God of War Origins Collection

First of all, in case you still have doubts about it: This game includes both Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta in a single Blu-Ray, no need to install anything. I've bought this collection a long time ago, but I tried (and got) both Platinum trophies first, before making a review of the games That said, let's start with the key points for this collection: *The games definitely won't last long (they're PSP games, so don't expect them to last as much as GOW III, please) *To get the platinum (any of the 2 available) you might need to clear the game at least twice *It is remastered in HD, but I've played in a 480i SD screen, no big deal at all. So, let's go through the games. *God of War: Chains of Olympus. In terms of story line, it happens BEFORE GOW I, so if you want to play like it's meant to be played, keep that in mind. Also, as in ALL and EVERY GOW game, you'll be Athena's puppet AND you'll visit the tartarus (Kratos has some issues with Hades and death, you know.) In the beginning of the game, as in every GOW, you'll learn about the controls, which, of course are slightly different then the original PS2/3 GOW games due to the lack of some buttons in the PSP layout (no big deal too), then you'll go through the levels, collect boxes for souls, health/magic upgrades... You may not take more than 6 hours to clear the game if you're hardcore in the 1st playthrough (from the 2nd playthrough on, you'll be able to use some perks, such as special skins that grant you abilities, that is, if you play in the same difficulty setting or a lower one that you've cleared the game (e.g. if you clear it in Normal mode, then you can play Normal and Easy like a god, but if you go for Hard, gotta start from scratch again) As for the trophies, well, since it's a remaster, they couldn't get creative enough to make the trophy set more challenging so there aren't any painful trophy to get, really. As for the story of the game, well, Helios was kidnapped and the sun wouldn't come up, and Morpheus was taking everything into his domains (everybody was sleeping and the usual horde of enemies was taking place), in the end, Kratos must face a tough choice: Stay with the ones he most loved and f* the world, or, leave them behind, get real mad for what he was forced to do and save the world while taking a bath of blood, like always, while slicing the wife of a god and a titan. *God of War: Ghost of Sparta. The game story happens BEFORE GOW II, however, you'll get stripped off all your weapons ("like it never happened before...", if you're familiar with the GOW series...) but yeah, we can't expect to fight like the God of War, it'd be too easy... From the 2 games, this one is my favorite because we get more things to do, and a bigger game with lots of challenges, and also, we get to visit SPARTA! (and, since it's a default in the GOW series, we get to visit some ladies there too... and when you do that, make sure you "visit" them 3 times and do it RIGHT, before leaving Sparta *hint hint*) Then, straight to the game's story: After you've become (spoiler-free) a... MIGHTY warrior in GOW I, Kratos will hear rumors about his brother, Deimos, then Kratos will, once again, run through Greece (and sink Atlantis and make Poseidon mad in the process, and even go to Thanatos' domains, which even the gods are afraid to cross...) to find out the truth, which will be shocking, revealing and pleasing to find out... Well, to prevent any more spoilers, I'll stop telling the story from here (well, it involves Athena as well, but... when it doesn't? ) and give you the background of the game: Ghost of Sparta was named after Kratos nick name (he was called Ghost of Sparta after what he did to the ones he loved the most, and that's why he's gray-ish). In the game you'll face cool bosses, find nice weapons, and you'll collect relics (YES!, relics!) that will give you powers/perks after you clear the game (after that you'll be able to use skins as well) AS for the trophies, same as Chains of Olympus... they aren't hard to get as long as you're a good player of GOW... Bottom line: Both games are real good and fun to play, and if you find this collection for cheap like I did ($20) and if you like God of War, then just buy it for your PS3... I've played both games on the PSP but I wanted even more, so I bought the PS3 edition and I am very happy with it. Like I said, the only downside of this collection is that the games won't last long and you won't have much challenges to get the Platinums

Me and my son have played this over and over great games

God of War Chains of Olympus, and God of War Ghost of Sparta were both for the PSP. Now it comes out for the PS3 in HD, in one Blu-Ray disc title called God of War: Origins Collection. Chains of Olympus you play as Kratos before the events of the first God of War. So Kratos will be still serving the gods. He's sent in to help stop a Persian invasion. The Persians are using a giant basilisk to help. Like God of War fashion, you battle it throughout parts of the level. Similar to the Hydra in GOW1. After your battle you learn that the gods are in trouble, and the world has turned dark. You go through the Sun God's temple, to Hades, and Tartarus as some of the locations. The story is not the best of the GOW's, but it's ok. You also learn a lot about the titans imprisonment in Tartarus. Some of the enemies are hard to dodge unlike in the previous games. Namely the panther type creature, and the undead with the twin swords. There seems to be a slight delay for the dodge move. You can parry in this game. Ever since GOW2 gave you the golden fleece, it's the standard for the rest of the GOW's. Zeus's gauntlet, that you collect in you weaponry, is a close range weapon that deals tons of damage. You don't get this early on unfortunatly, and it's too bad. God of War Ghost of Sparta has improved much more than Chains of Olympus. You are on a search for your brother who was also mentioned in GOW1. He was taken away, and you find out why on your journey to find him. The gods do not want Kratos to go, but of course he refuses them. You travel a lot more here than in Chains of Olympus locations. You might remember the ship level in GOW1. You start the game sailing again. A giant sea creature chases you from the ocean to even on land. Yes, another giant monster in the beginning. This one will show up a good number of times. There are many different levels here ranging from the city of Atlantis, a lava mountain, snowy areas, and even Kratos's city of Sparta. If you've played the previous GOW's, you'll realize quickly in the game why he's so desparate to save his brother. There are a lot of reasons. There are flash back events in the game that give you a little more insight each time. The story is my second favorite to GOW2 as first. The combat is improved here as well from Chains of Olympus. The dodge button responds good again. The twins sword enemies are back, and still have lightning fast attacks. So it's best to just keep them at a range and attack. In here Kratos will be able to arm himself with the Spartan spear and shield. You can throw spears here without selecting in a menu to do so. The melee range is not as good as your double blades, but it can finish enemies faster. The combos are somewhat slow as well. But if you put together different throwing attacks with a combination for close combat, it's a great weapon. The developers have learned from the mistakes of Chains of Olympus, and it shows with Ghost of Sparta. The Blu-Ray disc is a buy for Ghost of Sparta alone. Chains would just be a bonus. It's still a decent game. It's really a plus going from the small PSP screen to a bigger HD screen to play these games.

First, I have not played these games before on PSP. I just finished both games and here are my thoughts: Chains of Olympus: I was really impressed with this overall. When I thought that it started as a PSP game, I was even more impressed. This game must have been pretty hot stuff on that system. It looks good, plays well and was definitely fun. As another reviewer pointed out, the story was forgettable and I am literally having problems remembering it, even though I finished it 2 days ago. The cut-scenes are not in high-definition, and look blurry, but this is a minor concern. It was pretty easy. I was well over halfway into the game before I died for the first time. Ghost of Sparta: This game was awesome! I loved the story and it feels integral to the series. I actually felt a little ripped-off because I never got the chance to play it before. The cut-scenes are at a much higher resolution than the Chains of Olympus scenes. The gameplay is great and I really enjoyed the final battle scenes. It's hard to believe it began as a portable game. There is no question that Ghost of Sparta is the better of the two games in terms of visuals, gameplay and story. Complaints would be that both games have some unskippable cut-scenes and sometimes if you die you have to watch the entire scene again before you can get another chance in the battle. If you consider yourself a fan of the God of War franchise and Kratos, you should definitely play these games!

God of War is a series I love to follow. I have played the previous three since they first came out for the PS2 then the PS3 for the latest one. If you are looking for the fill-in-the-gaps story, this collection will do it for you. Chains of Olympus will take you through the events that happen right before God of War part one. For a port-over, the game doesn't look too bad. If you have played the first HD remake, you will notice it is about par with that one, graphics wise. It may be a touch lower. That would probably be expected since it was originally for a little hand-held PSP. The sound quality is ok. The game play is what you would expect from the series: Good old hack and slash. The story is probably the least desirable of the two. It is kind of bland. There are points here and there where it may grab your attention though. Overall, I would give Chains of Olympus an 7. Ghost of Sparta will probably interest you the most if you watched any of the extras they had from God of War part one. They have the two main story lines that really grabbed my attention while watching the extras: Kratos' mother and brother. It's like a family reunion. The story for Ghost may be one of the best out of the five console games. The graphics definitely look better than Chains. The sound is about the same as Chains though. The game play is pretty much the same as well. However, the one thing I did like was the change in weapon types. Overall, I would give Ghost of Sparta a solid 9. Both games are pretty short. Chains of Olympus was definitely the shorter of the two. I was not only able to beat Chains in two days but I think I got the Platinum trophy in two days as well. If you have a big time frame where you are free, you may be able to beat this game in one sitting. Ghost of Sparta was a little harder and longer (heehee). It may take you more time to get through. I would rate the collection, as a whole, a solid 8.

God of War Origins collection is a fun edition to the ever-expanding roster of God of War games on the PS3. These games (chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta ) were first released on the PSP and despite a few minor complaints have made a smooth transition to the big screen. Lets look at Chains of Olympus (CoO) first as it is definitely the weaker of the 2 entries. The story line here is the usual God of War tale of revenge and redemption, though it purports to be an origin story it is unsuccessful in further developing the character of Kratos and fails to add anything of real value or interest to the God of War Lore. There are some technical problems too, the fixed camera here is too tight- making the game feel claustrophobic and combat can become problematic- I must have died on a dozen occasions when an unseen enemy came charging in from somewhere off stage. When the camera does zoom out, usually for dramatic effect, it achieves little but to highlight the games shortcomings- the flat textures and plain graphics make this the least attractive god of war game I have played. The God of War games are formulaic at the best of times but CoO is linear to a fault, as you progress through a level you would be magically sealed in an area and released only when the requisite amount of opponents had been dispatched- nothing new as far as God of War goes but here it is not buffeted by the awesome set pieces, light problem solving and epic visual effects common to the series. For everything it does wrong, it does other things very well- the gameplay is addictive and the combat is surprisingly nuanced- on some occasions it takes some strategy to dispatch even the lowliest of minions. CoO gets a 3/5 On to Ghost of Sparta (GoS) firstly it looks much, much better- the character models, environments and visual effects are excellent and maybe it is just because I was coming of the lowly CoO but I would hazard to suggest these are the second strongest visuals in the series (only superseded by the amazing God of War 3). The storyline is the usual failed attempt to right the wrongs of the past, honestly I've played and completed 5 God Of War games in 2 years and can barely keep the stories straight in my memory they are just all so similar and have become this congealed mass of homogenous memory. As for the gameplay- there is much better variety, they have tightened up the controls and camera is far better. There are some amazing set pieces and the story is stronger (even though it opens on the tired cliché of a dream/vision). The larger enemies are more formidable and will require extra effort to vanquish, while the boss battles are fun. There is a little bit of problem solving and the game has a much more epic feeling than CoO, it feels like the God of War you play and love on your console. There are some minor nitpicky problems, like the inescapable and unskippable cutscenes (most annoying when they precede a tough section and you die and have to rewatch half a minute of nonsense before you can kick some ass) Other than that it is probably one of the strongest titles in the series 5/5.

Great purchase, I still play this games as they are classics now.

Bought as gift