God of War is possibly the best game on the PSP. You will hear this a
lot from many of the reviewers out there. It certainly pushes the PSPs
graphics capability, and is one of the nicest looking games out on a
handheld at the moment.
However, many of the gameplay mechanics are the same as previous God of
War games. You are unlikely to see anything new here. But the button
mashing extravaganza won't bore you, especially if you enjoy seeing
Kratos wail on everyone around him. Also as you advance through the
levels, you are going to have to use a lot of dodging skill, magic and
carefully pulled off combos to survive. Expect to be bouncing all over
the screen as things get truly insane!
The boss fights are pretty fun, although the button pressing mini-games
can be tiresome, especially if you press the wrong button and this
causes an instant death. However, the creatures you fight are epic. But
while these provide some challenge, which will probably have you
reloading the last checkpoint now and then, they aren't overly
difficult. As for the final boss. Expect some serious retrying here, as
the difficulty is significantly ramped up in this one fight. Great for
an ending, but can be frustrating after the fifth go.
However, the most disappointing thing about this game is its length.
You wll have just started to appreciated the story, the characters and
Kratos' inner turmoil, as well as fully enjoy the slaughter and the
game is then over. It took me around about 6 hours to complete the game
in full. While the save points are evenly spaced to allow for short
bursts, and overall short game is nothing to be impressed by.
Unfortunately, God of War falls flat here.
Once the game is over, there are a number of unlockables which are
opened, including the Challenges of Hades and the God difficulty mode.
While these are mildly entertaining, many more casual gamers may be
frustrated by them. The challenges are much harder than the game and
the God setting presents sheer impossibility. I couldn't even get past
the first fight with the Basilisk. May be I'm ****, but I'm guessing
many others probably won't be bothered with it either.
Overall, I'm giving God of War a 7.0. It's impressive graphics and fun
gameplay make it a good, possibly even great, game. But its short
length and limited replayability, mean that this one probably won't sit
in most gamers collections for any significant length of time.
Take my advice - buy it, play it, and then trade it for something new.
