At the God of War panel today, Sony and Ready at Dawn Studios showed off some amazing new footage of the upcoming PSP exclusive God of War: Ghost of Sparta.  Taking place in between the events of the first and second game, the team promises more of the classic GOW gameplay we love along with more of Kratos back story.  The team showed off two separate demos of Gameplay footage with the first taking place at the beginning of the game and the second taking place further along in the game. 
 

The first once placed Kratos on a large boat bound for the City of Atlantis. As he traversed the boat, battling enemies standard to the franchise, combat looked just as slick as it did in the previous games with the Blades of Chaos/Athena whirling around Kratos as the combo number increased with each strike. As he made his way across the boat he faced the game's first boss, the Scylla.  Sent by Poseidon, the Scylla is a large beast with numerous tentacles that it wraps around the boat, blocking Kratos’s progress.  He must attack each in time to go forward in the level. 

As the level continued and the battle with Scylla deepened, the same context-sensitive moments of previous boss battles showed up and we witnessed Kratos causing some real damage to the sea creature.  Eventually, the boat wrecked into somewhat of a sewage system under Atlantis and Kratos was forced to travel through them while the Scylla followed, breaking through its wall to attack.  When asked whether other creatures from the Odyssey would make it into the game, the presenter smiled but would not provide any further details.

The footage of the first demo I have here is extremely rough and taken with a small digital camera.

The second demo showed off a cave like section where the mad king Midas had become a hermit before Kratos showed up.  His interaction with Midas is another context sensitive one where failure causes Kratos to be turned to gold and a game over screen.  Correctly performing that action allows Kratos to snatch his wrist before being touched and he then begins dragging him towards a lava waterfall in the distance.  Interrupted by dog like creatures looking for a meal, Kratos must beat them off before continuing. In between, Kratos must also beat Midas down again before he is able to drag him once more.  Finally, when he reaches the ledge, he throws Midas towards the lava-fall and the demo ended with a showing of the title just as he touched the lava. 

The footage of the first demo I have here is extremely rough and taken with a small digital camera.

 
Keep it here at ComicsOnline.com for more impressions and previews along with Everything Geek Pop Culture.