Karol Krizka

I have finally got my hands on a God of War demo disk for the PSP, and I found it quite a good game but I think it was over hyped too much. The game itself resembled the game 300: March to Glory, meaning that you only go around and sensesly slash as many enemies as you can, there is no other point to it. Of course, this is just my impression of the demo and many more features might be added to the final full version. Also the graphics are stunningly amazing, and I would rate them as a solid 10/10. They just go to show the amazing capabilities of the PSP, how it can render scenarios that can be compared to many PC games or PS2 games. I hope that other new games will start using the same rendering engine. I have taken a couple of screenshots using the Custom Firmware Extender, and I am posting them in this review to show of the great graphics.

The demo starts on top of a guard tower of a city that is under assault from the sea. Your barbarian character is trying to fend of tens of attacking soldiers with just his two chains. The moves that he can perform range from simple slashing to grabbing them and ripping them apart. That is quite gruesome in the game, as the graphics allow for great detail and a lot of gushing blood. My favorite move has to be using the chains to launch the enemy into the air and slam him hard against the pavement. After all have been eliminated, you have to use the ballista to launch a flaming arrow at the attacking ship. This is quite simple, and only takes a few seconds.

Then you fall through the floor into the gate house, where you are greeted, you guessed it, but more enemy soldiers. Again you have to use your chains to kill the enemy, until there are no more. Then an attacking troll will try to crush you with a big pillar, which you have to combat by pressing the O button as fast as you can. Luckily you do not have to kill this monster, as he is quickly eaten by an even a huger wyvern, which is the monster that you have to fight. This is considered a “boss” in the game, and he is not too hard to destroy. All you have to do is jump to the side, and slam your chains at him as fast as possible. Make sure to look out for its fire breath and jaws, as they can cause a lot of damage. You finally defeat him by breaking a pillar (the same pillar that the troll used) over the monster’s head. The monster might not be too hard to defeat, but he is not too easy. This makes for an enjoyable experience, because you will not get frustrated if you fail over and over again, as you could get with the bosses in the game 300.

The rest of the game is spend slamming and slashing at the hundreds of enemy soldiers, and does become quite repetitive over time. That is why I hope the full version will have more features, because otherwise it will get quite boring soon. It is only interrupted by a few mini-tasks, where you have to push something by holding the O button. Also since the game is quite linear, you can push the objects in only one direction: forwards. Also it is missing some type of a leveling system, so you do not feel like that you are progressing. This removes any kind of a incentive for you to kill more of the enemy.