Second Look - God of War: Betrayal

In the intervening period between God of War II and God of War III, two other games in the series were released that expanded further on the story, both developed for handheld devices. The first of these was God of War: Betrayal, the only one to be developed for mobile phones, taking place between the events of the first two games. I actually played this game quite a bit in high school, back when I had a compatible phone that could play it, though the game’s canonicity had been debated over the years and has since become unavailable to download legally. Once it was confirmed that the game was canon, via a tweet from Santa Monica Studio animation director Bruno Velasquez, I scrambled to dig out an old phone I held on to that still had the game on it, or else have to resort to emulation just to play an old mobile game. Miraculously, after having to buy a charger, I managed to uncover an old LG Rumor phone that still had the game on it, allowing me to finally play it once again in its original glory.

 

The tweet confirming its canon status.

While the game was certainly groundbreaking at the time for its ability to translate the series to the mobile space, to where it was considered one of the best mobile games to play in the era before smart phones, its quality is now more hotly contested as a result of its antiquity.

[OLD] God of War: Betrayal

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-betrayal.html

After playing God of War: Chains of Olympus, I will review another, lesser known game in the saga of Kratos, God of War: Betrayal. Released in 2007 after God of War II, it is available to play on cell phones, depending on provider and model. Normally you'd think something like God of War would be heavily watered down to suit this platform, but I assure you it's quite the opposite.

Set between God of War II and Ghost of Sparta, Kratos, the new God of War, is framed for killing Argos, the pet of the goddess Hera (wife of Zeus). With Kratos on a rampage to find the real killer, Zeus sends the messenger Ceryx to stop the madness. While this doesn't seem like much of a story, it still fits into the overall continuity fairly well, providing an explanation for the events at the start of God of War II.

The weapons Kratos wields are carried over from the first God of War, namely the Blades of Athena, Blade of Artemis, Medusa's Gaze, and Army of Hades. Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers are again used to upgrade Health and Magic Meters, but this time you only need one of either in order for it to work.

The sounds in the game are, of course, limited but the visuals are surprisingly stunning for such a small screen. The game is a side-scroller, being made up of 2D sprites, but there's still a great abundance of detail featured. The gameplay for this installment is, as one can expect, quite different than its console counterparts, but somehow it remains fluid for what they are. Movement is made using either the arrow buttons or number pad, * is used to switch weapons, # is used to upgrade weapons on the fly, and OK is the jump button. While the ability to double jump remains intact, dodging is taken out, due to the limited capabilities of a cell phone. If your phone has a slide-out keyboard, the game will pause when you slide it open while the screen tells you to kindly slide it back in (I don't know if this also applies to models that flip open for a full keyboard, but I assume it does).

God of War: Betrayal is actually a good cell phone game. It has limitations of course, but it leaves a memorable experience and still manages to deliver in all the right ways; it even has some blood. This game isn't available for every provider or model, but if you are able, especially as a God of War fan, I suggest you download it whenever you can.