First official God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP images

The first batch of images (other than those taken from the previously revealed trailer, obviously) featuring Kratos in his new portable habitat have emerged on Chains of Olympus developer Ready At Dawn's site.

Aside from the graphical splendour we've come to expect (call us demanding little brats), there are two things to note: one is that five enemies can be seen simultaneously in one shot, suggesting the PSP is technically happy displaying a decent number of opponents despite the polygonal richness (and, clearly, this has positive implications for the game experience); two, Kratos can be seen holding a shield, indicating a potential interesting play dynamic absent from the PlayStation 2 God of War games.

Actually, there is a third aspect that's worth mentioning. And that is the fact the original shots are presented in a ludicrously wide format. Being traditionalists, we've obviously included them above in cropped fashion but the more revolutionary PlayFrance has opted to display them in their entirety. Naturally the finished product will fit neatly on the PSP's 16:9 screen (rather than force Sony to release a baguette-shaped redesign) but it's worth checking them out in their panoramic gloriousness on the French site, nonetheless.

While you're there, you could also read their take on the reason for the inclusion of Kratos' shield. If your French is rusty, they quite logically propose it may be a way to make up for the fact the protagonist may well have lost his evasive abilities due to the lack of a second analogue stick, as used in the PS2 versions – though we'd argue he's not carrying it in some of the other shots, suggesting a less significant role.

We'll eventually find out either way, of course – the game is currently expected in the autumn.