Kratos shouts, “I won’t take your riches of your woman – but I will take your life!” He then smashes the Persian ruler’s face using one of his own treasure chests. Now that is how you make an entrance.

This installation of the franchise is based as a prequel before God of War 1 (seems Ready at Dawn likes explaining reasons for situations in games as they did with Daxter, explaining Jak 2 a bit better). It is also in this game that you understand why Kratos is beside himself right in the beginning of God of War 1 – he, for the first time, shows his more humane side. Telling you what it is would totally spoil the game for you, so I’ll leave it at that. So, let’s get back to the very reason you would want to play this game – bone-crushing violence. For those new to God of War (duh! Where have you been?) the opening level is pure adrenaline, pure spectacle, pure Kratos. The action takes place at a 200KM/H pace and you have no choice but to keep up.

The ancient Greek city is being bombarded by both the Persian war fleets and massive lizard of myth called the Basilisk. Luckily the Olympians have a Pit-Bull Terrier of their own – namely Kratos. As usual you have your cheap enemies that are in for a good hiding and early on you will bump into a monstrous Cyclops. As you prepare to take this “thing” down he’s gobbled up by the colossal Basilisk. You gasp, you grin, you grit your teeth and get ready for the opening fight of your life. Your analog stick (or nub) is going to be used like never before where you have to rotate it clockwise, anticlockwise, 180°, 360°…and you have another 6-7 hours of this coming your way. Be prepared!

We all know that Kratos is the biggest badass of badasses in gaming history who’d pull out SubZero’s spine before he could even say, “Freeze.” That does not mean he is not vulnerable though, if you plan to finish this game in God Mode and unlock every goodie available then you are gonna have to learn how to use that defend button – “L shoulder button.” Later in the game you will acquire a shield which works as a counter move to any projectile thrown your way. In fact, one could say that they copied Zelda to the “T.” The handheld version also has some platforming, which is not as effective as we have come to expect from this franchise, and then we have puzzles, which there are more than enough of.

Chains of Olympus continues the series with the adult-only themes. The “bonk” to regain health mini-game is here again, and this one is filthy with boobies and everything. The overall violence seems to be intact - slicing your enemies in half with blood gushing out left, right and centre or wrenching the eyes from Cyclopses, it’s all there. So I advise any parent to take the Mature rating into consideration before purchasing it for your child.

The only real gripes I have with the game is that midway through the game there were some boring level designs (or is it possibly just that the entry and finale level designs are so brilliant?) and secondly, really not the games fault but rather the hardware of the PSP itself, we have all complained and moaned about that analogue nub and it rears its ugly head once again to spoil the game in certain aspects.

The soundtrack in this game is possibly better than that of the PS2 versions, so using headphones is a MUST, however, the voice acting ain’t all that good.
Technically I would be surprised if any other PSP game ever comes close to touching it. It sits next to all, or rather few, other PSP AAA titles as standout games on the PSP. To be brutally honest it is a distant third in comparison to the PS2 big brothers. To deem it “God of War Lite” would be exceptionally harsh as its heart is in the right place. This game is to PSP gamers like getting a back rub from a Goddess of Love.

A technically jaw-dropping portable romp, even if it lacks the craft of its PS2 cousins.

Pros: The opening, the story; the technical marvel on a handheld.

Cons: Over-acting; some boring level designs; the PSP analogue nub.

Purchase: