GamesRelay

Name: God of War: Chains of Olympus

Kratos is a big character, well, not big as in large but he's an imposing presence in any game, his previous two outings on the PlayStation 2 have proven that he is an anti-hero that people can fall in love with; and if we've been made aware of one thing about Kratos so far we know that any game that has him as the lead character is going to be pretty epic. That hasn't stopped developers Ready at Dawn taking on the challenge of getting him into a pocket sized adventure however, this time he's on the PlayStation Portable in his latest outing, Chains of Olympus.

Sticking true to the God of War Franchise they've left it well enough alone and produced a third person hack and slash romp through ancient Greece. The mythology of the once mighty Gods is again called upon for the story background and many of the famous Gods lend their names and ideals to the plot; the story behind Chains of Olympus is not something you need to have played the original games to understand, nor is it something you need to play before you can properly understand the other two games, but there is some crossover that you'll get more enjoyment out of if you're familiar with it all.

Chains of Olympus takes place half way through Kratos's ten year service to the Gods, he's sent out to Attica to defend the city from an invading Persian army, of course what starts out as a simple mission soon gets more complicated for Kratos, but then again, he'd only be bored if it was ever that simple and as you witness the sun being extinguished from the sky you can pretty much guarantee that this is going to be a God of War title you'll fall in love with thanks to another gigantic story.

A quick word of warning, before you load Chains of Olympus, you had better prepare your eyes before starting as they aren't going to believe what they see on the PSP's LCD screen; the graphics are phenomenal and quite possibly some of the best seen on the PSP to date. Once you get over the graphics you'll soon be thrust into the main action and as always there is no messing about from Kratos, if you've had the pleasure of the main titles you'll be throwing around the Blades of Chaos like you've never been away, the controls have been adapted exceptionally well and you'll instantly feel at home with them. If this is your first time with a God of War title however then don't worry, there is a tutorial that lets teaches you what each button does and you're introduced to each as you battle through the first couple of sections.

The Persian army you fight against die quickly at the hands of Kratos and pretty soon you'll have caught up with their secret weapon; well, as secret as a giant Basilisk can get. Moments like these are famed in God of War, big hulking monsters against a normal sized man, while not quite reassuring you of the epic battles you once had against ancient statues towering above you, you will still no doubt be suitably impressed as you fight against the might Basilisk.

As you battle across Greece and indeed the Greece Underworld you'll encounter both Titans and Gods alike as you might expect, you'll be asked to perform mammoth tasks that shouldn't be possible and shouldn't be asked of from a mortal, Kratos, as usual, greets them all with his relish and undying courage. Weapons and other magical abilities are granted to Kratos as he defeats his enemies or passes a particular task; you can expect to fight not only with your usual Blades of Chaos but a Sun Shield and the Gauntlet of Zeus. Using your power of magic you'll learn how to use the Light of Dawn and Charon's Wrath amongst others. Treasure Chests are once again your allies as you glean new health and magic juice from them, you'll also happen across the familiar Gorgon Eyes and Pheonix Feathers as well which will increase your health and magical capacity respectively.

Within minutes of starting the quest you're going to be impressed, Ready at Dawn have done a superb job and when you think the game might be taking a nose dive it throws something huge your way to brighten the way, Ready at Dawn have certainly delivered. It's not all perfect however, the graphics as good as they are do suffer sometimes from tearing, normally in the cutscenes and rarely does it happen for long but it ruins the magic a little; the battery life of the PSP is also compromised due to the power needed from the PSP's CPU to shift everything around as well as it does. Some of the enemies can also be a bit repetitive, the Persian army all looks similar and the same can be said for the others; gorgons and harpies for example all suffer the same fate. These really are minor niggles though in comparison to what is good about Chains of Olympus.

Chains of Olympus is a PlayStation Portable game you must play. Kratos fans are going to lap up the new adventure and the chance to learn a little more about their hero, new fans are going to be drawn in with the flash graphics and the oh so delicious gameplay that God of War is famous for. Kratos has once again brought his fight to another level, and once again he's proved his worth, hopefully this isn't the last time Kratos will grace the small screen, hopefully he's here to stay.