Parents' Guide to

God of War: Chains of Olympus

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Violence & sex make prequel off limits to kids.

Game PSP 2008
God of War: Chains of Olympus Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 6 parent reviews

RealReview007
RealReview007 Adult
July 2, 2020
age 16+

Rated M for Mature

God of War Chains of Olympus is a hack and slash game released for the PlayStation Portable, but was later released on the PS3 as padt of a collection. You take control of the legendary protagonist named Kratos and you take on different monstrous creatures and a handful of mythical Greek Gods in an epic journey in ancient Greece. This game features lots of violent fighting involving sharp wielding blades. Theres a sputter of blood in every brutal hit and damage you inflicted, and there's a few dismemberment as well. This game is not for children, it's mainly targeted for older teens. There's also some nudity in it, as well as a sex scene mini game. Parental discretion is strictly recommended.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
Too much violence
Too much sex
xrudlezx
xrudlezx Adult
December 30, 2018
age 18+

Highly Inappropriate

Unless you don't care about your kids and their values, I wouldn't let them even touch this game. The best thing this gaming series did was take the sexual scenes out the newest game. Other than that, the rest of the game series is absolute trash. It's like pornography, but as a game.

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 6 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Sony's GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is the prequel to the two earlier God of War games. Once again, you play as Kratos, a Spartan warrior, who battles mythological creatures with the aid of a double-bladed weapon chained to your wrists. Since Chains of Olympus takes place before the events in the first game, Kratos has not yet achieved the status of a god after defeating the powerful Ares. Instead he must venture into mysterious dark environments to fight mythological creatures. In true God of War style, Kratos faces off against huge boss fighters early on in the game -- in this case, a huge fire-breathing lizard-like creature that attacks him on an elevated outdoor terrace; you must duck, roll, and jump to avoid it's claws and bites; leap over its fiery breath; and whack him silly with your chained blades. Eventually you'll be prompted -- with specific buttons you need to press on the face of the PSP, such as triangle, circle or square -- to pull giant columns down on its head to render him unconscious. As you play through this linear game, you will direct Kratos as he attempts to save the ancient world by destroying vicious monsters.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (14 ):

Take one gander at the graphics in Chains of Olympus and players might think they've booted up a console game. But this visually stunning, "Mature"-rated action-adventure hybrid is more than just eye-candy as the gameplay -- while on the short side -- is also extraordinarily good. Gamers will no doubt marvel at the size of the beasts you take on, how fluid the animation is, the slick "camera" angles, and the level of detail in both the characters and environments.

Puzzle-solving, however, is fairly basic, such as pushing or pulling crates and then jumping on them to reach high areas. Another issue is the relatively short gameplay at about 5 hours or so. The game can be played on easy ("Mortal"), normal ("Hero") or hard ("Spartan"), and if completed on any of these three difficulty settings you can access the very hard ("God") mode. Minor issues aside – namely, brevity, linearity, and puzzle simplicity -- God of War: Chains of Olympus is one of the most visceral and gratifying handheld games ever created, and one that pushes the PSP hardware to new heights. Just be aware this is a "Mature"-rated game with inappropriate content for players under 17 year of age.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether this game is as controversial as, say, Grand Theft Auto and its "Hot Coffee" controversy, because it contains a sex scene. Do you think sex scenes should be allowed in M-rated video games?

Game Details

  • Platform: PSP
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
  • Release date: March 4, 2008
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • ESRB rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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