God of War: Chains of Olympus is an epic-based third-person action game developed by the company, Ready at Dawn. It works as a prequel to the original game, God of War, and is the fourth installment in the series. The main plot takes place in Ancient Greece and features a loose adaptation of classic Greek mythology. The story revolves around the character Kratos, a warrior from the island of Sparta. To repay the god Ares for saving him in the previous game, he offers his services to the Olympian deities. In this game, Kratos is instructed to travel to a city named Attica and defend it against Persian military forces. He must fight and kill a huge reptilian beast called a basilisk, which was unleashed by the Persian army to terrorize Attica. The levels involve various locations in Attaca, which the player must explore in order to defeat enemy soldiers, cyclopes, sirens, medusas, and other creatures in Greek mythology.
After killing the basilisk and defeating the Persian invaders, Kratos notices the sun fall from the heavens. Under the guidance of the goddess Athena, Kratos fights Morpheus and Persephone in order to rescue the sun god Helios. Combat moves are combo-based and the player must use them when faced with various creatures like harpies, satyrs, minotaurs, and sphinxes. The player will also encounter chests that contain green health orbs, blue magic power orbs, and red experience orbs. Bonuses can also be earned by completing the game.