PS VITA – He’s bald, muscular, scarred, bloodthirsty and always angry. The infamous Spartan warrior became synonymous with bloody, yet stylish violence and one of the flagship characters of Sony PlayStation. Unfortunately, we had to wait two long years before he finally appeared on the PS Vita. But we need to wait no more for the glorious Spartan: finally, we can annihilate every creatures and obstacle which stand in his way – on the go!

Kratos is the kind of guy who doesn’t take “No! Please! I don’t want to die!” for an answer. That’s what we like about him. The angry Spartan warrior who slaughters every mythical beast end horrible monsters which get in his way doesn’t care at all about human life his goal is only to have his vengeance and defeat the Gods.

The very first God of War already had this concept and while the story was rather simple we still totally connected with Kratos on his path of vengeance. At least, if one was fortunate enough to own a PS2 in 2005 when the first Sony exclusive God of War game hit the shelves. Unfortunately, I wasn’t among them (I still regret my decision to buy the first Xbox instead) and the God of War Collection is a new experience for me since I have missed the first two games. Well, at least I can now taste it on the Vita…

“Just” HD, not a remaster

The first thing you should know that it’s NOT a remake, just the remastered port of the first two original games, which already were published in this very same collection in 2009 on the PS3, prior to the release of God of War III. It also means that if you buy the game on PSN you will also be able to download both games on the PS3 as well which is a very nice gesture from Sony. I tried to also upload my saves from the PS Vita on the online storage and use them on my PS3, unfortunately, it didn’t work.

What’s the difference between a remake and just remastered port? Well, the graphics are just upscaled with higher resolution, besides that there is no real graphical facelift like the one we had with Persona 4: Golden, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and the recent Final Fantasy X-X2. It’s a bit of a shame since if there is one game which would deserve a full remake with the full graphical facelift on the PS Vita well it’s definitely God of War I and II.

Still, make no mistake, the game still looks nice, especially on the small screen of the Vita. But it’s still a PS2 game which aged a bit and it shows with some muddy textures and low res enemies. There is distinct difference however between God of War I and II: the latter has crisper graphics, environments, Kratos, his women and the monsters all looks more detailed.

All in all despite not being a fully-fledged remake God of War Collection still looks nice on the Vita, where – due to the smaller screen – it’s harder to spot smaller imperfections anyway. Still, the visuals look slightly muddy and indistinct, and it’s also a bit strange to watch cutscenes which are very blocky and aged right before the game itself, which looks crisp and well detailed compared to the cutscenes. Used to be the contrary, isn’t it?

Analog muscles

One thing I always missed from the PSP God of War games: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta are the analog sticks. I always dreamed about how playing God of War with a correct analog control would feel like and I had to wait two and a half years from the release of the Vita to finally find out. Unsurprisingly it plays and feels great. Moving Kratos with left stick and dodging and evading attacks with the right stick is just as precise as with the PS2 and PS3 versions.

The control scheme translated to the Vita is pretty good as well, besides one little misstep. The developer Sanzaru, who made the port for Vita felt obliged to use at all cost at least one of PS Vita’s function in the game, and for whatever strange reason they have chosen using the back touchpad for every basic interaction in the game.

It’s clumsy and unnecessary. It’s beyond comprehension why they didn’t just leave the control the way it was: just using the circle button for those actions and that’s about it. What they SHOULD have changed is the triangle button used for the back button, since nowadays it’s a pretty strange choice. Otherwise playing God of War on the Vita is just great: the combat is just as fluid and well-paced as in the PS2 and PS3 versions.

“My master Ares?! “Master” my arse!”

For those who never played God of War I and II before the stories of the games are rather simple but still well constructed and epic. Our Spartan psychopath killer, Kratos is in service to Ares who was the real God of War in Greek mythology. He is smashing and destroying everything and anyone who stands in his way before learning the truth about the killing of his family and challenging Ares.

What follows after is a murderous rampage through Greek mythology in the pursuit of Pandora’s Box, culminating in what was – at the time of its original, 2005’s release – an incredibly brutal showdown with Ares.

God of War II’s story is a bit more sophisticated with the God Zeus betraying Kratos then saved by the Titan Gaia, who tells him he must now find the Sisters of Fate, who can change his fate and prevent his death at the hands of Zeus. It’s not Homer’s Iliad in both cases for sure but the epic fights and the character of Kratos himself makes up for the simplicity of the story.

Essential for every PlayStation fan

If you own a PS3 or even just a Vita owning God of War Collection on both or just one of those consoles is fundamental if you are a real PlayStation fan. It’s one of the best hack’n’slash games series ever and it is PlayStation exclusive so you won’t see it on any other platforms.

Sure, it’s a shame that we don’t have a proper PS Vita God of War game like what Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta were for the PSP, but until that moment you would do yourself a big disservice by missing the opportunity of having some epic Kratos fights on the go.

-BadSector-

Publisher: SCEA,Capcom, SCEI, SCE Australia, SCEE
Developer: Sanzaru
Genres: Action, hack’n’slash
Published: May 15