God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Ready at Dawn and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It was first released for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console on November 2, 2010. The game is the sixth installment in the God of War series and the fifth chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, Ghost of Sparta is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, the God of War. Kratos is still haunted by the visions of his mortal past and decides to explore his origins. In Atlantis, he finds his mother Callisto, who claims that his brother Deimos is still alive. Kratos journeys to the Domain of Death to rescue his brother. After initial resentment from Deimos, the brothers team up to battle the God of Death, Thanatos, Deimos' captor.
The gameplay is similar to that of the previous installments, and focuses on combo-based combat, achieved through the player's main weapon—the Blades of Athena—and a secondary weapon acquired later in the game. It features quick time events that require the player to complete various game controller actions in a timed sequence to defeat stronger enemies and bosses. Up to three magical attacks and a power-enhancing ability can be used as alternative combat options. Ghost of Sparta also features puzzles and platforming elements. The combat system was updated with significantly more gameplay elements than its previous PSP installment, God of War: Chains of Olympus.
Ghost of Sparta received praise from critics for its story, scope, and graphical illustration, though criticism was given for the general lack of gameplay innovation from its predecessor, Chains of Olympus. By June 2012, it had sold almost 3.2 million copies worldwide, making it the nineteenth best-selling PlayStation Portable game of all time. Together with Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta was remastered and released on September 13, 2011, as part of the God of War: Origins Collection and the remastered version was re-released on August 28, 2012, as part of the God of War Saga, both for the PlayStation 3.
Gameplay
The gameplay of God of War: Ghost of Sparta resembles that of the previous installments. It is a third-person single player video game viewed from a fixed camera perspective. The player controls the character Kratos in hack and slash combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements, and battles foes who primarily stem from Greek mythology, including minotaurs, cyclopes, harpies, Gorgons, and satyrs. The undead legionnaires, keres wraiths, geryons, automatons, Boreas beasts, and Triton warriors were influenced by the mythology, but created specifically for the game. Platforming elements require the player to climb walls, jump across chasms, swing on ropes, and balance across beams to proceed through sections of the game. Some puzzles are simple, such as moving a box so that the player can use it to access a pathway unreachable with normal jumping, but others are more complex, such as finding several items across different areas of the game to unlock one door. The game features new weapons, magical powers, and navigational abilities not present in previous games and has been cited as featuring 25 percent more gameplay than God of War: Chains of Olympus.
Combat
Kratos' main weapons are the Blades of Athena, a pair of blades attached to chains that are wrapped around the character's wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung offensively in various maneuvers. Later in the game, Kratos acquires a new weapon, the Arms of Sparta—a spear and shield offering alternative combat options (e.g., Kratos can use the shield for defense and the spear for offense, such as throwing it at distant targets). Kratos gains a special ability, Thera's Bane, that infuses his blades with fire, and is similar to the Rage ability in previous games, providing increased attack damage that is strong enough to pierce through enemy armor. As with the Items in God of War III, this ability automatically replenishes itself (represented by the Fire meter), allowing further usage. Both the Arms of Sparta and Thera's Bane are used to overcome environmental obstacles (e.g., certain doors require the use of Thera's Bane to open). Kratos learns to use up to three magical abilities, including the Eye of Atlantis, Scourge of Erinys, and the Horn of Boreas, giving him a variety of ways to attack and kill enemies. The relic Poseidon's Trident is retained from the prior installment, which allows him to breathe underwater, a necessary ability as parts of the game require long periods of time there.
The combat system has been updated to allow Kratos to "pummel enemies to the ground as well as throw them", and perform air-to-air attacks. An "augmented death system" is also used, featuring specific weapon and magic death animations. This game's challenge mode is called the Challenge of the Gods, which features five Challenges of Ares, with an additional eight Challenges of Athena that can be unlocked. The challenge mode requires players to complete a series of specific tasks (e.g., kill all enemies without being attacked). A new mode exclusive to this game has been added called The Temple of Zeus, which allows players to sacrifice collected red orbs (from both in-game and the challenge mode) to unlock additional features, such as the Challenges of Athena, bonus costumes for Kratos, behind-the-scenes videos, and concept art of the characters and environments. Completing each difficulty level unlocks additional rewards. A Combat Arena (similar to the version in God of War III) allows players to pick adversaries and adjust the level of difficulty to improve their skills.
Synopsis
Setting As with previous games in the God of War franchise, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is set in an alternate version of ancient Greece populated by the Olympian gods, Titans, and other beings from Greek mythology. With the exception of flashbacks, the events are set between the games God of War (2005) and Betrayal (2007). Several locations are explored, including the fictional city of Atlantis (and later a sunken version). Atlantis is a mythical city erected by the Sea God Poseidon, and houses the Temple of Poseidon. Near the city is a real-world location, the Methana Volcano, which is contained by the archimedean screws and is also the prison of the Titan Thera, who is guarded by automatons. On the outskirts of the city is the Temple of the god Thanatos, the location of Death's Gate and portal to the Domain of Death. Other locations include the Island of Crete and its capital city, Heraklion, the Mounts of Aroania, the ancient city of Sparta (also home to the Temple of Ares), the Mounts of Laconia, and a brief scene above the city of Athens featuring Suicide Bluffs, the highest cliff in the city overlooking the Aegean Sea and a recurring location during Kratos' adventures.
Characters
The protagonist of the game is Kratos (voiced by Terrence C. Carson), the God of War after having killed the former, Ares (who appears in flashbacks and voiced by Steven Blum). Other characters include Athena (Erin Torpey), the Goddess of Wisdom who warns Kratos about exploring his past; Deimos (Mark Deklin), the younger brother of Kratos who is imprisoned and tortured in the Domain of Death; Thanatos (Arthur Burghardt), the God of Death and main antagonist; Callisto (Deanna Hurstold), the mother of Kratos and Deimos; Thera (Dee Dee Rescher), a Titan imprisoned beneath the Methana Volcano; and Erinys (Erin Torpey and Jennifer Hale), Thanatos' daughter. Minor characters include Lanaeus (Fred Tatasciore); a servant of Poseidon; King Midas (Fred Tatasciore), a king whose touch will turn anything to gold; the gravedigger (Paul Eiding), who warns Kratos to not alienate the gods; a loyal Spartan soldier (Gideon Emery); and Poseidon (Gideon Emery), the God of the Sea. Zeus (Fred Tatasciore), the King of the Gods, appears in the "Combat Arena" (bonus feature) after the player selects the gravedigger.
Plot A series of flashbacks reveals that the oracle had foretold that the demise of Olympus would come not by the revenge of the Titans, who had been imprisoned after the Great War, but by a mortal, a marked warrior. The Olympians Zeus and Ares believed this warrior to be Deimos, the brother of Kratos, due to his strange birthmarks. Ares interrupted the childhood training of Kratos and Deimos, with Athena on hand, and kidnapped Deimos. Kratos attempted to stop Ares, but was swept aside and subsequently scarred across his right eye by the Olympian. Athena stopped Ares from killing Kratos, knowing his eventual destiny. Taken to Death's Domain, Deimos was imprisoned and tortured by Thanatos. In honor of his sibling, Kratos marked himself with a red tattoo, identical to his brother's birthmark.
Years later, when the game begins, Kratos has taken Ares' place as the new God of War on Mount Olympus. Still haunted by visions of his mortal past, Kratos decides against Athena's advice to explore his past and travels to the Temple of Poseidon, located within the city of Atlantis. The sea monster, Scylla, attacks and destroys Kratos' vessel off the coast of Atlantis, though the Spartan drives the beast off. After a series of skirmishes across the city, he eventually kills Scylla.
Reaching the temple, Kratos locates his mother, Callisto, who attempts to reveal the identity of his father. When Callisto is suddenly transformed into a hideous beast, Kratos is forced to battle her, and before dying, Callisto thanks him and beseeches him to seek out Deimos in Sparta. Prior to departure, Kratos encounters and frees the trapped Titan, Thera, which causes the eruption of the Methana Volcano, and subsequently destroys Atlantis. During his escape, he has another encounter with the enigmatic gravedigger, who warns him of the consequences of alienating the gods.
Seeking clues about his brother Deimos, Kratos decides to reach his hometown Sparta. While traveling through the Aronian Pass, Kratos meets the goddess Erinys, daughter of Thanatos, who was searching for Kratos since the destruction of Atlantis. After a vicious battle, Kratos brutally kills Erinys and reaches Sparta, where he witnesses a group of Spartans tearing down a statue of Ares, intent on replacing it with one of Kratos. Kratos then chases a dissenter loyal to Ares into the Spartan Jails, who attempts to kill Kratos by releasing the Piraeus Lion. Defeating both foes, Kratos journeys to the Temple of Ares, where he encounters the spirit of his child self and learns that he must return to the now sunken Atlantis and locate the Domain of Death. Before leaving, a loyal Spartan provides him with his former weapons—used during Kratos' days as a Captain of the Spartan army—the Arms of Sparta. After returning to the sunken Atlantis, Kratos receives great resentment from Poseidon for sinking his beloved city.