God of War: Chains of Olympus
PlayStation Portable
Nostalgia Factor:
I have been a fan of the God of War series from day one. While I have played all of the numbered additions to the series, I had yet to play any of the "side" games out there. During my seven day PlayStation Now trial, I saw several of the side GoW games available to play. I didn't have time to check them all out, so I decided to settle on Chains of Olympus since I'd heard it was pretty short.
Chains of Olympus was originally released for the PlayStation Portable (which I will refer to from now on as the PSP). Seeing as how I had never owned a PSP, I didn't think I would ever get the chance to play this game (there is a remastered version available for the PS3, but I didn't even know that existed until a few days ago). Playing it on PSNow was the perfect chance for me to finally see if this was any good or not.
Story:
I guess I should start with a disclaimer. I have a really short attention span. And I mean reaaaaally short. For some reason whenever I play God of War games, my attention drifts during the cutscenes. I never know what the hell is going on in these games, and this one is no exception.
It seems like this game followed the basic God of War formula. It started out during a big battle. Kratos goes in and kicks ass. He talks to some other gods and finds out that another god is doing something shifty, so he has to go in and take him out... I think? I am useless, you don't have to tell me. Bad attention span. Kratos once again winds up in the Underworld at some point. He sees flashbacks of the daughter he murdered during his bloodthirsty rampage. Blah blah blah. I don't know what the hell this game was about. One thing that is important to note is that the game is a direct prequel to the original God of War game, taking place before Kratos takes down Ares.
Gameplay:
If you have played any God of War game ever, you will know how to play this one. It controls exactly the same as the other games in the series. There really is nothing innovative that the game adds, either. No twists, no wrinkles. All you do is fight your way through the game's areas, solving meager puzzles along the way.
I have reviewed multiple God of War games before, so I don't think I need to explain the mechanics of the game. If you really want an in-depth explanation of how God of War works, check out some of my old reviews at the bottom of this one.
As far as game length goes, I beat this in about five or six hours. I don't know if it told me how long I'd been playing when I beat the game. But I beat it in only two sittings, which has to be a record for me when it comes to God of War games that I'm playing for the first time.
Graphics:
This game was created for the outdated and obsolete PSP, and it shows. It is not even that the game looks ugly. It just looks so.... bland. It was really difficult for me coming from God of War III (which froze up on me before I could beat it, which is why you haven't seen a review yet) to this game. It's like going from eating at an award winning restaurant one day, to a Burger King the next.
I'd say the visuals for this game are on-par with the original God of War for the PS2. Maybe a little worse. Again, not to say that it looks bad necessarily, just incredibly basic and primitive. In fact, you could say the graphics are a metaphor for the whole game. Not bad or terrible, just extremely basic.
Sound:
While the game's graphics haven't aged very well, the same can't be said for its music and sound effects. Everything sounds just as good for this game as it does for the main console God of War entries. Intense, in-your-face soundtrack when you are battling enemies. Serene and almost peaceful when you are exploring.
All of the voice actors from the main games make their return here. Kratos sounds as good as ever, as do all of the god characters, especially the narrator. Her voice has become iconic to the God of War series. As much as I like to nitpick every aspect of every game I play, I can't complain about the sound in this game. It's good.
Overall:
I kind of knew what I was getting into when I started up this game. I knew it would be short. That's one of the reasons I picked this game, because I knew I could easily finish it during my seven day PS Now trial, and still have plenty of time to try other games. It is a nine year old PSP game, so I knew it would be relatively primitive and basic in comparison to the newer games in the series. None of this was a surprise to me.
Despite the game's shortcomings, I still thought it was pretty fun. At its heart, this game is 100% God of War all the way through. It looks like God of War, it sounds like God of War, it plays like God of War. It almost helped for me to look at this game as some sort of DLC for the first PS2 God of War, rather than its own standalone game.
The battles are fun. Brutally mowing down waves of enemies at a time really makes you feel like a bad ass. The story, I mean, I didn't know what was going on, but I am sure it was fun for people who don't have the attention span of a gerbil.
My time with the game was pretty short. As I said earlier, I beat the whole thing in about five or six hours. But the main point is that I had FUN during those five or six hours. I can't say at any time did I ever think "man this game sucks" or anything like that. Sure, it's old. Sure, it's primitive. Sure, it doesn't do a damn thing that you haven't seen in any other God of War game out there. But it is still fun!
Would I recommend this game to anyone else? If you are a God of War fan and are looking for something quick and fun to play, you can't go wrong here. There is not much replay value to the game, so I don't know how much I'd actually spend on it. But if you are a God of War fan with a PS Now subscription, I see no reason for you to not check this out. Especially if you are a fan of the storyline of the series. Most of the game's plot was lost to me, but from what I could gather, the game does do a nice job of filling in some of the blanks when it comes to Kratos' backstory.
Short, fun, enjoyable, but incredibly primitive and lacking in any originality whatsoever. That would be my one sentence description of Chains of Olympus. If that appeals to you, by all means check this game out. But if you did decide to skip out on Chains of Olympus, you wouldn't be missing a whole lot.
Final Score:
C+
If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:
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