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What starts out as a pretty slow, actually not so funny take on God of War Chains of Olympus, turns to typical gold after Yahtzee seems to find his stride and knocks it out of the park again and again... as usual.
God of War: Chains of Olympus is a stunning and portable prequel to the much touted God of War franchise. Taking place ten years before the original God of War, Kratos is delivered to gamers in a title that can be played on the go. While the story-driven gameplay and over-the-top action of previous God of War games made them nearly instant classics, developers Ready at Dawn had to try and encapsulate all of that screen-filling glory on a 4-inch LCD without losing any of the pizazz.
Ready at Dawn certainly achieved their goals, but they didn't do so without a bit of stumbling.
demo
I've been playing (replaying parts) of God of War: Chains of Olympus on the Playstation Portable for a week or so now and so far it strikes me as one of the best games to hit the system to date. I'm about five hours in, nearing the end of the game, I believe, and there's really not much to complain about. Sure, it's God of War on a PSP, but what more would you expect? Yes, a review is coming Monday.
If you didn't get the free Demo on UMD when it came out, you can still grab it directly over on the Playstation Store. I point this out because the downloadable demo isn't exactly easy to find and some of you may not have realized it's out there.
God of War: Chains of Olympus Demo [PS Story, thanks Brad]
god of war: chains of olympus
If you want to play God of War: Chains of Olympus, you're going to have to do it on a PSP, because a PlayStation 2 port ain't happenin'. That's what Ready At Dawn says, smashing rumors that it would follow the PSP-to-PS2 precedent set by games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Silent Hill Origins. Seriously, get a PSP already!
The RAD team also says that after a short, post game launching break, they'll be working on new projects that aren't for the PSP, with Chains of Olympus being their "last PSP game." What's next? "Other projects and other ideas on other consoles" is all they'll say. Who wants to make some guesses?
Two Rumors, One Stone [Ready At Dawn]
god of war
When SCEA released God of War II last year, the game's instruction manual teased the soon to be released PSP entry, God of War: Chains of Olympus. Now it's the PSP's turn to toy with your emotions, as the manual for the on-the-go Kratos quest fires back with a tease of the PlayStation 3 chapter. IGN has photographic evidence of the PS3 sequel teaser ad which opts not to put a release window on the thing, merely announcing that it's "coming soon."
Considering rumors are pointing to a 2009 ship date for God of War III and Sony has a habit of showing these games a year (or more) in advance, we'd say that if you want a Kratos fix in 2008, it's probably going to be on UMD.
God of War III Ad [IGN]
That hasty Photoshop job of the God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP? Not official. But this one is and it looks far more gorgeous than the "Deep Red" PSP that Japanese gamers got. As we said earlier, the God of War Entertainment Pack comes with a bloody good PSP color swap, a copy of Chains of Olympus, a UMD with Judd Apatow's comedy blockbuster Superbad and a voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the PlayStation Store, free. Not a bad deal (and one that may make me bite, as I'm in the market for everything offered).
The bundle ships, as we said earlier, in June for $199.99. For a look at the reverse side, with a lovely Kratos silkscreen, keep on clickin'.
In addition to Metal Gear Solid 4, Sony will bundle another hit with one of its platforms, offering a special red God of War themed PlayStation Portable package in June. The special edition edition PSP will follow in the tradition of last year's Star Wars Battlefront bundle and feature a rendering of Kratos emblazoned on the back side of the device.
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According to MetaCritic, the soon to be released God of War: Chains of Olympus is already garnering high enough review scores to take the top PSP game spot surpassing long time record holder, Lumines. The current ranking is based on seven reviews and currently is averaging 94 out of 100. Of course this could change once more review scores are added to the average, but for now, Kratos is on top before he even hits the store shelves. From everything I have seen and played of this game, it well deserves its scores and will probably go on to become a PSP system seller for many.
[Thanks, Cadaverine]
Here's something you should've seen coming a mile away—a nipple-filled threesome mini-game in Ready At Dawn's PSP title God of War: Chains of Olympus. Outside of a polygonal pair of boobs, don't expect much more than a suggestive candle-as-phallus bobbing about on a crate, occasionally ejaculating hot wax. Suffice it to say, it's not safe for work, if only for the banging and moaning sounds, but mostly for the digital ta-tas.
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The arrival of Sony Computer Entertainment's God of War franchise on the PSP this coming March will finally give fans of the handheld an opportunity to experience sex mini-games and excessive amounts of gore on the go. To keep hype going through the holidays, SCEA has handed out a new batch of screens of God of War: Chains of Olympus, all of which are in our gallery below. They may not have the polished allure of the original set of screens release many moons ago, but developer Ready At Dawn look to do portable justice to Kratos and whomever he'll be slicing from skull to crotch.
I just played through the short, but rather sweet God of War Chains of Olympus demo being shipped out to fans of the game and the PSP.
The Battle of Attica gives you a taste of what to expect from the game when the full version hits the portable next year. And from what I saw, it looks like a game that mostly lives up to the God of War name. The pacing of the game remains frenetic, but not so over the top as to be exhausting.
This looks like it's going to be one hell of a PSP game, though I wonder if the franchise will lose any of its power on a small screen, like watching the movie 300 on a television instead of in a theater.
Gamespot writes today that Ready At Dawn's original Kratos adventure for the PlayStation Portable, in which it's expected he'll stab thousands of things and hopefully engage in a portable threesome, along with some plot-driving something-or-other, is still quite some time off. March 4, 2008 will finally bring about the next chapter in the God of War series with God of War: Chains of Olympus. Despite not having an official date set in stone, it was largely assumed to hit before the end of the year. Seems many asses were made based on that.
PSP owners will have to make do with the UMD demo shipping later this month. More details on that tasty little bonus are available at Gamespot.
Chains of Olympus breaking March 4 [Gamespot]
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While we all wait to get our hands on the demo of the upcoming PSP-version of God of War, the dev team are teasing us with a bit of concept art, a screen shot and tales of development. First up we hear from game director and fellow ABBA fan (you know its gotta be true) Ru Weerasuriya.
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