I played Hero of Sparta when it first came out for the iPhone. Although it was never a stellar title, it did have a little bit of flair and polish, and happened to come out while the movie 300- albeit not quite brand new at the time- was still mildly fresh in our minds.
Fast Forward a year into the future and lets evaluate the PSP version.
A Minis title should be well suited to the snackable, pick up and play experience that Minis section of the PSN store heralds... and while most of the other games there would fit that category, the same cannot be said about Hero of Sparta. This type of adventure game is best enjoyed fully, as an immersive, longer experience, which Hero of Sparta fails to capture.
Hero of Sparta also manages to look worse than the iPhone version, a tough feat to achieve! With muddy graphics and lack of detail, it is hard to understand exactly what you're fighting against. This could be a bloody sword fest against zombies set in greece and I would have believed it, it could also have been a bunny slaughter on the bright grassy fields. Who knows what those mumbled pixels actually truly represent.
It lacks any additional content, making it simply more expensive for less.
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Conclusion:
If you want some quick fun, try some of the other minis, there are actually some fun games there. With horrible graphics, mediocre controls and gameplay, lack of content, badly suited genre and more money.... don't bother with this one.
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Prof. Kelvin Harris writes: "Every day in the United Kingdom, we spend approximately 2.5 million pounds on coffee. I, like many others, think nothing of walking into a high street coffee shop and spending three pounds on my Massimo, Double Shot, Skinny Gingerbread Latte; so why do people baulk at the idea of paying that for a mobile game? I’m Professor Kelvin Harris, Codec Moments’ resident scientist. I am on a mission to document interesting games that cost less than your cappuccino, which might entertain you at home, on your way to work, or even during your coffee break. This week’s game for the ‘Cost of a Coffee’ is Gameloft’s Hero of Sparta which we played on the PS Vita in PS Minis format."
Following Electronic Theatre’s report on the PlayStation Network’s PSP Minis sale last week, a small selection of new titles have been added to the promotion. With each and every title offered at the significantly reduced price of 99p, there are few gamers who could resist the impulse to pick-up one or two of these gems during the ongoing sale.
Diehard GameFAN writes, "Last week's PSN update was dominated by one big name: Yakuza 3. The demo was good, though the fighting engine pissed me off some. Since then, there's been a spot of bother about the game, with the word that Hostess Clubs, as well as a couple of other cultural items, were removed from the game. This upset a few people – I was mildly annoyed – but even that was mild compared to the controversy created by the other big-name release on the PSN."
I was planning on picking this game up today but decided to hold off and read some reviews. I'll pass on this game. The only Mini game I've bought is Tetris. It's a good game, but I wish they had multiplayer options (ad-hoc or infrastructure).
Either way the PSP Go has been great. I'm glad I upgraded (yes, it's an upgrade) from my PSP 2000. Also purchased a set of Sony DR-BT101 bluetooth headphones. I can control all my music from the headphones while the Go sits in my pocket tucked away. Let's not even start on the ability to sinc PS3 DS3s or to Smartphones to access the 3G network. Internet anywhere anyone?