God of War: Chains of Olympus

Ahh, God of War. You showed up so late to the party on PS2, but you never ceased to amaze those who hadn't already left that the PS2, a not-so-next-gen console at the time, could still pull off mind blowing masterpieces with cool-ass gameplay and top notch voice acting.

And PSP, you've been out for a good few years now, and the non-homebrew games that have come out thus far made me wish I bought a Nokia N-Gage instead! I think it's about time the two hooked up!

BAM!

Just like that. God of War: Chains of Olympus was born, with it's own special PSP bundle at that!

With a sexy, special edition system, comes one of the first few blockbuster hits for the PSP.

God of War: Chains of Olympus (or GOWCOO for lazy typists like myself) is a new story for Kratos, the protagonist of the other games. Kratos is sucked into a war with rogue gods who've forced the world into a deep sleep, and rendered the gods useless against it. Between man and god, stands Kratos.

And at that, Kratos gets to work. Chopping, slicing, and dicing his way through another epic Greek mythology-based adventure.

The gameplay comes pretty much as you'd expect not only for a God of War game, but for action platformers in general. one button's for slash, another for jump, an illustrious "Use" button, and so on. The difference with God of war is more about the combat animations, bad ass combos, and the boss fight button sequences. Whatever you're doing, everything you do makes you feel like a total badass.

The action comes quick, hard, and a lot of the game is based on using your brain to figure the puzzles out. That's just the way I like it.

Even came to me as a surprise that the difference between a PS2 and PSP version was....Nothing! The graphics, bloom, animations, intense visuals, backgrounds, and effects are just as strong as the PS2 version. This could have easily been another PS2 game, but it's great to see the PSP finally gets some love.

The bundle was an awesome deal, too. you got the "Deep red" PSP (that's 'RED' in guy-speak), Superbad UMD movie, God of War: Chains of Olympus, AND a voucher for the PlayStation Network-exclusive "Syphon Filter: Combat Ops".

All in all, the story, graphics, sounds, and overall FEEL of the God of War franchise is perfectly translated over to the smaller-screen. If you've got a PSP and can't decide on your few options of amazing games, pick this one up. Whether you're a fan of the series, or haven't played any of the games before, You won't regret it.