God of War: Origins Collection

By Signalstar 10th Oct 2011 | 9,645 views 

First up is 2008’s God of War: Chains of Olympus, a prequel to the original God of War. Kratos is bound to servitude of the gods of Olympus and while waging a battle against the Persian army, Morpheus, the God of Dreams, spreads a dark force over the land. The sun god Helios has been captured, and his sister asks Kratos to save him in return for stopping the horrible visions that still haunt him. During the course of the adventure Kratos believes he can save his daughter, Calliope. Not to spoil the story, but veterans of the series should already know that things never turn out well for Kratos. The story is a low point for the game. Convoluted, non-sensical, and ultimately unimportant in the scheme of the larger storyline, Chains of Olympus’ narrative is just a vehicle to have Kratos run around and kill more stuff. At one point the game did strike an emotional chord however, when it required me, as Kratos, to perform a sadistic (even for him) act of violence in front of his daughter.

Upon its original release, Chains of Olympus wowed because it proved an authentic God of War experience was possible on the PSP. Three years and a HD port later and the game does not hold up as well. The colors look washed out and all of the visual chicanery employed to bring the game to the handheld are more apparent. Some of the earlier enemies look as though they lack faces and environments are repeated too often. There are some benefits to HD transfer: the large bosses look more impressive than they did on the PSP’s small screen and the same goes for the sense of scope. The game feels as if it were made to be played on a large television, not simply formatted to fit one.

Chains of Olympus has more technical issues than Ghost of Sparta, including screen tearing, occasional freezing and some animation glitches. Nothing game-breaking, of course, but it feels weird playing a God of War game on a console that is not a relatively smooth experience. Both titles feature strong audio design, high quality voice acting and epic musical scores.

The gameplay is what you expect. Largely combat-driven, the game occasionally breaks up the action for Kratos to do something like pull a bunch of levers or rearrange some stone pillars. I hesitate to call these sequences puzzles, because they really don't tax the player’s reasoning skills in a way some of the other entries do. Combat is fun albeit rudimentary. You have the same combination of light and heavy attacks, and are able to expand your repertoire by acquiring another weapon and magic, then in turn leveling up those attacks using orbs you collect throughout the game. The magic and alternative weapon are put to good use but this game definitely feels like the most basic of the series in terms of game design.

The controls are much better thanks to the Dualshock 3. Actions such as blocking and evading are much easier to pull off. Quick Time Events that require you to rotate the analog stick feel more natural compared to manipulating the PSP’s analog nub. It's a shame the developers didn't see it necessary to adjust the default controls for pulling off magic though, requiring you to hold a shoulder and face button at the same time. It is a hindrance the next PSP follow-up solved quite well.

Ghost of Sparta is a much stronger experience. Less than a year old, the game still feels fresh and at home on the PS3. It improves upon Chains of Olympus tremendously, although it found its way into the hands of far fewer gamers due to waning interest in PSP software. Hopefully this collection will provide sufficient incentive for GoW fans who originally skipped this title to finally check it out.

Ghost of Sparta chronicles Kratos’ quest between God of War and God of War 2 to find his long lost brother Deimos. This journey takes him from vicious battles out at sea, to the depths of Atlantis (which he sank, apparently), to the magnificent streets of Sparta, and eventually through the Domain of Death. It is an epic adventure in every sense and it is made all the more spectacular experiencing it on a home console. The environments are varied and sport rich details; one second you will be sliding down stone pillars, and not long after you will have to swing your way out of burning wreckage.

The leap between Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta charts how much Ready at Dawn grew as a development studio in the time between games. They managed to squeeze so much more out of the PSP. Not only did they enhance the combat and animation, they threw in more items to collect, including some that you can use only after you complete the game. Kratos has a new technique called the Hyperion Charge that allows him to take down smaller enemies and deliver a brutal beatdown on their heads. He also acquires Thera’s Bane, which adds firepower to his Blades of Athena and receives its own meter. The controls are much improved: using magic only requires a press of a directional button, rather than the clumsy two button set-up alluded to earlier. The button prompts were moved to the side of the screen rather than the center, which is an aesthetically pleasing change. The graphics are a far cry from what the PlayStation 3 is capable of but considering these games originated on the PSP the clarity of the visuals is remarkable.

The story this time around feels much more fleshed out and entertaining overall. You gain real insights into Kratos’ past not available elsewhere. That's not to say it adds any real depth to the character. He still largely speaks in declarative sentences beginning with “I”, and his solution to all of his problems is to either break something or kill it. Dumb character, great game. I feel I have to restate a point I made in my original review of this game: it features the best sex mini-game in the series, now in HD and optional 3D. 

God of War: Origins Collection has the same core elements of the original God of War Collection only this time featuring different, and arguably lesser, games. You get both PSP God of War titles for only $40, which was the price of both games upon their respective releases. Both games have been upgraded to display in both HD and 3D this time around and each adventure comes with its own set of trophies to unlock. It should only take 10-15 hours to complete both games but taking into account the bonus challenges and incentives to replay each title brings to the table, you can spend some quality time with this package. Exclusive to this collection is a downloadable skin and challenge arena, along with a behind-the-scenes 'making of' video. If you have not played either, or even just one of these games, I strongly recommend you pick this compilation up. Gamers that have played these titles before should ask themselves if the appeal of trophies, HD, and other add-ons justifies a repeat trip to these admittedly formulaic adventures. Even then it may be worth it just to have the entire series playable on your PlayStation 3.