Looks great on the PS3. 2nd game is longer than the 1st. 2nd game is as good as GOW3. Worth buying if you're craving GOW
The God of War series has always had excellent gameplay and it has always been true to its core with a few tweaks here and there to keep it fresh. Now, two God of War games that were originally on the PSP, are brought to it's bigger brother the PS3. God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta are now playable on the PS3 and other than the conversion from handheld buttons and playsticks to an actual controller, the gameplay is the same. For those who have never played God of War before, if you've ever played Konquest mode in Mortal Kombat games on the PS2, it's very similar. God of War does take a lot of its gameplay from past Mortal Kombat games. There's a reason why Kratos was put in the most recent installment of Mortal Kombat. You won't find any flaw in this area of the game.
Content: 9.5/10
The amount of stuff that both of these games have to offer is varied. In Chains of Olympus, the game itself is not very long, but being that it originally came out in 2006 the PSP was still young in its life and GoW developers were just getting their hands wet with it. The most fun gamers will have with is Ghost of Sparta (2009 on PSP). The game is as long as God of War 3 and in my case, it took me a little longer to complete than GoW 3. The amount of puzzles and stages that players have to go through is unbelievable and even for the PSP, there is a lot of things to do in this game. The one area these games are limited in is weaponry. You will only get a couple of weapons in Chains of Olympus and 3-4 weapons in Ghost of Sparta. The magic powers are also available in the same amount relative to the amount of weapons in each respective game. There are also new things utilized that are not used in any other GoW game on the PS3/PS2. That's how unique the content is.
Graphics 9/10
The God of War games have always looked good on their respective game systems. For these to games GoW developers had to face the challenge of bringing the game to a bigger, more powerful system. For games that were originally on the PSP and then converted to the PS2, their was always an issue of the colors being blotted and horrible texture on the screen. Exploding PSP graphics on to a TV through a PS2 never brought pretty pictures. Just ask Rockstar when they put Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City and Vice City Stories on the PS2. Santa Monica had to put their games on the PS3 and they succeeded. The games actually look better and Ghost of Sparta looks incredible. Some might even say that the graphics are a base hit away from looking like GoW 3. The stages look great and the characters look amazing. Chains of Olympus looks more like the original God of War, but it still looks good on the PS3.
Story: 10/10
Some of you are probably thinking how the main plots of these games relate to the main trilogy. Well they don't. I personally consider them to be spinoffs of the original story. The games focus more on Kratos' family, rather than the vengeance that he usually searches for. We see more of his sensitive side in these games and it can be touching at times. That doesn't make the game any less bloody though. The bosses are interesting and unique and will be more interesting to those who are mythology freaks. I'll try not to give any spoilers, but the first game takes place during Kratos' service to the gods of Olympus before the original God of War game. The second game takes place during his reign as the God of War. Kratos' adventure in the first game deals with his search to cease his nightmares from his family's death. The second game deals with the search for someone special. Both adventures are fun and memorable.
Replay Value: 10/10 (Own it)
The games have a lot to offer, not to mention the bonus content after you complete the main story. You can unlock videos and other stuff to your heart's galore. The challenges will keep you busy and if you're picky about completing the main story at a certain difficulty, then the replay value is much higher for you. Bringing PSP games to the PS3 can be risky, but Santa Monica did it and for those of you who have waited too long to get your God of War fix, this is a good way to get it: double the dosage.
Overall Score: 9.5/10