God of War: Chains of Olympus Review
- Posted April 7th, 2008 at 11:23 EDT by Eric Blattberg
- 17 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 9.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 9.5
Summary
Ready at Dawn did an extraordinary job taking the existing God of War IP and creating a brilliant title on the PSP. In short, God of War: Chains of Olympus is the definition of a AAA game.
We like
- Best presentation ever seen on the system
- Perfect pacing
- Near-flawless transition of gameplay elements from console to handheld
We dislike
- Six to seven hour length on default difficulty setting
- Analog nub during quicktime events
- No Blades of Chaos swinging sections
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
(continued from previous page) ...align="left">This begs the question, how does it look when that head pops off or that torso is cut in two? The answer is incredible, as there’s no other way to describe how this game looks. This title does not look like a PSP title; it looks like it belongs on the PS2 or even the Wii. Ready at Dawn has not only crafted the best looking PSP game thus far, but likely the finest looking title the system will ever see during its lifetime. Making full use of the PSP’s processing power, the title sacrifices nothing in its transition to the handheld console. From the incredible polygon count to the sharp texture work and the expert lighting, we couldn’t stop drooling over how outstanding the game looked.
It doesn’t run like a slideshow either; we only noticed minor framerate drops during the heaviest of action. Little touches like the self-lighting Blades of Chaos or the excellent blood effects added even more to the atmosphere. We can’t stress it enough; this game is a technical showcase for the system, includes the stunning vistas and epic set pieces the console versions are known for. This is the closest we’ve seen to graphical perfection on a platform in a long, long time.
The cutscenes, outside of Crisis Core’s CG scenes, are the most cinematographic on the PSP. With extraordinary choreography and execution, the story hasn’t been slighted for the portable audience. The voice acting within game is also fantastic, perfectly on par with that of the console versions. Accompanying the cutscenes, and in fact the entire game, are the musical compositions that we’ve come to know and love. Although there was only 15 minutes of new music recorded for Chains of Olympus, old tracks have been remixed to feel fresh once again.
Ready at Dawn Studios launched their first game, Daxter, in 2006. The title brought the PS2 franchise to the portable scene with style. Showcasing the PSP’s incredible graphical prowess, the game remained markedly enjoyable. We don’t know how they did it, but Ready at Dawn has outdone itself, creating a true console experience on the go. God of War: Chains of Olympus isn’t bound by the typical restrictions of the PSP, as the developers have craftily sidestepped the handheld’s control limitations and somehow managed to push visual fidelity through the roof. As a result, God of War: Chains of Olympus is one of the best games the PSP has ever seen. Well done Ready at Dawn, well done.
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Comments
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loserkid |
loserkid- 11:41am BST - April 7th, 2008
- 2
It is a great game. However, the challenges are called the challenges of hades. Still haven't beaten the first challenge.. A bit too hard with all the cycolps killing your own targets (can only kill them with a spell. If you kill them with anything else or the cycolp kills them, game over). Oh! Its also the first God of War with subtitles (finally!)
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DeadOnArrival06 |
DeadOnArrival06- 12:43pm BST - April 7th, 2008
- 4
No blades of chaos swinging events?! Are you kidding? You gave that a con? Wow, just wow. I personally think this game is absolutely flawless from begining to end. My only complaint is it's a little too short. Other than that this is a masterpiece!
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zombieking36
- 6:07pm BST - April 7th, 2008
- 10
I played the demo(downloaded to my PS3 then brought top my PSP) and it was enjoyable.
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yoboyrob9041226 |
BIGROB904- 11:16pm BST - April 7th, 2008
- 12
i still dont have a psp to play it in and to be honest i never even played god of war i feell ashamed.
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yamahacasey |
yamahacasey- 11:10pm BST - April 8th, 2008
- 13
great game the only thing is that it is short
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InfernoReaper |
GrimDarkling- 11:30pm BST - April 8th, 2008
- 14
It would seem that all God of War games suffer from short lengths. Good thing they always include extras for after you beat the main game.
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Anim3Fr33K |
Anim3Fr33K- 2:28am BST - April 9th, 2008
- 15
hmm never played a god of war game before, ill give this a shot tho, and compare the graphics to CC:FFVII
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bloodwarg |
bloodwarg- 12:52pm BST - April 9th, 2008
- 16
i bought this at easter when i was on holiday in orlando for $40 £20 for this. and u can get ti someplaces for £20 in europe as well so not only is it cheaper than most other psp games but itll also 10x better than them all easily the best psp game on the market 9.8 could of have had an online component of something to extend gameplay
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