The God of War series is back for another session of god-slaying action with our favorite host kratos !
So, when I first saw God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP I said "WOW !!! Holy cow !!! That's so EPIC !!!" I finished the game at one of my friends and I was amazed by the epicness of the game. One year later, a few months before Ghost of Sparta, I bought it and felt the exact same way about it, it was epic !
So, when O bought Ghost of Sparta I had really high expectations, because, I had just finished Chains of Olympus and watched a butt-load of GoW III movies on youtube, so I was like "HELL THIS WOULD BETTER BE EPIC !!". And guess what ? It was.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta is exactly what you would expect from a God of War game, and if you are a fan of Action games but you don't know how a God of War game is like, you must be living under a rock... But even so, I'm going to describe the gameplay mechanics in a little more detaliated way so that even people who aren't familiar with the GoW series will know what I'm talking about...
Well in the game, you play the role of Kratos, the God of War ( if you wanna know how he got to be the God of War, you'll have to find out for you self, 'cause I'm too lazy to write the whole story here, especially because Ghost of Sparta's story is made to clear some things about Kratos's past ).Like every God that respects himself, you have a life bar, and later, you unlock a magic bar, and a "fire" bar ( this one represents the fire of thera's bane, you'll find more about it by reading the rest of the review).
There are two main weapons in the game, the Blades of Athena, which I think are attached to your hands by chains, this is the weapon you start with, and, at the beginning they might seem overpowered but in the end, even if you upgraded them to max level ( each weapon has like 4 levels, while the spells only have 3 levels, and you get to level-up weapons and spells by sacrificing red orbs that you get by killing enemies, breaking stuff, etc. ) they still are pretty weak in comparison with the second weapon that you get later in game, the "Arms of Sparta". The Arms of Sparta, are, basically , a Spartan shield and a spear, this weapon's hits are more focused compared to the Blades of Athena, which you just swing around you in circles. Although the Arms of Sparta deal more damage than the Blades of Athena, they force you to focus on one enemy, which is a pretty hard thing to do when monsters attack from all directions... That's why the Blades of Athena become a pretty good option against tons of weak enemies, and become when more powerful when you get Thera's Bane ( which you can upgrade by sacrificing red orbs ), which is basically the ability to turn your already-dangerous blades into burning death-spreading-throat-cutting instruments of death, which is cool and also necessary, because this is now the only way you can break trough armor.
That's it about the weapons, now let's talk a little about the magic attacks. There are basically 3 types of magick attacks that you can unlock: The Horn of Boreas, The Eye of Atlantis and the Scourge of Erinys ( I'm not sure if this is the order in which you can unlock then, as I've played the game a while ago ). The first one freezes the enemies around you allowing you to break them into pieces before they manage to break free, the second one launches a deadly energy ray that deals damage as long as it's pointed at the enemy. You can rapidly tap the "O" button to extend it's duration, and you can also change it's target using the analog stick. The last one, the Scourge of Erinys is basically an orb that attracts enemies and deals damage ober time, while providing green orbs for you ( green orbs refill your health bar ).
Really if what the game offers may not sound so good and diverse, it's more than enough to provide an EPIC experience while fighting really fast- paced fights with tons of enemies surrounding you. Which reminds that the core of this game are the fights. Fighting is all that matters, and it's really brutal and visceral.
But the producers didn't want to make a game for brainless monkeys, that's why there are many puzzles in the game, and they are really well implemented, allowing you to relax a little between two exhausting fights.
Another characteristic of the GoW series is the absolutely EPIC boss-fights and the gory and brutal finishing moves. This game has them too, 90% of the finishing moves are epic and well animated, accentuating the brutality of the fights, and the bosses are EPIC too, especially because beating them implies some kind of cinematic sequences which are spiced up with quick-time events. This sequences are what makes GoW: Ghost of Sparta a unique game, they are just so brutal, so EPIC, you can't describe that in words...
The graphics are also really nice, a lot better than the graphics from God of War: Chains of Olympus, and they really help getting you into the atmosphere, giving a major "epicness-boost" to the fights and especially the finishing moves.
That being said, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a must-have for any PSP owner, and for everyone who loves Action and Hack n' Slash games. Go to your local store, and purchase it, right away, it's worth all you money !
P.S.: I'm from Romania, and I'm aware that there might be some grammar mistakes in this review, I'm really sorry and I hope you guys will excuse me for those.