Kratos strikes back in what can be best described as a power packed handheld version of one of the most successful franchises and the fears of lost in transition have finally been put to rest. This isn’t a shoddy Big Brother translation like Portable Ops. This is the big brother in his defining moment of glory before GOW III hits the mighty PS3 that is.
The game is a prequel to all of the God of War series that have appeared. It traces the origins of Kratos and his service to the Gods who reside in the Mighty Mount Olympus. The game starts with the Gates of Hades and covers a huge span of authentic places from Greek mythology and is presumed to end at the gates of Tartarus the darkest depths of the underworld where Zeus freed six of his uncles the Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Giants who were to wield some of the most powerful and known weapons in Greek Mythology well.
For Zeus, the Cyclopes forged thunder and lightning, which would become his weapons of choice.
To Hades, the Cyclopes proffered the helmet of darkness, a magical hood that makes its wearer invisible.
For Poseidon, they forged a trident, which would become emblematic of the future god of the sea.
I presume that our beloved Kratos will be the one freeing the six uncles of Zeus, thus aiding the gods win the war that might lead to their demise.
The gameplay is fast, furious and filled with rage. Fans of the series will be pleased to find that Ready at Dawn has left no stone unturned in bringing the joys and sadistic amounts of hack and slash in this handheld version. All throughout the 15 minute demo the action never seemed to slow down. It just kept on increasing with a significant amount of fluidity in the gameplay variety.
All the elements from the series have found near perfect ports, the combos, the high quality cut-scenes, the fabulous visuals, the quick time events, the gargantuan monsters the works in a nutshell. Nowhere across did the “portable” feeling strike me as it was quite evident with other prominent ports. This is the PSP’s best foot forward besides Syphon Filter that has seen a miraculous rebirth on the platform.
One interesting aspect of the game is that the developers have managed to add extra flavor to a sumptuous feast, the powers that Kratos gets in the course of the game are situational. They do not appear as bouts of random generated segments as present in quite a number of games.
The only complaint I would like to carry forward is that the possibility of a PS2 port appearing in the near future, damn I feel like a retard for holding on so long and finally buying the game and then getting to know a PS2 port is coming out in a few months with souped up everything.
Ready at Dawn seems more than ready to take this one to delirious heights. Check it out when this title hits the shelves in March 08.
–Neelesh Mukherjee