God of War Collection Volume 2 reviewed for PlayStation 3 by James Hamer-Morton. Game supplied for review by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

I suddenly realised that the PSP is a really impressive piece of kit. Checking out this collection of the two God of War games released for the PSP, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, I am struck by the production quality and brilliance of the games themselves.

If you've played a God of War game before, you know what you're getting here; A violent action adventure that gives you control of Kratos, a Sony 'mascot' if ever there was one, the games provide a variety of giant enemies to topple, a powerful skills progression system and a really entertaining combat system, meshing together for an unsurprisingly successful combination.

Chains of Olympus is just how I remember it, certainly highlighting limitations of the PSP system, with more empty looking environments than the other games in the series, but still throwing a lot of surprises and an overall excellent campaign at the player. Now upgraded to HD visuals, re-rendered cinematics and a solid frame rate, it reminds me of a downloadable PSN game in terms of detail, still looking surprisingly great for a re-release from a game on a portable system. However Ghost of Sparta is the real gem here.

The second game of the package shocked me with its brilliance. Stepping away from all of the restrictions that we have become used to on the PSP it is graphically beautiful, with a mammoth variety in environments, hugely detailed beyond what I expect to be possible on the PSP. Up-scaling the game to HD has not revealed any rough edges or failings at all, mirroring the difference between God of War 1 and 2 in the previous HD re-release collection. Even in terms of design, Ghost of Sparta seems pitch perfect, surprising you with its enemy design, reveals and fluidity of the progression which shows a skill in game design missing in many apparently AAA games on the current gen of consoles.

Sure, as the games reach their conclusion there are quiet points which seem like brief moments of filler for each of the 5-6 hour campaigns, but fans of the series will appreciate how tightly these games are framed and structured.

Taking advantage of the twin stick controls, and adding in 3D compatibility for those graced with a 3DTV and hungry for content, the games have obviously never looked better. A stigma about purchasing upgraded PSP games for your home console can be completely ignored here, as they are genuinely great games. A full trophy list with platinum for each game will give you a few extra objectives, as well as the now usual Challenge of the Gods to irritate or satisfy you depending on success.

If you're a fan of the series, this is a no brainer. Ignore fears about a lower quality product, born on the PSP, since they are completely unwarranted. Buy this. Never played the series before? You should probably start with the first games, but with stories jumping around the timeline, spoilers aren't an issue here, and at least you can be sure of some excellent games here that I recommend not missing out on, and now, even if you have no PSP, you won't.