Second Look - God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Note: This review contains spoilers for the God of War series.

Following the release of God of War III, a second God of War game was released on the PSP, subtitled Ghost of Sparta, which sought to expand on the character of Deimos teased in the original game and tie up loose ends with Kratos’ character arc. Like its other PSP contemporary, Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta was later ported to the PS3, along with its original pre-order content, as part of God of War: Origins Collection, allowing players to experience the games in full HD and with minor gameplay tweaks to better suit the new platform. Much like Chains of Olympus, I had previously experienced the game on both platforms and found myself preferring the latter for its presentation and gameplay experience, and so chose to experience the game that way when reevaluating it. While I did like the game when I played it before, I felt like I got more out of it on my most recent playthrough, appreciating it even more as an integral part of Kratos’ backstory and motivations.

After becoming the new god of war following the defeat of Ares, Kratos is haunted by the visions of his mortal past that the gods did not free him of. One in particular, in which his brother Deimos was taken by the gods as a child due to the Fates foretelling that Olympus would be brought down by a marked warrior, haunts him enough that he sets out for Atlantis to rectify it. Upon learning that his brother is still alive, Kratos becomes hellbent on rescuing him no matter the cost.

 

Kratos (left) seeks out his brother Deimos (right), who was taken by the gods
as a child.

Taking place between the first two God of War games (or the first game and Betrayal if you want to be pedantic), this game’s plot does an excellent job in bridging the two games, even ending in a way that directly leads into the opening of God of War II, while further exploring Kratos’ past in a meaningful way. While this does finally expand on Deimos as a character in a way that contradicts part of the original video, Deimos feels like an integral part of Kratos’ journey, up to and including his death, which gives Kratos even more of a reason to continue distrusting the gods even after becoming one himself. Unlockable videos elaborate more on the events leading up to the plot of Ghost of Sparta, showing Deimos’ side of the story as well as the origin of Kratos’ tattoo and his rise to a Spartan General, explaining how much Deimos’ disappearance impacted Kratos and adding more weight to his iconic red tattoo.

The game also features interesting takes on Greek figures, including Thanatos and his motivations, making his status as the final boss feel justified and more organically worked in compared to Persephone in Chains of Olympus. Despite his ultimately minor role in the story, King Midas stands out as a memorable character because of how tragic and suicidal he is, so much so that I remembered him even years later.

 

King Midas' role is minor, but highly memorable.

Before getting into the gameplay, I will mention that I played on Bonus Play with the Legionnaire costume equipped, originally a pre-order bonus for the PSP version and included with the PS3 version, which doubles the values of all collected orbs and halves the cost of magic, as well as having 4x damage resistance and, while the Arms of Sparta are equipped, deals double damage. Additionally, the Arms of Sparta were in my inventory, in addition to the Blades of Athena. I will also mention I had most of the Relics of the Gods active during my playthrough and that the same mild frustrations with using the DualSense with the PS3 version of Chains of Olympus also apply here.

The core gameplay is largely similar to that of Chains of Olympus on PS3, including the ability to dodge roll with the left stick and L2/R2 having the same function as L1/R1, but with some new elements inspired by God of War III. Much like how God of War III has a regenerating Item Meter, there is now a regenerating Fire Meter (aka Thera’s Bane), which is activated by holding R1/R2 and runs fire through the Blades, making them powerful enough to break armor and ice as well as granting access to new areas. This new Meter is also upgraded by collecting Minotaur Horns, though you need five rather than three as in God of War III. Additionally, like God of War III, Ghost of Sparta is really good at finding ways of getting you to use your entire arsenal, assuming you’re not using Relics, making no weapon or ability feel wasted.

 

There is now a Fire Meter that operates similarly to the Item Meter in God of War III.

Compared with Chains of Olympus, the magic/weapon system has been greatly streamlined, with all magic activated by simply pressing a button on the d-pad, with the exception of Down reserved for swapping weapons, enabling the player to more easily change up their strategy on the fly. That said, if you are playing on Bonus Play and/or with infinite Magic active, the Scourge of Erinys is particularly OP. Other gameplay changes have been made as well, such as being able to slide down and jump off of slopes and the new ability to jump sideways between/away from ropes. While movable objects can no longer be kicked or rotated, the speed can be increased while pushing. On that note, it is worth unlocking Aphrodite’s Ambrosia (obtained by completing the sex minigame three times, including in a row, and beating the game once), since it grants you a powerful kick attack.

Beating the game once also unlocks the Temple of Zeus, where you can spend excess Red Orbs to unlock additional content, including concept artwork, the aforementioned videos and the Robotos costume. Buying everything in the Temple costs a total of 1,000,000 Red Orbs, and doping so also unlocks a secret area in the Temple that unlocks the Gravedigger’s Shovel. One known way to farm the necessary orbs at faster rate is by using the Legionnaire costume with the King’s Ring in Combat Arena, against 6 enemies with Infinite Health and giving yourself Infinite Magic, while spamming the Scourge of Erinys in 900 combo bursts (going any higher stops giving you any bonuses). Once you’ve earned the Gravedigger’s Shovel, you can now use the Gravedigger costume in Combat Arena, which will then confirm that both the Gravedigger and Zeus were one and the same all along.

Having played both of the Norse games, I made an interesting observation that the Thanatos fight can be viewed as a sort of precursor to those games. Specifically, similarly to Atreus, Deimos is also controlled by the player during this fight by way of a button press that has him throw a ranged weapon, with both Deimos and Atreus being related to Kratos by blood on top of this. Since I don’t know where else to mention this, one funny detail from the King Midas segment is that a gold chest can be found while chasing him down, which can be interacted with but not opened, and you even get a Trophy for trying to open it for 30 seconds.

The visuals are vastly improved over Chains of Olympus, owing to it being released later in the system’s lifespan, being easily one of the best-looking PSP games out there and looking even better with the HD touch-up. One additional element taken from God of War III is the way the QTEs are handled, mainly in that the button prompts are arranged around the screen in a similar fashion, though the crisp look of said prompts makes the oddly low-res “mash circle” prompt stand out even more. The voice acting and background music are very much in-line with previous games, even including Paul Eiding reprising his role as the Gravedigger from the original game and T.C. Carson giving one of his best performances as Kratos. That said, two stand-outs include Fred Tatasciore as the desperate King Midas and Arthur Burghardt as the threatening Thanatos, though a little bit of the Disney character Pete briefly slips into the latter’s voice a few times.

 

QTEs are presented similarly to God of War III.

On a storytelling level, God of War: Ghost of Sparta feels like an important entry in the series, justifying its existence by filling in a blank in the timeline that makes Kratos’ character shift between the first two games feel more earned. On a gameplay level, it plays mostly like a portable God of War III, while also taking inspiration from its gameplay to present its own unique ideas that help it stand out from the other games. These elements make this game a necessary play for fans of the series, though newcomers are highly recommended to play the preceding installments first to get the most out of its place in the timeline.