Now this is the second game in the series to be released on the PSP, preceded by God of War: Chains of Olympus, a game which served as a prequel to the other five titles. I actually liked this game a lot more than Chains of Olympus, the more you know about Kratos and his dark past, the more you love this game series. Loosely based on Greek Mythology, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is chronologically the fourth chapter in the series, and forms the part of a saga in which vengeance is the central theme to the game. The game focuses more on protagonist Kratos, now the new God of War, still haunted by the visions of his dark past, in which the gods continue to refuse to remove them from his mind. In this game Kratos visits the long lost city of Atlantis, which is ruled by the God of the Seas, Poseidon.
Plot. After defeating Ares, Kratos has become the new God of War. But shunned by his fellow gods who refused to remove the nightmares of his past, goes to explore the lost city of Temple of Poseidon in the lost city of Atlantis - against Athena's advice - to learn more of his past. Despite Poseidon's best efforts to stop him, even by sending the monster Scylla, Kratos manages to enter the temple. There he encounters his ailing mother, who tells him who his father is and the truth about his younger brother Deimos. This game also tells the flashbacks of Kratos childhood and his brother Deimos, and also how an oracle predicted the destruction of Olympus would come by the hands of a marked warrior.
The red, blue, and green orbs return as well. The more red orbs, you can upgrade your weapons and strengthen abilities and practical powers later on. Blue orbs refill the magic meter and green orbs refill the life meter. You can also raise health and magic with the Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers. The Minotaur Horns also reappear (from God of War III) and upgrade the Fire meter for Thera's Bane. These orbs and items can be found in treasure chests.
Concept. The purpose of this game is to guide Kratos throughout the Atlantis and also you can travel throughout Sparta as well as Death's Domain for a final showdown with the god of death, Thanatos. Like in every game, after beating it a challenge mode ("Challenge of the Gods": five "Challenges of Ares" and another eight "Challenges of Athena" that can be unlocked) is included. Another mode has been added ("The Temple of Zeus") and allows players to sacrifice collected red orbs (both in-game and Challenge) to unlock additional features, such as the "Challenges of Athena", costumes and bonus videos. A Combat Arena (similar to the version in God of War III) allows players to pick adversaries and adjust the level of difficulty.
Design and Development. The game's designs continue to be as incredible as in the previous installments. Dana Jan is the director of the game, and did an amazing job. Dana Jan at Comic Con 2010 stated that when development began in 2008, the goal was to make the game "bigger" than Chains of Olympus, which had apparently "pushed" the PSP to its functional limits. Jan stated that Ghost of Sparta has taken the PSP to its "absolute capacity", with one additional feature being more on-screen foes. On June 15, 2010, Sony displayed a cinematic teaser trailer narrated by Linda Hunt during their E3 2010 Press Conference.
Sound and Music. Gerard Marino and many others continued to wow fans of the series with such masterful performance with the theme songs. The themes of every battle, place, and scenarios are completely epic and majestic. Sound effects are also one of the best things I've ever heard in this game.
Voice Acting. T.C. Carson continues to be the bad ass he is as the legendary anti-hero Kratos. Fred Tatasciore and Gideon Emery were the voice actors that did the voice of various characters including Thanatos and The Last Spartan. Jennifer Hale and Erin Torpey combined their voices to voice the daughter of the god of death, Erinys. Linda Hunt continues as the game's narrator, and narration in the game's series is not the same without her.
Rantings. What bothers me of this game is that unlike previous installments there are only three weapons and three magics. I mean, Kratos had four magical powers in other games and more weapons as well. In terms of common enemies, my extreme hatred for harpies continues as well as the damn archers.
Good Aspects. I totally liked the game's graphics, it's way better than what I saw in Chains of Olympus. This game has high replay value, and also I loved the bonus costumes that are obtained if challenges are successful. I was proud to have played such an awesome game, and the God of War story continues to impress me all the time. I decided to review this game not only because God of War is my favorite series, but because it's my birthday and I'm looking forward to God of War: Ascension which was seen in E3 and comes out next year.
Overall. God of War: Ghost of Sparta can be downloaded on the PSN either on the PSP or if you want to play the Origins Collection, download it on your PS3 now. This game gets a 9 out of 10.
God Bless and Play Hard Gamers!