God of War: Chains of Olympus review

Fun as it is, though, just slicing and ripping through everything over and over would get boring, and so Kratos will amass a small arsenal of magical attacks over the course of his adventure. There are three in all (plus a magically reflective shield), with the most impressive one being a giant red Efreet that leaps out of Kratos and pounds the ground with its fiery fists. There's also a formidable new weapon to complement the Blades: the Gauntlet of Zeus, a comically oversized metal fist apparently inspired by Hellboy. As usual, every last one of these items can be powered up using red orbs, which Kratos gets constantly from smashing enemies and random objects.

Finally, there are the environmental puzzles, which aren't really up to par with the devious sequences from earlier games. They're big and pretty, sure, but they tend to either have obvious solutions or - in a couple of cases - be so obtuse that you'll spend hours just trying to figure out how to get out of one stupid room. Like always, though, every one of the puzzles can be solved by carefully observing your surroundings and the things in them; explore every nook and cranny and experiment with every movable object, and you'll figure it out eventually.

Despite its ability to do unprecedented things on the PSP, Chains of Olympus has a few nagging flaws, not the least of which are the unskippable cutscenes. They bear repeating, because although we like watching the story unfold, we really don't need to see the same scenes play out again every time we're unlucky enough todie before the next checkpoint.

Then there's Kratos' rolling dodge, which - in the absence of a second analog stick - is performed by holding down the shoulder buttons and flicking the analog nub. It beats the hell out of trying to work a 3D camera on the PSP, but it's still a littleawkward. Also, Chains is short for a GoW title, taking us about six and a half hours to complete on normal difficulty. True, the unlockable difficulty levels, challenge modes and goofy bonus costumes give it more longevity than that, but another level or two wouldn't have hurt.

That said, Chains is still an impressive piece of work. If we haven't made it clear by now, this is one of the best-looking handheld games ever made, and the fact that it can stand toe-to-toe with two of the most technically impressive PS2 games is no small accomplishment. More than that, though, this is nothing less than a full-fledged entry in the God of War series, and anyone who wants to get to know Kratos a little better (or just stomp another army of monsters) before God of War III eventually hits should play it.