Olympia
The City of Olympia
Round the corner to bump into Gaia, who pleads for Kratos' help--the nerve! "Help" her by cutting at her fingers and clearing the path. The engraving on the huge doors states that a hero must prove his worth before the path to Olympia is opened. Some formidable zombie warriors quickly overrun the area. They are soon joined by dogs. The warriors launch attacks that do respectable amount of damage, so don't get careless. Once these are disposed of, head through the double doors.
The Harpies Kratos encounters in this room differ from the usual aggressive types. These can be manipulated into ferrying Kratos across wide chasms. Chain the Harpy and use it to hitch a ride across. You don't need to hold the buttons down to keep Kratos on the Harpy. Don't miss the chest filled with red Orbs below the two Harpies.
The Harpies drop Kratos off at the exit that peeks into an empty rooftop. As Kratos approaches, a gaggle of enemies crawl up and engage the Spartan in battle. After clearing out this initial batch, a Centaur accompanied by a throng of beefed up warriors gang up on Kratos. The Centaur itself doesn't present too much of a threat; watch out for the charge and ensuing impalement, at which point you must rotate the Analog Stick in time to successfully counter the attack.
The foot soldiers, however, start to use a shockwave sword attack. When you see them raise their gleaming weapon into the air, move out of their linear line of sight. When the Circle appears, there is no finisher as expected; instead, you can press Circle to finish them off, or press Square to have Kratos use the victim in hand as the Battering Ram. That is an effective means of dealing with the Centaur and its crowd. Occasionally, the ground is set ablaze by raining fireballs as well.
Take the path up and meet up with a Titan in the distance. Helios has waged war on the invading Titan and seems to be winning; help out the Titan by getting on the ballista, but when that happens a truly ferocious mythical creature, the Chimera, rears its ugly head.
The Chimera definitely has a lot more roar than bite, but without the proper evasive maneuvers this enemy can quickly become a handful. This battle gets drawn out simply because the Chimera can withstand quite a beating (and has three different parts to it). During the first segment, the Chimera arrives intact with a serpent as its tail. When the eyes flash red, the serpent spits some corrosive substance in Kratos' face. The Claws of Hades' Soul Rip attack (L1 + Circle) works quite well against it. This beginning stage against the Chimera should end soon enough.
The second incarnation, the Lion part, mixes it up a bit with fireball attacks. The final incarnation takes the form of a ram that adds charge attacks in addition to fireball projectiles. Upon dealing adequate damage to this agile abomination, the Circle finisher appears above its head to signify its imminent end. Terminate the sucker and hop on the ballista.
Crank an arrow back, and watch as Helios flies by on his flaming chariot. When he gets close enough, let an arrow loose to waylay his flight path and help out the Titan. Helios crash lands somewhere, so hop off and double back a bit. Harpies now hover in the area; use them to traverse the gap to the other side. Clear the enemies and head past the gate. Battering Ram through the congested hallway and cross the bridge to the ladder.
An innocent civilian stands in the way, but Kratos will take no pity upon the poor sap and put him out of his misery. Drop to a hanging position to bypass the flaming window and proceed up. Helios has been located and is gravely wounded from the attack. A myriad of loyal soldiers carrying shields quickly envelop Helios in a protective barrier. A few pokes at this living shield confirms that normal means will not penetrate it.
Alas, a powerful Cyclops stumbles into the area and stirs up some trouble with Kratos in its single sight. The oversized and cumbersome bloke is no match for Kratos' sheer agility. Evade the Cyclops's attacks and return them in kind until the finisher prompt comes up. When it does, Kratos assumes full control of the Cyclops and coerces it to do his bidding. Nothing could previously budge the impenetrable barrier surrounding Helios, but they surely didn't anticipate a Cyclops. Use the Cyclops to break the guard and wreak havoc.
Eliminate as many enemies as you can with it until it can be terminated, then deal with the remaining enemies. All that's left to do now is to attend to Helios. Following the cut-scene, Kratos must block Helios' powerful rays in order to get in closer for the kill. Using the right Analog Stick, adjust Kratos hand to shield the glowing god from Kratos' face. If this is done unsuccessfully, Kratos will keep getting pushed back, take damage from constant exposure, and eventually die. When he gets close enough to Helios, he can deliver his retribution.
After an overly bloody affair, Kratos gains the Head of Helios, an indispensable aid to his quest against Zeus. It can be used to seek out hidden chests and paths, the existence of which are usually illuminated by the presence of gold speckles floating around. Use it on the seemingly bare rock wall to reveal a hidden door. Search near Helios' headless body for Helios' Shield. Also near his body is a hidden chest with a Minotaur Horn inside.
