Gaming Sundays: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Kratos, Ghost of Sparta

Introduction

God of War: Ghost of Sparta is technologically marvel for a PSP game. Graphics are comparable to PS2 games, albeit it leads to a short game. It's due for a release on November 2, but I've already finished it, due to a leak. Despite it's name, Ghost of Sparta does not deal with how Kratos obtained the title. Instead, the game is set between God of War 1 and God of War 2, just as Chain of Olympus was set before God of War 1. I guess it might be safe to say that if another PSP God of War comes out, it will be set before God of War 3.

Story

Young Kratos

Having defeated Ares, Kratos ascends the throne as the New God of War, however, he is still plagued by bad dreams and visions. Wanting to banish it once and for all, Kratos sets out to investigate the vision. Kratos sets off to Atlantis. On the way, the fleet is ambushed by the Scylla, which plays a similar role to the Basilisk of Chain of Olympus. Travelling throughout Atlantis, Kratos seeks to find the Temple of Poseidon. Upon arriving, Kratos find his dying mother, Callisto. And is told both that his brother is alive and to seek the clue at Ares's Temple in Sparta, and the identity of his father. Callisto then transform to a monster and is slained by Kratos.

On the way out of Atlantis, Kratos sinks it. Along the way to Sparta, Kratos travels through Crete and some mountains. At Sparta, Kratos defeats his younger self and finds the Skull of Keres. And heads back to the sunken Atlantis to find the entrance to Death's Domain. Long story short, Kratos finds Deimos and fights him. However, their fight is rudely interrupted by Thanatos, who decides to kill Deimos to avenge his fallen daughter, Erinys, who Kratos killed earlier. Thanatos fails, and the duo fight Thanatos like the Undertaker and Kane, Deimos is killed halfway during the fight, and an enraged Kratos defeats Thanatos. Kratos brings the body of Deimos and buries him at the grave the Grave Digger dug. 

Gameplay

Keres Wraith - one of the foulest creatures of GoS

Gameplay has been improved since Chain of Olympus. I think it's quite similar to God of War 3, not sure, since I haven't played it. Anyway, Kratos can now grabbed on to ledges, swing around and scale walls much like Prince of Persia style, this leads to a tweak in controls. Add on to that with a third bar of Thera's Bane, a skill which engulf's Kratos' Blades of Athena in flame. This continuously drains the meter. The meter recharges over time when Thera's Bane is not in use. Thera's Bane is also used to break armor (instead of the [], [], triangle combo) and metal gears and some doors. This lead me to a few confusing moments, until...*lightbulb*, so i have to use Thera's Bane! This and the "throwing dogs into gears" moment.

Skills include Eye of Atlantis, which basically is a chain lightning. Scourge of Erinys, which is something similar to Charon's Wrath, except that it moves around Kratos and targets nearby enemies. At the same time, it heals Kratos. Lastly is the Horn of Boreas, which freezes enemies around Kratos as well as Kratos' mana (albeit for only a few seconds). 

Kratos's second set of weapon is the Arms of Sparta which looks cool, plays cool and would be cool except that each time you climb a wall or swing around like Spiderman, your weapon switches back to Blades of Athena. Arms of Sparta also features a long range attack.

My only complain would be the short time. I finished the game in a little over 5 hours. Now to entertain myself with some of the minigames to unlock some of the items in the Temple of Zeus.

Graphics

Sweet...really sweet. You can actually see bruises and blood on Kratos's faces during certain minigame zoom in scenes such as the fight with Callisto and saving Deimos. Supposedly you can see blood on Kratos when he fights, I don't have that sharp of an eye, can anyone verify this? Lastly, God of War is as bloody as ever That man with his intestines all spilled out was wicked sick. Also, few in a few minutes into the game, something bloody/gory happens, i kinda forgot, but i think it was a man being cut in half. Sweet. 

Conclusion

God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a must have for die hard GoW series fans, needless to say, none fans should also buy it. It was a refreshing look at action/hack n slash game since my marathon of RPGs, i havent played this genre since Dante's Inferno which was kinda dull looking game but fun nonetheless.