God Of War: Chains Of Olympus
by: King Arthur V. Sarabia
God Of War: Chains Of Olympus is a third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ready at Dawn and Santa Monica Studio, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.In February 2007, Ready at Dawn posted a teaser featuring “Coming Soon” in the God of War font. An editor from 1UP obtained an early copy of God of War II and posted the game’s instruction manual, featuring a one-page teaser with “PSP” in the Omega symbol and stating “Coming 2007”. On March 12, 2007, God of War II was launched at the Metreon: God of War II Game Director Cory Barlog officially confirmed the development of Chains of Olympus, stating “It is its own story that connects to the overall story. God of War, God of War II, and then if all the stars align God of War III will be the telling of a trilogy. This PSP story will be a further fleshing out.” An initial trailer for Chains of Olympus was released on April 25, 2007, coinciding with the announcement of a demo on UMD the optical disc medium for the PSP.
In God of War, the dark world of Greek mythology comes to life right before your eyes. As you take the role of Kratos, a story unfolds with various plot twists and multiple endings that take you through traps, stunts, and puzzles. With a deep combat system built around double chain blade weapons, the game places you in a variety of environments, in which you must fight challenging enemies, swing on ropes, scale mountain cliffs, swim through rivers, and slide down zip lines.
Kratos is the Spartan protagonist of the God of War games. He is well known for the extreme acts of violence he is capable of, and for his signature weapon, the Blades of Chaos, two short blades attached to his arms by long chains, allowing for some very acrobatic and very brutal combat. These blades were first granted to him by Ares, the god of War. After betraying Ares and subsequently losing the blades, Kratos is given the Blades of Athena which function identically to the Blades of Chaos. The name Kratos is derived from the minor god in Greek mythology called Cratos, though Kratos shows little in common with the character apart from his initial loyalty to the Gods. The word “Kratos” means ‘power’ in Greek.
Overall this game it’s just as impressive as the console material, and very little compromise was made in order to make it fit to the PSP. The PS3 remaster version plays pretty well and has Trophy support. There are a few annoyances when you play this game, specially on segments that when you die, you need to go through cut-scenes and long walking portions before getting to the action. Not too happy abut these portions, but it’s a minor complaint. This game is highly recommended for any God of War fan.
