Finally, there we were, sitting on a blindingly white couch, staring at the goodness that is God of War: Chains of Olympus on one of Sony's massive screens. They had a PSP wired up to it, and although the image was cropped a bit on-screen, it made us want to blow up everything we play to that size. We studied the control diagram, noted that it was all very simple, and reached for the controller ... denied!
As it turns out, Sony was showing off a very early build of the game, which was extremely "fragile." So we had to sit next to Cory Barlog and watch him play through the game while we crammed our hands into our pockets and tried not to look too envious. While they claimed that it was still a bit rough, we didn't notice any problems with the gameplay, and everything looked pretty impressive.
The story takes place before the the original God of War, but they've still made the storyline as epic as you would expect it to be. They've used the same writers as the first two games, J.M. Barlog (Cory's pop) and Marianne Krawczyk, to keep the character and the story arc bound together, and not have it contradict anything that happens to Kratos in the future. So basically, more fighting and killing things with your Blades of Chaos and other tools.
These videos (below) feature the same levels and features that Sony showed us. In the first one, Kratos is defending against the invading Persian army, and you can see a massive sea battle going on in the background during the fighting. The second video involves one of those "oh crap" moments. A huge cyclops busts down a wall and starts attacking you with a club bigger than a Buick. After fighting off his initial attack, another much larger lizard-looking boss peeks in and eats the cyclops in one bite, contributing to the circle of life.
Now, you face the lizard boss and try to beat him using triggered moments that allow you to inflict massive damage (insert joke here) and keep Kratos from being pet food. While that's all they had to offer us, and even without getting to play, we're really looking forward to this PSP title. It's got the gameplay you're used to, the same cinematic score, decent-looking graphics, and you can stick it in your pocket. When you get stuck in the line at the DMV, you can unleash Kratos to your heart's content.
