Spartan… Witness The End!
Posted on | June 25, 2008 at 10:35 pm | Comments Off
Woo hoo! I finally done did it!
Portrait of an obsession:
I haven’t talked about video games in awhile, mostly because I haven’t been playing them as much as I’d like. I got derailed playing Grand Theft Auto IV on the PS3 when I bought The Orange Box and started playing one of its games, Portal (more on that later). On the Pennsylvania trip, I brought along my Nintendo DS and my Sony PSP, though I ended up not playing the DS at all and the PSP only a little. You never have as much “leisure” time on vacations as you think you’re going to have.
The only game I played on the trip was God of War: Chains of Olympus. And actually, by that point, I had gotten to the very last stage and was fighting the last boss. It’s a pretty short game, but it took me a long time to get that far because of all my various other distractions and the PS3 games. I usually only play the PSP when I’m away from home or when I’m at home and can’t use the TV to play the PS3 because the girlfriend is watching it. But I swear, it probably took me nearly as long to beat Persephone (the last boss) as it did to play the whole rest of the game. As I’ve said before, even though I have a lot of games and systems, I’m just a casual gamer. And I’m old and my reflexes are slow. However, I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish the game on Hero (Normal) mode, instead of Easy mode, which is how I played the original God of War (1) on the PS2. I always regretted not going back and doing it again on Normal or Hard.
So… I read all the tips I could on that last Chains of Olympus fight and it still didn’t seem to help much. It was driving me crazy. I played that battle over and over again on the trip and only once made it through the first stage of the two stage battle. And after I got back, I would pick up the PSP every once in awhile and try it again and still not make it. But over the last week or so, I told myself I was going to beat the thing if it was the last thing I did. I was definitely getting better at it. I got to the point where I could make it through that first stage pretty easily and without losing hardly any health (which doesn’t really matter, since health gets replenished at the end of that stage anyway). But the second stage was kicking my ass. I understood the defense and the patterns and the play mechanics, and like how you had to reflect the fireballs back at Persephone and all that. I got pretty good at that, but I still couldn’t seem to knock that last bit of life out of her to trigger the final endgame. Her attacks would just get more and more relentless, and mental and physical fatigue would set in before I could finish her off. Last night, I picked up the game before going to bed and ended up staying up till 12:30 trying to beat it, even though I knew I was getting up at 5:30. “Just one more time, just one more time!” I even left the PSP on all night, so I wouldn’t have to start the battle all over from the first stage) and played it first thing when I got up in the morning, still no go. And what do you think I dreamed about all night?
But finally… finally… tonight I did it! I came home after work, took a much-needed nap, ate dinner and watched a few TV shows, and then picked up the PSP. It actually took me a few tries to get through the first stage of the final battle, so that had me worried. But then I started to get into the “zone” and things picked up. It took me probably three or four tries on that second stage, and then I had her. I didn’t even change my tactics all that much – I think my brain and my hands were just finally to the point where they were working as a team. When Persephone fell on the ground and the dark mist surrounded her and I stepped into the circle of light to fire the sun shield and trigger that last game-ending mini-game, it was the greatest feeling in the world. Okay, there are some greater feelings, but not many while you’re holding a glowing battery-operated piece of plastic in your hand. According to a study, men experience a more intense level of activity in their cranial “reward zone” than women when succeeding at videogames, supposedly a throwback to the caveman days of conquering and dominating. So at least there’s a gender-specific biological reason for my addiction.
I watched the final cutscene, which didn’t interest me all that much except as a reward for my hard work. And then I even sat through the endless credits – apparently it takes as many people to produce a video game these days (even a handheld one) as it does to make a summer event movie. And then there was yet another final cutscene, which I think leads into the first God of War (the PSP game is a prequel), but I can’t remember, since it’s been a long time since I played that one.
Chains of Olympus is definitely the best game I’ve played on the PSP and probably the best game for the system. I was they were all like that, as the PSP is lacking in that department. I rate it a 9 out of 10 (I really don’t like the button-press mini-games). It was a really fun game with great production values, cutscenes that looked better than some computer animated movies, good voice acting, finely tuned controls, and an interesting story with some emotional resonance. And boobies. I love the Greek mythology background of the game, since I’ve been really into that stuff ever since junior high or so and the GoW games seem to be pretty accurate within that realm, from what I remember. Although I don’t think Persephone had wings and could hurl chunks of earth around. I did not think the game was too short, which was the primary complaint of critics. Maybe it was too short for the hardcore gamers, but not for us old dudes. Heck, look how long it took me to finish it! Now that I’ve beat the game on Normal mode, it unlocked God (Very Hard) mode as well as a series of “Challenges”, some costume changes, and some videos and such to watch. I’m not sure I want to do any of that right now, as I need to get back to the PS3. But it might be fun to try some of those challenges and to beat the game at a higher difficulty level. Although N might kill me if I start screaming even louder at that piece of plastic.
I am Kratos! I am the future God Of War! Hear me roar!
Now I can sleep. And now my hands will stop cramping. Amen.
Latre.
Pet Peeve of the Day:
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “taco bell crunch wrap cost”.