Courtesy?MCT "God of War: Chains of Olympus" for the Sony PSP.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune

(MCT)
"GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS"
For: Sony PSP
From: Ready at Dawn Studios/Sony
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, nudity, sexual content)

There was never any real doubt that "God of War: Chains of Olympus" would be good. This is, after all, the portable debut of Sony's premier action franchise. And if developer Ready at Dawn Studios' work on "Daxter" is any indication, few studios are as capable of shrinking down Sony's prized properties as the one tasked with bringing the mighty Kratos to the small screen.

But even with those expectations in play from the outset, it remains rather shocking how impressive "Olympus" is in its finished form. Ready at Dawn didn't simply make a good interpretation of "God of War." It made the genuine article.

Reports that "Olympus" is indistinguishable from its PS2 counterparts is a bit exaggerated. The graphics feature some jagged edges not found in those games, and while the framerate is fantastically stable, it only rarely approaches the level of perfection those games could handle without breaking a sweat.

But that pretty much is it for the divergences. Aside from those ultimately insubstantial issues, "Olympus" is "God of War," verbatim, on a handheld. All things wonderful about the PS2 games _ the incredible combo system, bounty of combat maneuvers, epic boss encounters and a so-well-tuned-that-you-take-it-for-granted balance between puzzle-solving and button-mashing combat _ make their way to the PSP without compromise.

In fact, if there's a legitimate gripe with "Olympus," it's that it's a little too faithful. Ready at Dawn throws in a cool new weapon in the late stages of the game, and the story _ a prequel of sorts to the original game _ provides some fun insight into Kratos' come to being.

But beyond that and some of the boss fights, much of what you see in "Olympus" will look some degree of familiar if you've played the other games. That's not necessarily a terrible thing, but some will take umbrage with the game's refusal to take risks in the hands of a new developer.

Also, "Olympus" is short. You can topple it in no more than five hours, and beyond a few harder difficulty settings and a smattering of arena challenges, there isn't much in the way of other content to explore.

On the flip side, "Olympus" also is one of those games that easily commands replaying on the simple basis that it's just that much fun. That's been a hallmark of the series since the beginning, and given how brilliantly "Olympus" keeps up, it's hardly an exception.

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© 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.