Published by: Sony Computer Entertainment Developed by: Ready At Dawn Studios Release Date: March 4, 2008 (US) Genre: Action (Beat 'em Up) Review Written #3 Review Published #2 At first when I got this game, I thought this was going to be a God of War rehash with shoddy graphics. Just playing the first level impressed me utilizing every bit of the PSP’s hardware to display such clarity. I have never played any of the previous God of War games so playing a prequel to those makes more sense to me. (Sorry, I don’t like playing George Lucas type storylines where they put out Episodes 4-6 first, then do 1-3 later, although Star Wars is awesome. However, watching Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King first, and then watching The Fellowship would not make sense.) I like the Greek mythology references since it reminds me of The Odyssey and Oedipus the King. The gameplay reminds me most of Heavenly Sword, but I know God of War came first. Even the boss finishes are pretty much the same, and if you fail to pull off the combo on the screen, you have to drain the boss’s health down and do it again. After each boss, you gain a godly skill (acquired from that particular boss) that uses Magic, or MP. Sometimes I would just spam it over and over just to see the sweet animation of awesome-ness. I find the difficulty rather hard, even on Easy. I find myself lacking enough health or a way to replenish my health from battle to battle, since some of the battles are never ending; you have to move onto the next section quickly without wasting so much time on killing the same guys climbing up ladders over and over again. The gap between save points is a lot. If you are a casual gamer, be sure to have a good amount of spare time to be able to save from point to point. It took me awhile to figure out that you have to run up to him on the right when he is knocked out to initiate the finishing sequence. The tutorial or help hints aren’t that entirely helpful if they don’t show up when you are stuck. It took me five tries for the help hint "dodging to get through the closing door" hint to show up. Repeatedly firing off the giant fire-crossbows is entertaining by itself. Presentation: 9.5 The menus are done very nicely, adding the Greek myth feel to it. What else are we supposed to put for Presentation that doesn't pertain to Graphics? Graphics: 9.5 Some of the best graphics I have ever seen on a PSP. The blood is the only thing that gets to me. I feel like I'm playing Mortal Kombat 4 with blood that diffuses with the air (or like someone is bleeding underwater). No blood on the floor, or the walls, or the ceiling. The bodies fly, but not in 50 pieces...no Conan style decapitation... It's just not... Ninja Gaiden II style blood. sigh... -0.5 points just for that. Sound: 9.5 The sound is epic, but I’m sure it would sound much better on an entertainment system or $250 earbuds. I usually don't play with the sound on. The game is still good without it. Some games DEPEND on sound to make it a decent game. This game doesn't really need it to be good. Gameplay: 10.0 Hack and slash at its finest. When I want to do a particular skill, it actually does it! The controls are pretty similar to Heavenly Sword although I still have a few buttons that say ????. Lasting Appeal: 8.5 I don’t even have the attention span to play past the first few levels let alone play it all over again. I guess this would only apply to the people who are hardcore God of War fans. Total Score: 47/50 Average: 9.4/10 Overall: 9.5/10 (not an average) Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) (again not an average, the whole is not the sum of its parts) Final Comments: The game is well designed but it just doesn't appeal to me, despite the good scoring. Edit: I just figured out what the Rating part is going to be. It is going to be my personal evaluation. (no half stars) The Overall is going to be the average rounded to the nearest half. I also rescored it as I felt the blood aspect just wasn't up to par with today's games.
I preferred the first one on the PS2 over the second one. The first is more aggressive and fluid. Cool review, man. And Vince, it's the second one he wrote.
I'll add more info if: 1. my PSP doesn't die between saves. 2. if I don't die either. 3. if I have a long enough attention span to make it to the next one. usually, I'm in the red when I start a boss battle so I'm just running around trying not to get hit. (where's save point? ahh goddammit why is there a boss already?) I'll stick to RPGs for my reviews. beat 'em ups are not my style.
I dislike you insanecrazy07... just kidding. I was going to review this myself, so look out for it. Good first review, but you need to expound on some off the better/bad parts of the game as you will see in my review. Question: how does your psp die between saves? ??? EDIT: i apologize, i thought this was your first review, turns out its the second...
it's good to have more than one person review the same game to see any difference in opinion. and i was exaggerating on how spaced apart the savepoints are. I'm used to RPGs where savepoints are almost always just before a boss, so if you die, you don't have to do the ENTIRE level all over again. I wish there was at least 2 or 3 different reviews for one game so people can get an overall idea of what the game is like without biased angles. I haven't played a whole lot of the game since I have an extremely short attention span. I get bored if the next savepoint isn't near. I will add more good/bad points if I ever bother to get past a boss I can't beat. (the second one. lol)
the second boss you are stuck on: guard most of the time, then counter, then guard again, really simple process. don't try to dodge unless he lunges towards you, and jump over the fire.
i can't believe that this game was released for the psp. i played the original one for ps2 and what ended up happening was a broken ps2 controller. the analog stick [left stick] became loose or that when you play a game it would not respond [like in metal gear i maybe pushing up and it'll walk or something like that instead of running]. knowing that the psp's analog stick is prone to breaking, i was pretty shock about it when it was announced.
