God of War: Chains of Olympus has been eagerly anticipated since its teaser announcement on God of War II's manual. Chains finds itself on a system with few truly excellent titles, and although that number is slowly growing, most seem unparalleled when compared to the God of War franchise. Even similar titles do not have the sheer level of quality and intuitiveness this series is known for. Chains of Olympus follows in its big brother's footsteps well, albeit a bit more simplistically. Essentially, the game is an extremely simplified version of God of War, with less options, less puzzles, less bosses, but just as much gore and entertainment.

Chains of Olympus' story takes place before the original God of War, with Kratos still working for the gods, performing their bidding. Merely a general, Kratos finds himself in a moral dilemma and must decide to abide by the gods rules or choose his own course. Fighting through Attica, some caves, and eventually Hades, nearly everything one might expect from a God of War game is here, but to a lesser degree. Obviously, any fan of the series already knows Krato's decision, but Chains allows players to see exactly how the falling out occurred. Still, the story is a little barebones, but this shortcoming isn't that huge of a problem because the focus of the series has always been about gameplay above all else.

The combat is just as visceral as ever.

Chains may be one of the best examples of what a successful control scheme should be like on the PSP. The biggest difference between the console and handheld controls is in Krato's attack evasion. Now players must use both trigger buttons and the analog stick to roll. Though it is not nearly as intuitive as using the dual analogs of the PS2, after the initial learning curve it works quite well. Other controls remain relatively unchanged and the attacks perform exactly as expected. Kratos is in command of a light and heavy attack, along with some simplistic combos. The combat controls exactly as a God of War game should and as a PSP title, that is truly an incredible feat.

While there is one incredibly cool and useful additional weapon, the Gauntlet of Zeus, which is essentially a large hand that Kratos uses to put down enemies, the weapon and upgrade system is one of many areas that feels slim on the PSP. After the console versions' varied weaponry and upgrades, it's strange to have so little to attack with. There is also magic here, with players using red orbs players to upgrade said attacks, but these abilities and Kratos' health seem too easy to upgrade thanks to obvious and simple to find treasure chests scattered throughout the levels. This makes Chains the easiest God of War as a result.

Another one of the biggest problems with the game is its length. Veteran players will finish the game in about seven hours. However, due to the stripped-down nature of many facets of the game, that time seems even shorter. Chains also feels more linear than earlier games in the series. There are a few branching paths leading to secret items, but besides that, there is pretty much one clear line to follow. This fairly simplistic design makes the experience a bit less interesting than its predecessors. The near-complete lack of solid puzzles included in Chains also adds to the lack of length. God of War has always been about combat and Kratos' general ass-kicking ability, but with a true lack of puzzles, the fighting takes center stage. And although that alone is definitely entertaining, in the end, there is just not enough game to be found here.

Graphically, Chains of Olympus looks incredible. The frame rate stays steady no matter what is going on, and the character animations always remain smooth and fluid. Although the levels are missing that same expansive feel of the console versions, the game still features fairly ambitious graphics for a PSP game, especially one with an extensive amount of action on screen at any given time. Most importantly, levels render instantly with little in the way of the long load times that plague the system. These factors go a long way in making this one of the smoothest and best looking PSP games to date. The biggest problem, on the other hand, may be that Kratos just looks tiny. Of course he's on a smaller screen, but from a proportional perspective, he seems to be lacking some of the bulk he had in other games. Nonetheless, this truly is a great looking game, and easily one of the best on the platform.

Chains of Olympus is hands down one of the best looking PSP games.

The game's crowning achievement lies in its unbelievable sound design. God of War is renowned for having good voice acting and great music, but Chain of Olympus pushes that quality to another level. The original score is sweeping and brings players into the game instantaneously, and the voice acting is equally superb. Even the ambient background noises are great, and to pack so much audio fidelity into a PSP game is a triumph. This is a game that absolutely requires headphones so that players can fully appreciate the true excellence of the audio presentation.

The God of War franchise has a high pedigree as one of the most polished series on the PS2, so it's not unexpected that Chains of Olympus would be one of the best looking, sounding, and simply fun games ever presented on the PSP console. The game's length is an important issue, and although there are some unlockables along with additional difficulty settings, there is just not enough here. Despite that Chains of Olympus is not God of War III, it still remains an entertaining, if short, entry into Sony's vaunted franchise.