300: March to Glory
When it comes to movies that carry the banner of machismo, there aren't many more that do so as bluntly as last summer's blockbuster, 300.  Adapted from a Frank Miller graphic novel of the same name, 300 has just about everything a man would want in his movies: an awesome king, tons of screaming people with swords, battles with said screaming people, one of the most kick ass one-liners in history, blood, gore and boobs.  I'm sure there are a couple things I'm forgetting in that list, but sometimes, it's all too much awesome-ness for a mere mortal to comprehend.

It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that the game isn't all that good.  Now, to be fair, the game was only released on the PSP, so judging the graphics or the quality of sound simply isn't fair.  Competing against last generation consoles isn't what the PSP was made to do and that's understandable.  

What isn't understandable however, is why there wasn't a next-gen version of 300: March to Glory.  With a film that has such stunning visuals, the graphical horsepower of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 would do the film some justice.

As soon as the game starts, this title feels like a much slower version of God of War.  The game just boils down to wandering into a small area and mowing down everything that gets in your way.  After a while, that gets somewhat repetitive.  The way the game tries to mix it up, with different types of Persian warriors, each with different types of armor and weapons.  Generally, the gameplay never really changes aside from the Phalanx sections of the game.  All that happens is that instead of controlling just Leonidas, the player controls a line of Spartans standing shoulder to shoulder with one another.  From then it's a march forward and systematically breaking down your enemies with timed blocks and attacks.

Another short-coming is the camera.  Seeing as though the PSP only has one analog nub, the only use for it is movement of your character.  This makes the camera controlled by the CPU, which as many gamers know, usually spells out trouble.  In some segments of the game, some enemies will hit Leonidas without the player knowing what happened, simply because the camera can't be moved by the player.  This is just as frustrating as it sounds.

All in all, this game has many flaws and not enough real strengths, unlike its movie counterpart.