Review - God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Review  - God of War: Ghost of Sparta


Pros: More of the God of War action we all love, pushes the limits of the PSP for a truly cinematic experience on a portable device.

Cons: Some invisible walls in odd areas and fixed camera angle can make larger battles confusing.

Final Judgement: A great addition to Kratos’ story and one of the best titles I’ve played on PSP.

www.spartansstandtall.com

Available for: PSP, PS3



(Fair warning, some of the links in this weeks review go to videos that contain spoilers for the God of War series.)

Yes, I know God of War: Ghost of Sparta is not exactly a new game, seeing as it’s been almost one year since it was released on Play Station Portable but with it being re-released in HD on PlayStation 3 as a part of the God of War Origins Collection and with rumours of a God of War IV being released next year I though why not. That and I was away on business all week with my PlayStation Portable to keep me company.

God of War… four words sum this series up: Kratos has anger issues. For real, this guy makes the Hulk seem even tempered and the Hulk`s super power is getting all pissy and throwing tantrums. I remember the first time I picked up the original God of War, I was at a friend’s house. He’d called me over to check out this cool game about an ancient Greek albino with sword nunchucks and questionable ethics who coped with the knowledge that he’d murdered his family by getting shit faced and banging maidens on his boat. Wow. 

Oddly, Aphrodite is the only God of Olympus Kratos dosen't have beef with.

Oh yes, God of War, the game that made Spartans more popular than Gerard Buttler`s abs. I remember ripping the wings off a harpy, twisting the head off a warrior and mashing the controller all to complete a quick time event that made Kratos give a hydra cheap eye surgery via a broken ship mast. This was only the first fifteen minutes or so of the game. Ah good old times.

Seriously, every time I see this movie I have to hit the gym.

Needless to say I was enthralled and purchased the game immediately upon leaving his residence.

Since then, Sony has released three additional titles in the God of War series and they have followed the same pattern: 

1.       The ultimate anti-hero Kratos is told to go get something on the promise of redemption.

"Dude, Seriously... Hear me out, this time I swear total redemption."

2.       Kratos gets very excited and barrels in head first without thinking. This is usually followed by Kratos intentionally causing an obscene amount of collateral damage.

"Well... Looks like were done here, time to hit the ol' dusty trail."

3.       Kratos then learns that in his quest he is ultimately a pawn and being used.  This leads to him flying into a bat-shit blind rage and he screams the name of his patron turned tormentor, vowing to murder them in a fairly painful drawn out manner.

"Oh! Dude! Was that your wife? Aww, shit... This is Awkward..."

4.       Kratos then causes more damage and havoc during which he usually dies and travels to the underworld/afterlife. There he re-kills some already dead things, fights his way back to the land of the living and then murders the person who originally tricked him.

What was that I was sayin about dying so many times you loose track? Seriously Hades is like a fucking vaction for the guy.

5.       Then just as it seems that Kratos will finally have a happy ever after the fates conspire to force Kratos to sacrifice or destroy the very thing that would bring him peace in order to serve a greater good. A greater good which is revealed in the next game to be using him as a pawn… and were back to Kratos yelling names and swearing vengeance.

"NOW WE MUST KUNG-FU FIGHT!"

I’m not even exaggerating, that is literally more or less how every game in the series thus far has played out. The God of War universe really only has two categories: Things that Kratos hasn’t encountered and Things that Kratos has ripped a new asshole.

Even though the stories all follow the same pattern T.C. Carson and Linda Hunt do such a good job voicing Kratos and Narrating the story that I find myself constantly hoping that this time around Kratos will catch a break, that things will finally work in his favour and that he will finally get a happy ending. He never does but I was still pleasantly surprised by the story of Ghost of Sparta.

Ghost of Sparta takes place between the console games God of War and God of War II. The game starts with Kratos, having recently destroyed Ares the Ancient Greek Pantheons God of War, ascending to his throne. The game focuses on Kratos’ quest to locate and rescue his lost brother Deimos who is being held by Thanatos, the god of death. The story that followed was fairly original for the God of War series and a refreshing change from the other games. The game acted as an origin story for Kratos, filling in a lot of his background and reasons for his hatred towards the gods. A hatred that is central to the plot in the second and third God of War console games. The story has almost nothing to do with the characters of the main console story line and is a refreshing break from the blind rage dump that is Kratos’ usual fare.

Deimos, almost as awesome as Kratos.

Aside from differences in controller layout from PSP to PS3, the game play is exactly the same as the previous games in the series. The simplicity of the attack system has always been key to God of War.  Many games have tried to mimic the hallmark acrobatic style and ferocity of Kratos` fighting style, but very few have ever come close. (Not mentioning any names but, Bayonetta, I`m looking at you, you trampy hair suit wearing wierdo.)

Bayonetta, why are your clothes made out of your hair and why do you get naked every time you attack?

The button sequences for different attack combinations are ported directly into the game and both veteran and new comers to God of War will have no problem picking up the game and whipping around flaming sword death to their hearts content. After all part of the allure of God of War is being able to crush, massacre and destroy your opponents without having to memorize complex button and analog stick combos. You can literally just mash the controller with your fist and pull off some convincingly expert looking attacks. Expert attacks that look great on the PSP system.

He makes it look so easy.

I’ve always felt that the PSP is more or less a handheld version of the PlayStation 2.  However, while it can handle reasonably good three dimensional graphics they are usually low res.  Also, the PSP is normally unable to handle the crazy amount of razzle dazzle in the background and environment. Or so I thought,  In Ghost of Sparta, Ready at dawn Studios really pushed the PSP’s hardware to its absolute limit.

Looking pretty good there guy.

The game could almost pass for a PS3 title.  The character models looked great, animation was smooth and the game environment was chalked full of persistent environmental effects and background animations which made the God of War titles so incredible and epic feeling.  In particular there is one point during the game where Kratos meets King Midas, you know the guy that turns everything he touches to gold? They meet near an active volcano where there is flowing magma, showers of molten rock spattering the ground and steam vents hissing away. Add to this Midas creating a shining sparkle effect to everything he touches or brushes against and the result is truly something to behold.

Midas, about to enter the 'new asshole' catagory

My only issues with the game both relate to the fixed camera angles.  Unlike the previous games which would allow you to zoom and pan the camera, the PSP version keeps a fixed camera angles at all times.  The angle issue results in some oddly placed invisible walls which block Kratos from moving into what appear to be valid play areas. The camera angle also leads to slightly confusing battles involving large amount of opponents. When Kratos enters certain areas, the camera tends to zoom out to encompass the entire room or arena. While in many ways this camera angle is preferable to a tightly zoomed one where you would be unable to see the enemies that are surrounding you, It would be nice to be able to switch between the two angles or be able to pan the camera to a better vantage point. I found myself having a lot of difficulty knowing who Kratos was attacking, especially when he gets surrounded by larger enemies such as the Cyclops which is easily two to three times larger than him. When you`re in a battle with two or three of these bad boys, I found myself attempting to grab or focus on the wrong enemy, simply because I couldn`t tell where Kratos was facing.

Large battles, small Kratos

Overall, I was impressed by Ghost of Sparta and very much enjoyed the return of Kratos and the God of War series. Before picking up this game I was okay with the series being wrapped up, but after seeing that Kratos has more to him then blind murdering rage towards the Gods of Olympus I find myself hoping that the rumors are true and looking forward to the confirmation of God of War IV. If you’re a fan of God of War, go get this title. If you’re not sure about the series, pick up the Origins Package containing Ghost of Sparta and Chains of Olympus for PS3. They add a lot to Kratos’ story and are a great way to get into the Main story line of the console games.