Ring, ring: God of War on your cell phone

by Kevin Kelly { May 10th 2007 at 7:24PM }

Click for larger version.

Sony Online Entertainment invited us out to their Gamer Day 2007 event recently to show off all of their new and upcoming releases, and there is some pretty exciting stuff coming out of their six different development studios around the world. Strangely enough, one of the games that looked the most exciting wasn't for a next-gen console, or your PC, but rather for the tiny screen ... your cell phone.

God of War: Betrayal is easily one of the closest-to-the-real-thing games we've ever seen on a phone. The graphics won't blow you away, but they're definitely good enough for your cell, and still manage to capture the whole God of War feeling (especially the eviscerations). The controls are incredibly simple: you move your finger around in joystick fashion over the main key to control Kratos, and the middle button does everything else. You can jump, attack, use special moves, climb ladders, and splatter gore all over the screen.

It's the first in a series of promised God of War cell games. We played it on a Sony Ericsson, although we're not sure what other platforms / phones it'll make it to. Check out the gameplay video after the break, on our stellar less-than-high-def camera.

Gallery: God of War: Betrayal (mobile)

Tags: godofwar, godofwarbetrayal, SOE

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

NeverSage @ May 10th 2007 7:34PM

I predict that in the future all portable games will be played on cell phones. But today is not that day. I'm not getting this.

maylon @ May 10th 2007 7:36PM

Awesome!! God of War for the Wii!!!! Oh, sorry.

Dustin @ May 10th 2007 7:38PM

Ughh @ cell phone games.

Who honestly looks forward to ANY game on the cell phone?

I mean, it's not like I'm going to go home and pick up my cell phone for a few hours so that I can finish the latest version of Military Madness.

Kevin Kelly @ May 10th 2007 7:42PM

#3, trust me, I was in exactly the same boat as you. I hated all cell phone games, even Bejeweled. However, this God of War cell game is actually pretty awesome. The video we shot doesn't do it justice, mostly because I couldn't get it to focus right on that tiny screen.

The game is a lot of fun, and a pleasant diversion. How many times have you been stuck somewhere, and would love to kill a few minutes playing something fun? I always forget my DS, but my phone is always with me.

Hopefully, this is a good sign that cell games will keep getting better and better.

Jake @ May 10th 2007 7:43PM

It actually annoys me when a great game like God of War gets bastardized on the cellphone platform. None of what makes God of War cool can really be transfered over. It will be just a cheesy sidescroller that cashes in on the name. I don't know why I find that annoying, but I do.

kingofwale @ May 10th 2007 7:44PM

Definitely needs to port this to Wii. :)

Well, I would be too busy playing my GoW on PSP to get this. sorry.

Rubang B @ May 10th 2007 7:45PM

Kratos, meet Sonic. Sonic, meet Kratos.

CaptNink @ May 10th 2007 7:46PM

All cell phone games have been forged in the depths of hell.

Please send them back there.

Jon @ May 10th 2007 7:54PM

Looks nice. 2D side scrolling beat'em up. Hell yeah!

Dustin @ May 10th 2007 7:56PM

@4 I get your point, anything that plays like a game is better then nothing, right?

Well, I think I would just rather have a keypad on my big ugly-assed DS and carry it around all the time. In my mind games are not just an extra feature, they are the main feature and the ability to call someone is a secondary feature.

Having said that, I have just thought of the N-Gage and have determined that I am fine with my hand held not having phoning capabilities.

... and I admit to being a little biased seeing as how I doubt my phone could ever run God of War.

Kevin Kelly @ May 10th 2007 8:01PM

Dustin, I hear you ... I just wish I could always remember my DS when I hit the road. My phone definitely won't be able to play this title, but when my contract is up, if some phones have halfway decent titles on them, it'll definitely make me consider them.

k0llateral @ May 10th 2007 8:08PM

Anybody else notice the video on Youtube says Gears of War: Betrayal?

Lol @ the mistake - AND the thought of a Gears cell phone game...

sko0led @ May 10th 2007 8:21PM

There are a bunch of cool cellphone games like the real thing. DDR on my SE is a blast! Check it out at www.gamejump.com.

Kevin Kelly @ May 10th 2007 8:26PM

#12 - Doh, nice catch. I fixed it ... that's the trouble with two games with similar titles, my head sort of futzes out. Thankfully that's not an upcoming game called Halu III.

NeverSage @ May 10th 2007 9:38PM

"Well, I think I would just rather have a keypad on my big ugly-assed DS and carry it around all the time. In my mind games are not just an extra feature, they are the main feature and the ability to call someone is a secondary feature."

I agree. Imagine if the next version of the PSP had phone parts slapped onto it. Of course it'd be huge... and the battery would last 20 minutes... but at least you'd always have a PSP on you. Actually, I take my PSP and DS with me everywhere, but I'm weird like that.

Next-Gen-Gamer @ May 10th 2007 9:58PM

"Definitely needs to port this to Wii. :)"

Troll. It amazes me you haven't been banned, kow. Whether its here or on PS3Fanboy.com, you have no problem taking shots at unrelated consoles, companies, games, etc.

perfectchaos @ May 10th 2007 10:47PM

whats wrong with porting games like god of war to cell phones, especially if they turn out to actually be entertaining/enjoyable? so what if it isn't like the original...games are supposed to be fun ultimately, right? and if a game is fun then why unnecessarily hate on it?