just falls short of the mark. Though you'll definitely be aware you're playing a God of War game – so much so that it's hard to write a review without an odd sense of Déjà vu – it makes itself apparent quite early on that it's a diet version. As I said earlier it's not a totally bad thing, but die-hard fans out there might be a little miffed that they're not getting the same level of depth that the first two games put forth. When all is said and done, though, it's still a defining title for the PSP.