Joystiq hands-on: God of War: Chains of Olympus

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 15th 2007 at 3:32PM }

When Sony said they were unleashing the full power of the PSP for God of War, they weren't kidding. God of War: Chains of Olympus plays and looks ~~gorgeous~~ ~~beautiful~~ ~~amazing~~ gorgeutifulzing. The fact that its a hand-held game on a small screen should not turn people off to this title, it's like a normal PS2 game in a little package and there is no denying it gives the full God of War experience. So much so, that before finishing the demo level in the game, we had to hand it off to somebody else or we'd have ripped the PSP out of the station and walked away to play the demo version until the game released this holiday season -- on the bright side, the demo releases this September.

Developer Ready at Dawn has done a great job at capturing the controls of God of War. Thankfully you hardly used the second analog stick (only used for dodging) in the PS2 version, so the PSP's one nubbin along with planned button mashing brings it all together. The animation is smooth -- so very, very smooth. Smooth to the point where we'd almost believe the PS2 GoW titles could hopefully one day come to PSP. All you really need to know about GoW on PSP is that everything you've come to expect from a PS2 version is here. This Kratos ain't watered down and he might even help sell some PSPs. This is a true God of War experience in a hand-held package that no fan can miss.

Gallery: God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)

Tags: chains of olympus, e3, e307, god of war, godofwar, handson, kratos

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

The Webster @ Jul 15th 2007 3:38PM

I will probably purchase the new PSP w/video out for this game. Well this game and Dracula X

chris webster @ Jul 15th 2007 3:52PM

Well that was interesting

Fernando Rocker @ Jul 15th 2007 3:56PM

Why do you guys removed the link?
That was interesting... way better than this new.

God of War for PSP doesnt have a chance against Zelda Phantom Hourglass.

Tadioku @ Jul 15th 2007 4:03PM

I CAME

Brad Lee @ Jul 15th 2007 4:04PM

Sounds cool.

Too bad I didn't like God of War... or Ninja Gaiden... or Devil May Cry. Just not my thing I guess.

I just want my portable Parappa!

chris webster @ Jul 15th 2007 4:06PM

Fernando, why go into the whole "This game doesn't stand a chance against" thing? They are two totally different games. It is like saying Tetris doesn't stand a chance against Mario. I am sure Zelda will be a great game, but what does it have to do with GOW? Nothing. As for the link someone posted an inappropriate pic.

samfish @ Jul 15th 2007 4:27PM

I'd say it's a fair comparison, given all the 'God of War takes a lot of inspiration from Zelda' talk.

It doesn't change the fact that it has nothing to do with anything, but still...

NvM @ Jul 15th 2007 4:20PM

This has to be the best looking game for a handheld, ever.
It's not gonna sell me a PSP, but it looks like a winner.

Ian Von Porter @ Jul 15th 2007 4:21PM

lol ... it looks better than anything on Wii

FM @ Jul 15th 2007 4:22PM

Glad I haven't sold my PSP.

Logic Bus @ Jul 15th 2007 5:43PM

Why are the first couple screens so low-res?

Jermaine Pulliam @ Jul 15th 2007 6:35PM

super sorry about that link earlier. apparently my roommate did something to my computer so that random images within a webpage would come up like that. :(. I thought someone goofed at Joystiq, but it's my dumb roommate.

Theta @ Jul 15th 2007 6:51PM

Fernando, stop that stupid nonsense.

BNinjaC @ Jul 15th 2007 7:11PM

At last a game I can look forward to on the PSP. Don't get me wrong, the machine it's self is great but the last of AAA titles has been a bummer. Thanks Sony for milking this franchise and giving you a great game (hopefully).

oh and Fernando, it's cool, we all know you like Ninty, in fact, I'm a ninty fanboy at heart but you're really giving yourself a bad name with the amount of fanboy-ism you spew.

Give it a break and stop trolling.

BNinjaC @ Jul 15th 2007 7:12PM

geez my spelling sucks! :)

shoeshine @ Jul 15th 2007 7:13PM

But the real question is, will this one be just another commercial the same way the second one was.

Hilarious @ Jul 15th 2007 8:21PM

Why not just put it on the pS2 then? Hmmm? I swear sony doesn't understand the point of handheld.

Jon @ Jul 15th 2007 8:35PM

Who is this Fernando? I can't see his post.

I had a bad feeling that CoO would be dumbed down but it is great to find out it wouldn't.

The time for me to finally purchase a PSP is drawing nearer.

Negativecool @ Jul 16th 2007 1:01AM

It won't convince me to buy one simply because I have no use for handhelds...(maybe when I was in college..but not now). With that said, I'm truly impressed at what the PSP can do.

I'm sure this and FFVII: Crisis Core will move a lot of units globally. I'm glad the PSP is getting really good games in its library.

NaviePoo @ Jul 16th 2007 8:31AM

Once again, PSP = no original gameplay. This another port-ish game that will feel exactly the same as GoW, exept portable. yawn.

Jairo @ Jul 16th 2007 10:49AM

I know its out of topic, i live in south america and have a psp but am moving ti spain, will it work there???

Thanks.

Glamador @ Jul 16th 2007 11:35AM

Sure the game looks great and all but WHAT DO YOU MEAN HARDLY USE THE SECOND ANALOG STICK!? Really? Did you guys not even play the game? I feel like my hand spent as much time on that stick as it did on the Square button. And the dodging controls are one thing that makes me nervous about this game.