<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Also available on: N/A Developer: Ready at Dawn Studios, Sony Santa Monica Studio Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: Action Adventure There&amp;#039;s never a dull moment when Kratos is around. If video gaming&amp;#039;s favourite anti-hero isn&amp;#039;t beating one of the pantheon into a bloody pulp, he&amp;#039;s tearing out the entrails of a mythological beast. The God Of War saga is a brutal affair fuelled by raw testosterone, but there&amp;#039;s always been more on offer than cheap thrills. Previous entries in the series helped shape the hack &amp;#039;n&amp;#039; slash genre, delivering in-game environments with breathtaking scope and a tragic plotline worthy of the big screen. Replicating these franchise hallmarks on comparatively modest hardware is a big challenge for the latest addition to the fold - PSP offering God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta. Fortunately, the developers haven&amp;#039;t let the platform&amp;#039;s limitations prevent it from being an adventure of epic proportions. Earlier this year, Sony brought the God Of War trilogy to end with the series&amp;#039; PS3 debut. With Kratos&amp;#039;s second PSP outing, the studio has delved into uncharted territory, shedding light on an earlier chapter of the protagonist&amp;#039;s life. Bridging the gap between the PS2 original and its sequel, the storyline sees the Spartan warrior searching for his long-lost brother Deimos, who was stolen away as a child and imprisoned in the Underworld. Like the other chapters, it&amp;#039;s a tale laced with deception and revenge with plenty of twists in its tail. While the cynics might claim that a prequel is superfluous to the overall plot, it does flesh out the backstory somewhat and serve to remind us there&amp;#039;s more to our main character than meets the eye. Skillfully-crafted gameplay sequences and cutscenes intertwine to bring the story to life. Like its home console brethren, Ghost Of Sparta isn&amp;#039;t short on awe-inspiring backdrops, striking creature design and fluid animation. Pulling off these aesthetics on the PSP is arguably the game&amp;#039;s greatest achievement. It may not be quite on par with the PS3&amp;#039;s God Of War III, but it&amp;#039;s almost indistinguishable from the PS2 titles, despite the inevitable downscaling. Shrewd camera work gets the best out of each scene, panning across the grand vistas of ancient Greece or zooming in to highlight a character&amp;#039;s facial expression at the opportune moment. The battle sequences push the hardware to its limit. It&amp;#039;s difficult to recall a PSP offering that supports so many sprites on screen without so much as a framerate stutter, yet these epic encounters will also have you cursing the screen size when you lose Kratos in the chaotic throng. Ghost Of Sparta never strays far from the series&amp;#039; traditions. A few rudimentary puzzles provide a welcome change of pace from the thumb-blistering carnage, but the emphasis remains on combat. In a similar fashion to its visual replication of its home console counterparts, the game crams all of the complexity and finesse of the combat system into this handheld package. As usual, there&amp;#039;s a selection of melee weapons - which prove just as useful for negotiating environmental obstacles as they do for decapitating hapless foes - and a range of special abilities to wield. Combo attacks are intuitive and the general controls feel responsive and fluid, although the screen size becomes an issue once again when precision-blocking is required. Furthermore, some defensive manoeuvres are reliant on rapid hammering of the shoulder buttons. This is all well and good on the PS3 controller, but it feels cumbersome here. Nevertheless, these are minor gripes that hardly sour the overall experience. It may be a technological marvel, but what does it bring to the God Of War series as a whole? There are a handful of new attacks, such as the ability to pummel enemies to the ground and improved airborne assault, while additional weapons like the Spartan spear and shield differential the arsenal just enough from the previous games. Magical abilities take more of a backseat, most likely to ensure that hand-to-hand combat remains the focal point. Elsewhere, boss battles borrow heavily from their predecessors. Whether you are taking on a mythological figure or a screen-filling behemoth, the encounter invariably ends in with quick time event steeped in familiarity. However, the showdown with the final boss is memorable enough to warrant inclusion in any list of God Of War standout moments.  Overall, God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta is a worthy entry in a classic series, and a much-needed addition to the PSP&amp;#039;s roster. It&amp;#039;s a significant achievement from a technological standpoint, serving as an effective showcase for the handheld system&amp;#039;s capabilities. The developers should also be commended for recreating an award-winning formula using diminutive hardware. However, this feels like a game that is almost afraid to innovate. It clings to tradition so tightly that it almost lacks an identity of its own. Still, there are worse foundations than the God Of War blueprint, so if you&amp;#039;re a fan of the series or a newcomer to it, this is an essential purchase.  &amp;gt; What do you think of the game? Share your views "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review/a286729/god-of-war-ghost-of-sparta-psp/>