Doctor Fishypants

I’ve owned a copy of the original God of War since its release, but I never got around to playing it. With the recent release of Chains of Olympus on the PSP, I decided to take another look at the original PS2 version. Although I’m only an hour into the PSP version, I’m well into Act III of the original. Aside from some improvements to the controls in Chains of Olympus both games play similarly (which is certainly a testament to Ready at Dawn studios and their ability to craft a PS2-quality game for the PSP).

Both games tap into a primitive (or juvenile?) mentality that gives the player a rush for mashing on the face buttons and executing increasingly gory finishing moves. It’s a satisfaction I haven’t felt since playing the original Mortal Kombat trilogy in arcades. (On a side note, I was certainly too young to play such violent titles. But at least it will give me the proper perspective for when I have kids.) There is something about chaining giant combos together, killing anything in sight, and generally wreaking havoc that gets to the core of why I play video games. The situations they put you in are so off-the-wall impossible that you can escape into a complete fantasy world for just a small part of the day.

Gratuitous violence aside, both the PS2 and PSP titles are excellent examples of appropriate pacing and level design. You never feel like you’ve gone too far without a save point (although a save-anywhere feature would be a welcome addition to any portable game), and you rarely feel overwhelmed by too many enemies or objectives.

Surprisingly, I find the PSP controls easier to get used to. Dodging is mapped to the second analog stick on the PS2, while the PSP lets you roll out of danger by holding down the shoulder buttons and using the analog nub. Therefore, you never feel like you have to take your fingers off of the attack buttons in the PSP version. Similarly, magic is summoned by holding the right shoulder button and pressing the corresponding attack. On the PS2, you must cycle through various spells using the d-pad – a strategy that momentarily removes you from the thick of battle.

Chains of Olympus also performs surprisingly well on the portable console. Although there aren’t as many enemies on the screen as there are in the original game, you shouldn’t notice any slowdown on the PSP. The system also accesses the UMD much less frequently than I would have expected. Although I’m still concerned that the battery life will suffer somewhat from the increased processing power required.

My biggest criticism of both titles so far is the lack of exposition or continuing narrative. With such a vast amount of mythology to delve into, it’s a shame that you aren’t given more character history at the outset. In the PS2 version, much of the information you’ll need can be found in the game’s instruction manual. No such luck for Chains of Olympus. Basically, all you’re told is that the game takes place during Kratos’ 10 years of servitude to the gods. I’m sure this will change as I progress through both games, though. I’m hoping to finish all three God of War games before the inevitable release of God of War III for the PS3.