One of the things that make a good movie are the same things that make a great video game; namely good characters. We as players get sucked into the storyline and feel compelled to guide our favorite hero through his trials. One of the great video game characters is Kratos from the God of War franchise, who is one of the angriest and mentally tortured (while still sane) guys in mythology. While we know a lot of his story, we as gamers want to know more about the god who desperately needs an Anger Management seminar. More of the blank pages to Kratos’s past are scribed in the latest game, God of War: Ghost of Sparta.
This new game takes place between the events of the first GoW and GoW2. Kratos is still haunted by the memories that led him to his current god-like state, and for some reason he can’t get them out of his head. These dreams lead him on a quest to Atlantis, and Athena appears telling him that he doesn’t know what he’s getting into. Kratos argues that she was supposed to remove his tortuous thoughts, and that he’s going ahead with his search.
Ready At Dawn, the developer of the God of War series, previously published a game exclusively for the PSP titled God of War: Chains of Olympus. This was the highest-rated PSP title of all time (a MetaCritic score of 91). Any studio would be silly to just let a cash cow like that go, and so they’ve developed this new game, which is pretty much the same type of gameplay you’ve come to expect, but with a few new features thrown in. If you liked Chains of Olympus then you’ll be very familiar with Ghost of Sparta.
On the next page we look at what makes this game different than Chains of Olympus…
Although Ghost of Sparta is essentially the same gameplay as the others in the God of War series, there are some new features to mix things up a bit.
First off is the New Combat and Weapon system. You can face action with the ‘Combat Rush’ feature, which allows Kratos to pummel enemies to the ground and throw them around. There are new deaths and magic-specific deaths and new moves while floating in air. You start off with the Blades of Athena, but evenually can add fire to the blades (called Thera’s Bane), which are necessary to destroy certain doors.
Grab opponents and pummel them
You also get access to new weapons, such as the Spear and Shield (known as the Arms of Sparta). Kratos is now able to throw the spear for a ranged attach aor do several quick up-close attacks. The shield can be used to slam enemies, in addition to helping block incoming attacks.
Grapple and swing to the mini-boss
You also get two new magical attacks. The Scourge of Erinys is a ball of energy that sucks in enemies, which provide Kratos with energy. Another is the Eye of Atlantis, which appears to be a simple lightning attack. Should’t a lightning attack be named after Zeus?
More enemies appear on screen at once, and there are bigger, badder bosses than in Chains of Olympus. There can be double the amount of enemies on screen at once, which require you to multitask and keep track of more threats at once. The big bosses are really big this time around, which bring Kratos down to just a handful of pixels on the PSP screen.
So, should you get it? Read on the next page…
While Chains of Olympus is easily the best looking game on the PSP, Ghost of Sparta uses new visuals such as depth of field and weather effects to make it the absolute king of eye-candy on the handheld system.
Just like other action platformers, there are a few simple puzzles thrown in to mix things up a bit. And God of War just wouldn’t be complete without unnecessary (and visual obscured) sex mini-games. There are also a few challenges that are unlocked when you beat the game, and a customizable free-play area that allows you to jump in and out of gory carnage at will.
There are a few gameplay improvements to Ghost of Sparta, as well. The boss-ending finishing-move mini game timed sequences have improved by coordinating the location of the required button press to the location of the screen. Load times have improved dramatically, as parts of the level are loaded as needed, to make a seamless experience. When you have great gameplay like Chains of Olympus, why mess up the formula? Ghost of Sparta is hands-down one of the most gorgeous games on the PSP, has a great storyline, and of course, great gameplay. This is a must-have for any PSP owner.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
While Chains of Olympus is easily the best looking game on the PSP, Ghost of Sparta uses new visuals such as depth of field and weather effects to make it the absolute king of eye-candy on the handheld system.
Just like other action platformers, there are a few simple puzzles thrown in to mix things up a bit. And God of War just wouldn’t be complete without unnecessary (and visual obscured) sex mini-games. There are also a few challenges that are unlocked when you beat the game, and a customizable free-play area that allows you to jump in and out of gory carnage at will.
There are a few gameplay improvements to Ghost of Sparta, as well. The boss-ending finishing-move mini game timed sequences have improved by coordinating the location of the required button press to the location of the screen. Load times have improved dramatically, as parts of the level are loaded as needed, to make a seamless experience. When you have great gameplay like Chains of Olympus, why mess up the formula? Ghost of Sparta is hands-down one of the most gorgeous games on the PSP, has a great storyline, and of course, great gameplay. This is a must-have for any PSP owner.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||