Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Ron Burke

Every once in a while a game comes along that really raises the bar for its platform.  Great examples might be the storytelling in Mass Effect, or the incredible graphics in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  While there have been some decent games on the portable platforms, none of them have really wowed me until just recently.  Games like Daxter, Jeanne D’Arc, Wipeout Pure, and the upcoming Patapon have really begun to push the handheld platform to its absolute limits – you can imagine how surprised I was to see those limits exceeded by God of War: Chains of Olympus. 

God of War: Chains of Olympus shoulders the incredible responsibility of managing a portable version of the wildly successful God of War series.  This title serves as a prequel to the first God of War, filling in a small slice of the actions that lead up the events of that title.  Ares has already turned Kratos into an inhuman killing machine, putting him under the thumb of the Gods as payment for his immortality.  Like before (or after if you want to get technical), the Gods have dispatched you to a city to repel an assault – Attica in this case.  The Persians have assaulted the city with ground troops and a massive basilisk and you have been tasked with stopping both. 

With the city saved, Kratos once again calls on the Gods to free him from his servitude.  With this frustrated plea he watches the sun fall from the sky.  Anyone who follows Greek mythology knows immediately that Helios and his three fire steeds drive the sun across the sky, and his disappearance spells impenetrable darkness for all mankind.  Athena beseeches Kratos to find and rescue Helios from the Titan Atlas before the Greek God Morpheus, the ruler of dreams, can overwhelm the world with a permanent slumber.  Promised freedom for this action, Kratos sets off on this new fantastic adventure into the world of Gods and men, setting the stage for one of the best portable gaming experiences I’ve had to date.

There have been a lot of decent looking titles, but few games have really wowed us with an advanced graphical feature set and look.  For those who have played the demo for God of War: Chains of Olympus, you already know that this statement is no longer accurate.  Upon booting the game you’ll immediately see the incredible difference between this title and others you’ve played thus far.  Simply put, there is no game on the PSP that looks even half as good as God of War: Chains of Olympus. With graphic quality and a lighting engine near equal to that of the first God of War title, this handheld title delivers exactly what we were all hoping for – a portable version of God of War.  When you run across the beach you’ll see cannons impact the ground, spraying sand all over the place.  Swinging your blades bathes nearby surfaces with an orange glow.  Polished floors give reflect torch light and objects in the environment.  Even water splashes and reflects light as you’d expect while still remaining semi-transparent.  It is almost as if the developer created the game on the PS2 and then copied it directly to a UMD – it is that good. 

Those of you who have played the God of War demo had concerns about framerate, an area that certainly suffered when loading from flash memory.  Worry not; the game keeps a steady framerate almost all of the time, with only two instances of framerate drop throughout my run through the story – both of which happened in a large spiral staircase with no enemies around meaning that it did not affect gameplay in any way.

Developer Ready at Dawn certainly would have to drop all of those great storyline cutscenes on the PSP right?  Wrong.  Even more testament to the phenomenal production value of God of War: Chains of Olympus is that the game streams the content and masks any load screens with great looking cutscenes.  In fact, other than the short loading screen when you load the game, there are almost no loading screens at all.  Unless you suddenly decide to backtrack in a direction that the game didn’t anticipate, you won’t see anything more that a slight hiccup as it switches from cutscene to gameplay. 

Saving the best for last, let’s talk about animation.  Obviously Kratos moves in a very fluid way, using his chained blades like a pair of Chinese rope-darts to eviscerate his enemies.  What amazed me is that absolutely nothing had changed when moving it to the portable format.  Most of the time reviewers decry a game when nothing changed, but in this case it is a good thing.

One of the things that readers were interested to know is how it looked on the big screen – I’m happy to report that the game looks almost like a PS2 title.  So much so that my wife asked “Did they release a new God of War on the PS2?  Why aren’t you playing it on your PS3?”  While it does look best in the smaller format as it hides a few of the jagged edges, after 30 minutes of playing the game on the HDTV you’ll forget all about that idea. 

I don’t usually hand out top marks for game, especially handheld titles, but in this case I have no choice – God of War: Chains of Olympus is the best looking handheld title I’ve ever seen. 

Gerard Marino, the score composer for God of War and God of War II is back to score Chains of Olympus, and the results are exactly what you would expect on a console title.  The savage world of God of War is brought to life through a score that I’d gladly purchase.  From the opening song of Battle of Attica to the smooth and subtle tones of the underwater portions of the Palace of Helios, this soundtrack delivers in a way that raises the bar for everyone else in the handheld business. 

God of War: Chains of Olympus just wouldn’t be a God of War game without two people, and thankfully they have both stepped up for the project.  Once again the game is narrated by Linda Hunt (you might know her as the “Shadout Mapes” in the original Dune movie) who reprises her role as the Titan Gaia, and T.C. Carson brings Kratos to life in a way that no other actor would be able to emulate.  I praised both for their performances in God of War II and this game is no exception.   Once again, Ready at Dawn has twisted my arm into a perfect score.

Ahh, and here we are at the center of the hedge maze – the control section.  Most PSP games fail miserably at bringing a usable control scheme to a system with only one analog stick.  God of War and God of War II utilized the second stick to allow players to quickly roll out of the way, utilizing an AI-controlled camera system to ensure that players fight the enemy and not the camera system.  This same camera system makes a return for God of War: Chains of Olympus, moving automatically into the optimal position to provide the greatest view of the action.  It is also used to provide cinematic detail by zooming in as appropriate to show the great detail on character models at close range, or zooming out to give a sense of incredible scale.  Just like in its console counterparts, it works perfectly to show how small Kratos is in this world of Gods.  There are a few moments where you may find yourself blocked from view (especially when fighting multiple Cyclops), but overall the fixed camera system works very well.

For the most part, Kratos has retained the same combat controls established in the console versions.  In fact, for the most part you’ll find that you actually can pick up this title and immediately be at least mildly proficient in combat.  The two areas where this isn’t necessarily true is in the dodge mechanic, and some of the more intricate attacks.  To dodge an enemy you’ll hold down both shoulder buttons and thumbstick roll in the direction you’d like to move.  In theory it sounds relatively easy but in practice it does take a little while to get used to, especially since these shoulder buttons are also used to cast spells.  Depending on how you hold your PSP, this may or may not be an issue for you – I’d try out the demo to find out.   The more intricate attack moves are simply lost to the somewhat ‘floaty’ control nub on the PSP.  There are times that I’m sure I nailed a combo only to watch it come apart mid-attack.  I passed this off to a friend of mine who is a big God of War fan for independent confirmation and he agreed.  That said, it is a minor and infrequent nuisance since you’ll rely on a handful of moves for the majority of the game anyway.

God of War II was an evolutionary title.  It built upon the success of the first game and added new features that brought the game to the ‘next level’, to use the cliché.  The introduction of Pegasus, Rage of the Gods, the wings of Icarus, expanded weapons and magic, and more added to the persona and power of Kratos in a measured way.  With this being a prequel to all of those things, Kratos has access to none of them.  To that end, you’ll spend the vast majority of the game utilizing your blades, a trident, and a trio of magic.  You’ll advance those skills by killing foes and collecting the red orbs, just like other titles.  I just can’t shake the feeling like something is missing.  In God of War II I had a sense of wonder about just what might happen with each new scene, but in Chains of Olympus some of that evolution is just missing. 

What is here is everything else you’d expect – a Ménage à trois scene, gratuitous and non-stop violence, the Gods promising Kratos the world and then completely screwing him over, Kratos pummeling them for their betrayal, and some of the most challenging gameplay sequences you’ll play in an action title.  I am happy to say that the game is more balanced this time around with no PSP-snapping difficulty moments to report.  For those of you who enjoy that level of sadism, you’ll be happy to know that you’ll find that in “God Mode” after you’ve beaten the game on any other difficulty.

Playing through this title there is certainly something missing – bosses.  While there are bosses punctuating the overall ‘levels’, there are few that are the size and scale of the large statue in God of War II, or Ares in the first God of War.  I’m not sure if this is simply a technical limitation, or one of not having enough time to implement them without another delay, but watching the “Lost Levels” sequences suggests the latter more than the former. 

On the positive side, this title is exactly what you’ve come to expect out of God of War.  The sheer violence, the brutal throws and eviscerations, and the increasingly fantastic scenarios where Kratos finds himself make for a solid game.  It isn’t quite up to the par set by the other titles in terms of an expansive and cohesive storyline, but it comes damned close. 

The first God of War title rang in at 8 to 10 hours.  The second title pushed that a little bit with a 10 to 12 hour play time.  I completed my first run through of God of War: Chains of Olympus at the 8 hour mark, almost exactly.  There are some added goodies just like the console titles including a God mode that gives players a shot at unlocking movies, costumes, artwork, and a bit of background materials.  There is also a Challenge of the Gods mode that plays out just like The Challenge of Hades did in God of War II.  When you manage to complete Challenge of the Gods (no small feat) you’ll unlock some footage of the “Lost Levels” of the game.  It gives you a look at some of the items that Ready at Dawn had planned for the game, but didn’t quite get implemented.  Overall it is a reasonable amount of material for a handheld title, even if it doesn’t bring anything new to the table for this outing.  Unfortunately much of it will go unused as many folks won't finish the game more than once just to see it. There are titles for every console that truly define the platform, and God of War: Chains of Olympus is one of those titles. Stunning graphics the likes of which we’ve never seen, an incredible soundtrack that rivals PS3/Xbox 360 titles, standout voice work, and gameplay that is on-par with the two previous PS2 titles makes this a must-own for any fan of the series. With the ability to try out a demo for yourself, you shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to take Kratos for a spin, chop, juggle, and slash. Expect to see this title again when we look at the best of what 2008 had to offer.

Gaming Trend Score

93

1. Graphics: 100
2. Audio: 100
3. Controls: 90
4. Gameplay: 90
5. Value/Replay: 85
6. OVERALL:93