Game: God of War: Chains of Olympus
Platform: PlayStation Portable
Developer: Ready at Dawn Studios
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Rating: M 17+
Price: $19.99

Story: This takes place 5 years before any God of War game, but it takes place after Kratos killed his Family, so he is not the god of war yet. Anyway It starts as a simple task from the gods (repel the Persian army, defeat the Basilisk, go on to next task), but when that is done, it becomes an epic quest return Helios,the sun god, who mysteriously comes down from the sky, before it's too late. The story is very well done, with twits and turns, with the main antagonist not being someone you expect, and visitor from Kratos' past . It's not as complicated as God of War II, but it's still very enjoyable, if a little short. 9/10

Graphics and Animation: Now, it's usually, it's not fair to compare portable games with console games when it comes to graphics, but this game, especially for a portable game, the graphics are outstanding even two years after it came out, (just look at the images.) Animation is also top notch, though you'll see the same ones a lot, there's apparently only so much you can fit on a UMD. Load time are very quick and are (theoretically) even less on a PSP Go, rounding out in my opinion a perfect game as far as graphics go. 10/10

Sound: Voice acting is top notch, as usual for a God of War game, but a lot of the music is recycled from the past two games, especially II. But the music is still great and sound effects are also great. You'll need some headphones to get the full effect. 8.5/10

Gameplay: So how does Kratos control with fewer buttons and one analog stick? Very very well. What they did was simply combine buttons, like with magic, you hold down R and press a face button to use a spell, or to dodge, you hold down L and R and move the analog nub in the direction you want to dodge. It's simple thinking and it works. If you played any GoW game in the past, you'll adjust ton the new controls very quickly and start wrecking shop with you're Blades of Chaos. Unfortunately, there is only one new weapon, The Gauntlet of Zues, found very late in the game. So even if you are a newcomer to God of War, you'll still find the exact same formula on the consoles, so "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". 9.5/10

Replay Value: This is the biggest drawback to the game. My first run through was a mere 3 hours, making this game even shorter than the original. There's no arena mode just a challenge mode, costumes, and the ability to replay the game on the same difficulty level you beaten it on with all you're powered up weapons and magic. So unlike the previous games, there's not a lot of incentive to replay the game. 6/10

Final thoughts: While not the longest or best God of War game, it is still quite an achievement on the PSP (it's the highest rated PSP game for a reason), and worth the price of admission. Just expect this to be a short term investment.

Final Score: 8.6/10

If there is anything I missed let me know and I can edit

Next week...