Genre: Action platformer
Developer: Ready at Dawn
Publisher: Sony

From both an artistic and technical standpoint, God of War's graphics are the best on the PSP. Each area has a unique and consistent theme, the characters are fairly memorable in their designs, and the game is loaded with high resolution textures, stunning special effects, and velvet framerates. Animation is top-drawer.

The soundtrack is completely rutted in the realm of cheesy Hollywood orchestra work, the kind completely forgotten the instant the game is turned off. The writing seems straight from the mind of a fourteen year-old imitating his favorite C-quality action flick, and the voice acting unfortunately was chosen to match the cheesiness of the writing. At least the sound effects are strong and crisp.

The action is fun, just as fluid as the formula it shamelessly copies almost entirely from Itagaki's "Ninja Gaiden" series. The pacing is a bit of a question mark, as right when the action ramps up, there is a scene with crummy dialogue or a puzzle with no clear hints as to the solution. But outside of the puzzle elements, the brisk action mixed with quick-time events, ala Shenmue, are enjoyable.

Like Ninja Gaiden, the game it emulates, this title has some exceedingly fun combat but also has some considerable shortcomings. In this instance the shortcomings arrive in the form of an utterly forgettable soundtrack, an occasionally cringe-worthy story complete with corny writing, and inconsistent visual cues given to the player as to whether things are destructable, can be manipulated via the action button, or can be acted on in some other tricky way. Despite the flaws, this game is a strong entry into the genre.