Sony repurposes Kratos' PSP adventures. Praise Zeus.
Look up "dumb character" in the fictional dictionary, and you'll find a photo of Kratos. He screams everything he says, he disembowels everyone he meets, and he can't muster a smile to save his life. I find him about as deep as a puddle, and as an admitted "story whore," the fact that I enjoyed playing as the big idiot in God of War Origins surprised me.
Spoiler Alert: you don't need me to tell you God of War Origins rocks. A bundle of two PSP God of War games that each scored around the IGN 9.5 mark, Origins ports Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta into high definition, adds 3D, and slathers on PlayStation Network Trophies. Sony succeeded in making good games better.
In 2005, Kratos and PlayStation became synonymous. The original God of War introduced quicktime events, the Blades of Chaos, and insane finishing moves. Every iteration of the franchise pushed the limits a little bit further -- that includes these two titles. God of War: Chains of Olympus acts as a prequel to the original game,casting the protagonist as a servant to the Greek gods. Kratos deals with a Persian invasion and things go from bad to worse when the sun disappears. God of War: Ghost of Sparta fits in between God of War and God of War II. A vision invades Kratos' brain, and he sets off to find his brother
Some love the God of War story and swear by it. I say it doesn't really matter. I constantly forget what ancient Al or Annie I'm chasing and where it all fits into Greek mythology. The bottom line: the fun factor of the gameplay outweighs the convoluted story.
I tried every God of War game upon release but only finished God of War III. I found Kratos so polarizing that I couldn't get into his adventures. I figured I didn't have enough testosterone to appreciate his exploits and put the controller down time after time to try something else. But settling into review God of War Origins, it all clicked. I wanted to bash enemies' heads in, snag lots of orbs, and collect things. God of War Origins excels at all of that. With the other games, I tripped up by looking for an engaging story when I should've seen the engaging gameplay.
Hopefully, you don't need a blow by blow on what makes up God of War gameplay -- and if you do, check out the original Chains of Olympus review and Ghost of Sparta review. Two blades attached to chains wrap around Kratos' arms, and the player uses heavy and light attacks to dish out damage. From there, you unlock magic, weapons, upgrades and moves. While simple, the satisfaction in discovering a boss' pattern or perfectly dodging an enemy attack to unleash a killing blow curls my toes. And I can jump in and out of when I feel like it.
God of War Origins also offers a rare opportunity in the video game industry -- a time lapse of a developer coming into its own. Playing the two portable Kratos games back to back, I saw the studio learn and grow before my eyes. Both of these games looked good on the PSP, but Chains of Olympus occasionally looks simple and stiff on a massive flat-screen TV. However, Ghost of Sparta pops with detail, cinematic cuts and character. I didn't understand why I couldn't slide down walls in Chains of Olympus and -- bam -- I can do it Ghost of Sparta. Quicktime prompts show up in the middle of the screen in Chains but on the sides in Ghost. Putting the games back-to-back shows how much Ready at Dawn put into them.
While I wish I could quit one game and go to an Origins main menu rather than quitting back to the XMB, that small quibble rounds out my complaint list. Bonus material such as costumes, documentaries and the challenge rooms made the jump to Origins. The game pauses here or there as a big event queues, but Chains and Ghost run extremely well. The adjustable 3D looks very good for wide shots but gets too crazy for up close attacks. Sometimes the fixed camera makes fights harder for no reason, but that's a God of War trademark.
Closing Comments
God of War Origins collects two of the best PSP games and gives them all the PS3 treatment -- HD visuals, 3D options, Trophies and DualShock controls. It also acts as a time lapse experiment for players to get a really good look at how a developer evolves from one game to another. If you haven't played these titles before -- and even if you have -- recommending God of War Origins is easy.
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