Gameplay
The first video explains about Kratos. As God of War starts, Kratos is soon greeted by a giant boss and will have anyone controlling Kratos, pressing hard on the PSP buttons. When playing God of War in Normal Mode, I will usually charge on the enemies. However, this does not work in God Mode. Every boss has its weaknesses and methods to avoid being hit and that has to be figured out when playing God Mode to keep Kratos alive.
In order to upgrade the weapons and magic, Kratos needs to collect red orbs. Breaking boxes, vases or statues as well as killing the enemies gives Kratos the red orbs. Green orbs restore Kratos’ life bar while blue orbs increase Kratos’ magic bar. All colours of orbs can usually be found in chests. There are also Gordon eyes to extend the life bar and Phoenix feathers to extend the magic bar. 70% into the game, I reckon that you will manage to collect all Gordon eyes, Phoenix feathers as well as upgraded all the weapons and magic.
As the game is 18+, there are some sexy mini games and videos throughout God of War. So, parents, be warned.
Most of the puzzles are easy to figure out and not challenging at all. One thing that I find God of War is easy to play is that Kratos never dies from falling no matter how high. However, Kratos is most likely to die when falling off the cliffs in Hades. In addition, the most recent checkpoint is really recent unlike other PSP games, which are not recent at all.
God of War develops smoothly throughout the game as well as the enemies. There are different enemies with different characteristics in each phase of the game. Sadly, it seems that the difference in game difficulties only reflects on the bosses rather the game in whole.
Effects
Graphics, sounds, motions, videos and gameplay are just excellent. The graphics are one of the best in PSP games as well as the motions of the main character, Kratos and his enemies. Some enemies which are huge appear to have slower motion but you hope that Kratos never get hit by them. On the other hand, flying enemies and smaller enemies react faster but the damages are minor.
The length of the videos in-game is just right and does not look boring. In-game sound is impressive too. When I first started playing God of War, I used a pair of earphone and turned up the volume. It was a very good experience and it seemed like the sounds and music have brought me into the game immediately.
I have always said that the music and sounds are most important effects in movies and games. Music often heightens the gameplay level while the videos tell the gamers indirectly of what is going to happen next. Imagine defeating a boss without hearing the voice of its suffering until it evaporates into the air.
Control
The control cannot be customized but they are easy to remember as soon as you start to play the game. New combos will be added as soon as you upgraded your skills using the red orbs. As mentioned in most reviews, the authors recommended upgrading the weapons rather than the magic. However, I tend to upgrade both weapons and magic equally.
As the game is not long, there are not many weapons or magic for selections. Most probably, you will find that there is nothing to upgrade towards the end of God of War.
Verdict
As I mentioned throughout this review, the game is just too short. I have now started a new game in the God Mode which will unlock further bit and pieces of God of War. Needless to say, God of War is great yet I reckon that it is not hard to play after you get the grip of it.
i have been controlling myself to avoid comparing God of War and Prince of Persia throughout this review. But isn’t comparing make us better? Truly, God of War matches Prince of Persia in its effects but not the gameplay. God of War lacks of the control of its main character. The gameplay is rather straightforward unlike Prince of Persia which makes the character much more lively and challenging.
Overall, I will still recommend God of War: Chain of Olympus to anyone who wants to get the taste of being a servant of Gods. Gosh, how I wish that God of War could keep me playing for weeks.
