God of War Collection

For a series all about massive scale, God of War has been surprisingly prolific on small screens.

Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, were stunning technical showcases for the PSP.

While we're yet to see a bespoke God of War game for Vita, we do at least have God of War Collection, which puts the first two games on one cartridge.

Set in a richly detailed world of Greek mythology, God of War stars a warrior named Kratos, whose strength is known throughout Sparta.

After pledging his services to the god of war in return for a swift victory in battle, he is tricked into murdering his wife and child in a burst of indiscriminate bloodlust.

This, rather understandably, turns Kratos into the constantly scowling figure who's been plastered over magazines and posters since 2005. And it also kick-starts his lone crusade against the power of the gods.

An Olympian Port?

It's amazing to have these two games running on a handheld. Each entry still clocks in at about 10 hours, making for a satisfyingly chunky bundle.

The Vita handles the collection without breaking too much of a sweat. The framerate occasionally chugs, particularly when the screen is busy with weather effects and enemies, but overall the performance is pretty solid.

And while the first game in particular suffers from that dull, misty filter that afflicts many older games, God of War and God of War II still look fantastic.

The controls are smooth and the changes for the Vita version blend in nicely. The back touch panel is used to open crates and activate items, and the touchscreen comes in handy for activating power-ups and switching weapons.

Looking back, it's impressive just how influential God of War was.

The dramatic use of camera angles, the mixture of combat and exploratory platforming, and the brawls with gigantic creatures are all series staples that heavily influenced a number of other games.

God of War's scale has always been about more than just the gargantuan bosses though.

There are plenty of brilliant moments where the fixed camera angles provide artistic shots of Kratos dwarfed by his awe-inspiring surroundings.

The God in Nature

The cinematic pans and swoops feel like they formed an early blueprint for those seen in the Uncharted series.

The environments are beautiful, too. My Vita's screenshot function has been given its biggest workout since the peerless wonder of Tearaway. The world of God of War has a great deal of personality, even if Kratos doesn't.

While the original game sets strong foundations, it's the sequel that shines as the star of this bundle - and, indeed, the series.

Everything's ramped up. The game boldly opens with a dynamic battle against a huge stone colossus, and the action only gets bigger from there.

God of War II also features aerial sections that see you riding Pegasus. You can barge the flying horse into other winged beasts with a flick of the right stick, then leap across and murder the other rider.

With the sky so full of stuff success can feel a little more like luck than skill, but it's a great change of pace all the same.

If you've played God of War before, then this is still God of War - it's a good port and the games haven't soured over time.

If you haven't played God of War before, and you're aching for a new Vita game, this could well be it.

God of War Collection

At its worst a little choppier than you may remember, at its best downright timeless. The port's not perfect, but this is still a great way to play two of PS2's best games on the move
Score
Matt Suckley
Matt Suckley
Achingly contrarian. Proud owner of an N-Gage and a PSP Go. Matt spends most of his time writing about indie games of which you've never heard. Like that one, yes. Matt is an English student, and largely terrible at games. Go figure.