Ghost of Sparta is the second God of War title to appear on the PSP and once again Kratos is very very angry. Instead of going to see a counsellor about his issues once again he decides to unleash his rage using his Blades of Athena and a number of other artefacts he collects from the Gods along the way in order to find his brother Deimos.
The game’s pretty much a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it so if you’ve played any of the games on the consoles or the handheld you’ll know what to expect. You can string together combos using light horizontal and heavy vertical attacks, grab enemies and even use magic such as lightning to kill your foes in an orgy of violence. Those mini games are also back which you initiate when a circle appears above a stunned enemy. The sense of satisfaction is enormous when you take down a massive monster and the graphics really are the best you’ll see on the PSP.
New moves include a fiery attack which can break an opponent’s armour and a charge attack which is lots of fun as you rugby tackle someone to the ground and pummel them in the face. Later on you also get a spear and shield which lets you pull off ranged and close attacks and the shield of course provides protection against those nasty monsters and even the elements. If you’re in a bad mood play this game and I guarantee you’ll feel better in about 10 minutes.
It’s not all bashing heads in though. There are simple puzzles to solve which usually involve pushing blocks around to reach higher levels or flicking switches. Nothing too cerebral here but it does do a good job of breaking up the action. Light and shade – something the Call of Duty franchise should take note of.
You can’t control the camera in the game but you won’t need to as it does a great job of zooming in and out to point you in the right direction or punctuate grand moments such as Kratos running up the steps on the way to Olympus. If you own a PSP and want a really great action game to play whilst you’re round the relatives this Christmas then Ghost of Sparta will definitely be the game to get. It gets an epic 9 out of 10.
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Related: God of War Chains of Olympus review, God of War 3 review, God of War Ghost of Sparta review on Youtube