God of War: Chains of Olympus is an average outing for series anti-hero Kratos due to the high standards set from by the main franchise games. Granted this is due to the platform on which the game sees its release and the limited control scheme of the PSP but when it detracts from the game significantly and makes for a worse experience all round, one cannot overlook the technical limitations of the platform.
In comparison to the main series games, this side adventure is minute and one can clearly see where exactly the shortcuts have been taken to create the portable outing of the God of War. The boss battles are lacking the wow factor, there’s a lonely amount of enemies that surrounding players during fights and you’ll never stand in awe of the landscape and surrounding areas. The controls aren’t as smooth as main series fans will expect and lacks the polish and pride which the other games carry.
For example, one doesn’t expect much of a plot in a God of War game but even by God of War standards the plot this time around is a lacklustre bore. More an excuse to kill than an attempt an backstory to the series by prequel standards its definitely more Star Wars than Godfather 2 and in short you certainly won’t miss out on any lore or important character points should you choose to skip this outing of Kratos. Perhaps the best case of poor story and under thinking on the part of the developers comes towards the end of the game:
SPOILER ALERT BEGINS
The scene occurs just before the final boss battle in which Kratos is reunited with his daughter. All is well and good until the villain reveals the choice Kratos must now make. Stay with his daughter and the world will end, abandon his daughter to save the world and the two will never be reunited but at least she shall survive. Kratos knows what he must do and just as the heart breaking moment occurs players are given control in a quick time event and told effectively to mash circle to abandon your daughter. Its a terrible moment and one that leaves a bad taste in you mouth afterwards. As a pure cinematic it may have worked well but the fact that the developers decided to give control back to the player to push the girl over as she hugs and begs you not to go then jump cut to another cinematic is wrong.
END OF SPOILER
God of War: Chains of Olympus feels like the B-Team game which it is and whilst not all of its shortcomings are the fault of its developer some of the key decisions made by the team cause the game to be of a noticeably lower quality in comparison to the other games in the franchise. It lacks the punch of the other games in the franchise, creating a bland and average action game, in a genre which certainly doesn’t lack better games and experiences to be had than this title. Unless you cannot get enough of the brutal Kratos, I’d recommend avoiding this outing of the war fuelled God.