God Of War: Ghost of Sparta – Review

Battled a Kraken, battled Sylla, battled numerous gods, battled mythical people of yore, what does the life of Kratos have in store?

Story: Saved by the god Ares by pledging his life of servitude, Kratos ends up killing his own family accidently, promising to avenge their deaths.  He asks the other gods how to redeem himself and rid his dreams of the nightmares that still haunt him, the only way to do so is to kill Ares. After he does so, he still has the nightmares Athena warns him that there isn’t a way to stop them. This angers Kratos even more.  He travels to the City of Atlantis, and the Temple of Thanatos, God of Death, and finds out that his mother is imprisoned there.  She tells him that his brother, Deimos, is still alive.  Deimos was taken before Kratos’ eyes as a child by the gods. The Oracle after the Great War foretold of a scarred warrior that would destroy Olympus.  The gods were afraid, so they took Deimos in an effort to stop him, since he was full of scars.  Now it is your job to find Deimos before it’s too late!

Gameplay:  The game is a third person hack and slash.  Your weapons  are chained swords from the old games, also you can pick up magical type weapons as you progress through the game.  Your powers/weapons are leveled up (3 or 4) as you kill enemies.  You gain the power to imbue your blades with fire this time around and gain an extra fire bar. There are collectibles in the game once again.  Gorgon eyes, Minotaur horns, and now Phoenix feathers. Each will upgrade your health, fire, and magic bars.  There a lot of quick-time actions to perform during the game. The story mode is a little long, 39 parts to the story each part taking about 5-10 minutes to complete. Game took 10 hours to beat on easy.

Sounds/Graphics:  The series is known for its awesome landscape and this game does not disappoint.  Traveling from The Domain of Death, to Crete, to Atlantis, to the underwater world of Atlantis to the fiery volcanos under Atlantis Kratos traverses in the game.   All of these locations seem to be well built, though some are dimly lit and can barely see if in the sunlight.  The character actors J.C. Carson, Linda Hunt, Fred Tatasciore, and Steve Blum return and Jennifer Hale adds her voice to one.

Multiplayer: none

Overall: if you enjoyed the first 4 games in the series I believe that this will not be a bad purchase, it makes you think as well as gets you more into the life of Kratos.

Pros:

• good story
• awesome graphics

Cons:

• Lighting, and no way to turn the brightness up

Score: 9 out of 10

A copy of this game was provided for review purposes from the publisher.

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