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But Seriously.

Since it was announced through a need to Platinum God Of War III, God of War: Ghost of Sparta has been a title on my radar with a HUGE blip. It is God of War game, after all, but it is also a God of War on the PSP again. Not that the first wasn't great, but will a PSP follow up to the superstar God of War III be as good?

My fanboyism aside, from what I got to get my hands on in the Sony booth, this will be another winner for the franchise. Let me explain while trying to stay objective.

From God of War II to God of War III, there were some pretty major leaps and bounds in graphics and new gameplay features. There had to be with the system difference. Well this seems to be the case as well from Chains Of Olympus to Ghost Of Sparta. Looking at Ghost Of Sparta in comparison to the PSP's older title, you can see a vast improvement in look and style. Almost to the point that it is hard to believe that it was design and coded for the PSP. I would have thought perhaps a PSN title for the PS3.

Continuing from that, it also seems that some of the favorite new features from God of War III were kept on and what was wished for has been added into GoS. Mainly the magic attack based on the current weapon being wielded by Kratos. The armory has expanded - they have added in a spear and shield for this time around. Oh, and the stances to go along side with them.

Gameplay and graphics aside, what would this game be without the story we have all been following for the better part of a decade? Not to mention, who else is there left to kill? This title fits more along the lines of God Of War 1.5 than anything else as Kratos has yet to begin his genocide on mythology on a grand scale. On the small scale, I can confirm that Kratos has had his hand in the sinking of Atlantis and its people, since that was the demo level we got to play with.

Yea, finally fans of the franchise will get a glimpse at one of the scrapped levels from God Of War II. I know I was giddy when smashing the faces of Atlantians while solving puzzles that made perfect sense in context to the story, as it was in GoWIII and not have a puzzle for the sake of having one as experienced in previous titles.

All in all, it played exactly like all the other titles on the main console and a little less like that of the PSP. Even more so by making up for some of the missing controls on the handheld. It should be a given that this will be a day 0 purchase for me. Yea, I am planning to break into Santa Monica Studios to snag the game ala Fanboys. For those on the fence or just looking for a PSP game that pushes the limits of the system, Ghost Of Sparta. will do just that. And this was just an early demo like we saw for God Of War III last year and the full release version blew what we got then out of the water. I'm sure GoS is going to do the same.