Publisher: SCEA

Developer: Ready at Dawn

Release Date: 9/13/2011

Available Exclusively On

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God of War is one of the best action-adventure games ever made. It pioneered everything we see in the genre today, and there are dozens of copycats. God of War helped pave the way for cinematic gameplay and pretty much made quick-time events an everyday thing in games. God of War also has one of the best combat systems ever created, as well as memorable mythology and one of the most recognized characters to date. Origins Collection puts two of the PSP’s best titles on one Blu-ray disc. These are remastered in 1080p HD and look great. While each has its own issues, this is well worth a purchase for any God of War fan.

Chains of Olympus

This was the first-ever portable God of War game, and it blew everyone’s expectations out of the water. Not only for the game itself but also for the PSP. No one knew the system could pull off this great technical feat. You can read my review on Olympus for the PSP itself and a more in-depth look, but after playing it again on the PS3, I noticed that, compared to Ghost of Sparta, it doesn’t stack up. Even after playing God of War III, I notice a lot of things that annoy me in Olympus.

Firstly, the game lacks the huge epic set pieces of the console games, as well as a lack of bosses. Sure, there are a few memorable moments in Olympus, but there are only three boss fights, and they aren’t that amazing. The first boss feels pretty boring compared to other first bosses in the series, and the locales are pretty generic for a God of War game. Olympus stuck to the basics of God of War and kind of played it safe. There are some interesting magic items, like being able to reflect projectiles and Efreet. The combat system is almost exactly like the first game, which isn’t a bad thing, but longtime fans will be disappointed about this.

Secondly, the game is super short. You can beat it in about 4 hours, which is two long sit-downs. The story isn’t as detailed or in-depth as other games in the series. Kratos is just trying to find his daughter Calliope while still seeking revenge on the gods. Overall, Chains of Olympus is a warm-up for the more epic Ghost of Sparta.

Ghost of Sparta

This is more like it. More bosses, more memorable moments, and completely different locales. There’s even a whole new gameplay element here, which is Thera’s Bane. Like in God of War III, you have a red meter that sets your blades on fire for extra damage and makes you invincible to some attacks. Right from the start, the game feels like a better, heavier God of War game than Olympus. Olympus started off kind of weak, but Sparta throws you right into the water (literally) with a pretty epic boss fight against a Scylla. The game has more puzzles, and the boss fights are pretty epic. The final boss against the God of Death, Thanatos, is pretty epic because you fight with a certain someone.

The story is even more memorable because you are searching for your brother Deimos while still seeking revenge on the gods. There are some memorable moments here that top even some of the console games in the series, like giving King Midas a beatdown. The new magic items, however, aren’t as interesting as I had hoped this time around. Boreas’ Wind freezes enemies, but I rarely use it. The Eye of Atlantis felt kind of weak and didn’t do as much damage as hoped, even when fully leveled up.

Overall, Ghost of Sparta is much better, with memorable moments involving more enemies, longer gameplay (about 6 hours), and more bosses. The fight system is tweaked to feel different from Olympus. The game even looks better because Sony finally unlocked the full 333 MHz of the PSP processor, so Ready at Dawn was able to push the system to its full limits. Ghost of Sparta is a memorable God of War game and will probably become a fan favorite.

Overall, the entire collection is excellent and well put together. I was disappointed in not seeing any extra features exclusive to this collection, but each game has a Challenge of the Gods that will keep fans busy for a while. With full trophy support for each game, you are bound to have a couple dozen hours of fun here.