Dios de la guerra en Español! Hopefully, that translated well. Our Spanish-speaking readers will have to point out the possible (read: probable) butchery of their language. Apologies are to be arranged. Anyway, what makes this TV spot so special? Aside from being in a foreign language, this God of War: Chains of Olympus advertisement has blood rain down from the sky. Why is that happening? Haven't got a clue. This ad is pretty interesting to watch, even if it doesn't directly relate to anything that happens in the game.
For every Greek God, there is a statue. For what better way is there to immortalize an immortal than to construct an effigy? You know you've made God status when mortals start sculpting your very likeness. Today, we have Humber College student Sheldon P. to thank for this lovingly violent sculpture of God of War's hero Kratos.
The sculpture, titled "Ghost of Sparta," is currently on display at the 2008 Humber Art Show: Thou Art Your Art. If you're interested in seeing the sculpture in person or just have nothing to do next week, you can still catch the exhibition on March 24 and 25 up in Toronto. Or, why not make your own Kratos sculpture? In the words of Neil Buchanan: try it yourself!
Have another look at the sculpture after the break.
God of War games, as you all know, are epic. A major contributing factor to that legendary atmosphere is undoubtedly the game's musical score -- to that we have Gerard Marino to thank. In a recent interview with Music 4 Games, Marino discussed what went into making the music compositions for Chains of Olympus as well as shed some light on his future projects.
Marino says that the music in Chains of Olympus is "a bit lighter" than the previous games. The reason for this is that there's a certain character in the game that isn't as grim as the usual cast of war-hardened soldiers, and the apathetic Pantheon. Despite only composing fifteen minutes worth of new material, the game's sound should have enough freshness to it. This has to do largely in part by a huge effort to remix old tracks; they take the old tracks apart, restructure them, and then use the various arrangements in a way that ensures each scene has its own unique sound. He also calls the music on Chains of Olympus "more intimate" than what we've seen previously.
Marino also revealed some interesting trivia about the God of War series. For example, did you know that Kratos was originally supposed to be named Dominus? Now how about the future you ask? Marino shared that he will be indeed working on God of War III for the PS3. Another epic game, another rocking music score. There are a lot of other alluring tidbits in the interview, so why not have a read of it for yourself?
Yet another interview surfaced from GameSpot today, showing off even more enemies in Ready at Dawn's upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus. Yes, you'll have to sit through some obvious moments of marketing propaganda, but chances are: you'll like it. Once again, you must be 17 years or older to see this new footage, featured after the break.
Spoiler alert? The upcoming God of War: Chains of Olympus demo disc will feature an absolutely gory battle with the Persian King (video embedded, after the break). In this Gamespot preview, we see that the graphics, the voice acting, and the violence have all been retained from the PS2 original. It's exciting to see a small glimpse of the upcoming game (dated for a March release), but those that don't want to ruin the experience may want to look away.
This is an M-rated game, and you must be 17 years or older to watch the video.
What if you didn't get selected to receive the upcoming God of WarUMD demo disc? Don't worry! YourPSP will be hosting a downloadable demo, at least according to German Dutch OPM (as discovered by PSP Demo Center's Benjami). Whether or not it will have the same content as the upcoming disc demo is unclear, but this should come as good news for those that weren't eligible for the limited edition demo. And as always, once the demo goes live, PSP Fanboy will also be hosting it for you.
The press has only played one level from God of War: Chains of Olympus. Whether at E3 or PAX, Ready at Dawn has been incredibly secretive of its PSP exclusive title. For once, gamers will have the first look at the game, able to see a never-before-revealed level, the Cave of Eos. "In this level, the player is introduced to Eos, the goddess of Dawn. She will reveal events of the story that will lead you further in your quest, but getting to her is no easy task. You will have to defeat a multitude of enemies to progress, one of which is a new take on a God of War classic, the blood-lusting Minotaur. The rewards awaiting you are a new magic granted by Eos that adds to the vast array of mechanics Kratos already posses. But to advanced to the end of the level, Kratos will have to prove himself by using his new abilities to solve a challenge so deadly it could have only been created by the Gods of Olympus."
We can't wait. The demo is unleashed to the world later this month.
The Leipzig Games Convention has come and gone, and the critics agree: God of War: Chains of Olympus is the best PSP game on the show floor. The jury stated "'God of War' elevates the action genre to an art form, including on the PlayStation Portable: where other titles descend into brutish slaughter, God of War lends the battlefield a sombre beauty."
Chains of Olympus should be ready some time next year.
Fresh from Leipzig, Sony has announced a delay for their highly anticipated title, God of War: Chains of Olympus. Originally expected to ship before Christmas as part of the holiday rush, the title has been pushed back until early 2008. Annoyingly, this comes less than three weeks after Ready at Dawn confirmed that God of Warwas on track for a holiday release.
No reason was given for the delay, but if they need more time to polish up Kratos' newest adventure -- it's worth waiting a couple more months. Plus we get a demo in September to keep us happy anyway, so it won't be an entirely Spartan-free Christmas.
[Update: Ready at Dawn responds: "I'm not really sure where this is coming from since we have not announced a date for God ofWar: Chains of Olympus for the North American marketplace yet. So I would say this falls into the rumor and speculation category."]
Remember this incredible piece of God of War fandom? This user-modded system caught our eye for its close attention to detail and fine use of "kicking ass." But the story isn't over ... It looks like Ramon Stokes, creator of the system, got a lot more than the winning bid of $1725 in his eBay auction.
Chains of Olympus dev team, Ready at Dawn, took notice of Ramon's system and decided to fly him out to their studios "to make sure the PSP wouldn't get damaged during shipping." Yeah, sure.
Ramon was also able to play the upcoming Chains of Olympus demo, talk to the development team, and get treated like a God of Olympus. Looks like this God of War hit the jackpot for his fandom (and we're jealous!).
A lot of random snippets of information was released in today's chat with the God of War: Chains of Olympus development team. In the chat held for fans, Ready at Dawn revealed a few facts about the game:
The game is still on track for a Winter release.
Set ten years before the original God of War, Kratos will meet many characters from the previous PS2 God of War titles through his adventure. After the murder of his family, Kratos renounces his service to Ares, and he decides to serve the other gods of Olympus to try and rid him of his nightmares. Voice actors from previous games will return in Chains of Olympus. Linda Hunt will return to narrate the game.
"You will have multiple weapons with a new twist on how they integrate into the storyline."
The game has been in development since Daxter shipped.
The game will have counter attacks -- but whether or not it will be similar to God of War II's Golden Fleece was not revealed.
Those lucky enough to participate in the upcoming God of War chat should have received an email with further details. In attendance will be Ready at Dawn's Dana Jan, Garret Foster, Marc Turndorf and Ru Weerasuriya.
The chat is scheduled for this Friday at 4PM PST (7PM EST). Obviously, you'll want to get there early if you want the best (virtual) seats in the house. If for some reason, you can't attend, you can also submit questions via e-mail at: playstation_community_support @ playstation.sony.com.
We love what Sony's doing for its rabid God of War fan base. We'll be there, just like you, eyes glued to the answers that the Ready at Dawn team will provide. See you there.
It wasn't an easy task bringing God of War to the handhelds. A brand new engine (Ready at Dawn Engine 2.0) had to be created, and the controls had to be adapted to a whole new system. Our time with the game at E3 proved that Ready at Dawn has been successful in recreating the God of War experience on the handheld ... but how did they do it? This new video documentary provided by Sony attempts to go behind the scenes of the game, and showcases tons of new gameplay footage.
Ready at Dawn, the developers of the upcoming PSP-exclusive God of War: Chains of Olympus, is preparing a special treat for those that have been selected to receive the playable UMD demo. The developers are planning a special live chat with their fans. However, they'd like to remind fans that they'll need a PlayStation.com user ID before July 30th to participate.
Details of the chat are still forthcoming, but be sure that we'll have all the information here on PSP Fanboy when it goes live.
