God of War Collection 2 Review (PS3)

Two PSP classics get updated for the PS3

Kratos, Kratos. Do we really love him, or just love his adventures? The violence and bloodshed is great on an epic scale, but Kratos himself has always seemed like an annoying shouty emo misery to me. Coated in a film of ash (from the burned bodies of dead relatives, no less) nearly every Kratos adventure has revolved around his anger at being a tool for the gods, something he himself set in motion on a grand scale way back in the original God of War. After the fun trip through nostalgia that was GoW Collection, bringing together the first two PS2 titles for the PS3, Ready at Dawn have turned their attention to the two PSP spinoffs, namely Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. Both titles have been scrubbed up, repolished in HD (and 3D of you are rich and flash), had some trophies dangled across their torsos and their control schemes tweaked. So what we have is a collision of two mythical, action heavy romps through sectors of ancient mythology, drawing mainly from Greece, but adding in nuances of other cultures as well to keep the bodycount high and varied, and continually pepper the action with massive boss fights.God of War Collection 2 It’s pretty easy to review the two titles together – both have had the lower-res PSP polygons sharpened up, and some semblance of tweaking has been done to make the titles get closer to the beauty of current PS3 titles, but make no mistake, there’s a few pointers here and there to their origins. Enemy counts are considerably lower, many of the buildings and backdrops are a bit washed out, and the overall feel is a bit lower scale, especially after the enormity of the final part of the original trilogy. However, there is an edge to Ghost of Sparta that Chains seems to lack, and of the two, it certainly shines a good bit brighter. Sound quality isn’t bad, and despite an annoying Dolby glitch I experienced in Ghost, the voice acting is consistent. God of War Collection 2So, onto the gameplay, and to be fair, it’s pretty good. Classic GoW combat rules here, with simple button controls transposing into a myriad of combos and unlockable moves, keeping Kratos as badass as ever. However, when comparing to the original PSP versions, one thing makes the biggest difference of all – the reintroduction of the right stick for dodging. Man, you miss it on the handheld, and thankfully it’s been reinstated here, which really makes life a bit easier in some of the boss fights later on in the games. And yes, the boss fights still seem pretty epic, even if the best ideas have been recycled from the other titles. Weapons are one area that seems somewhat lacklustre – both games feature the standard Blades of Chaos plus one more – a gauntlet (Gauntlet of Zeus) in Chains and a spear (Arms of Sparta) in Ghost. The Gauntlet of Zeus is pretty good, and the Arms add a different battle style, but to be honest, both just aren’t enough to add any real spice. Magic attacks are also trickled through to add a further flair, although in truth, they aren’t really any good.

what we have is still two solid GoW experiences that would have been missed by a large number of gamers

One more thing – both titles are a little smaller than their bigger console brothers, although the wise combining of the two creates two adventures that should keep most gamers busy for a good 15 hours. Both tales are interesting too – Chains tells a prequel story to the major trilogy, set during Kratos’ days of serving the Gods beofre the original title, and Chains telling a great tale set between GoW 1 and 2. The collection as a whole do a great job of filling in some backstory and more of the important events of Kratos life (You’ll find out how he gets the eye scar, for example), although they do still feel a little less epic somehow.God of War Collection 2 And that’s probably the major gripe, which I accept as being a touch unfair – after the truly mental cinematic experience of GoW 3, both these titles just don’t feel so grand. I appreciate that the limits of the PSP are to blame, but boss fights are a bit smaller, enemy numbers fewer, and generally the plots a bit more watery. It’s fun, sure, but the lesser weapons and skills, coupled with the smaller backdrops just don’t quite cut it. However, forcing yourself to look past the comparisons, what we have is still two solid GoW experiences that would have been missed by a large number of gamers, and that’s a good thing – if you like the tales, then these will fill in a load of holes for you. You’ll still batter hordes of enemies, tearing off heads and showering blood over the scenery, you’ll still find the ubiquitous hidden sex games, and you’ll still unlock weapons and magic to help you fulfil your bloodlust. Ghost is certainly the better of the two (being the last GoW game released, that’s no surprise), and considering the price, there’s little reason most gamers shouldn’t have a good think about a purchase.

The Good: Two decent action combat games; HD tuning and trophies add some shine; solid combat mechanics return to the fold; Kratos still has his moments of epicness
The Bad: Not visually fantastic, mainly due to low texture quality; feels like two smaller rip offs of the true Kratos adventures; Chains of Olympus has really had little love, visually and technically


God of War Collection 2 God of War Collection 2 God of War Collection 2 


Bronze Y AwardBronze Y Award
3.5 3.5 / 5

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