God of War: Ghost of Sparta is an action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ready at Dawn and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE).

The gameplay is similar to that of the previous installments, and focuses on combo-based combat, achieved through the player's main weapon—the Blades of Athena—and a secondary weapon acquired later in the game.

The player controls the character Kratos in hack and slash combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements, and battles foes who primarily stem from Greek mythology, including minotaurs, cyclopes, harpies, Gorgons, and satyrs.

The undead legionnaires, keres wraiths, geryons, automatons, Boreas beasts, and Triton warriors were influenced by the mythology, but created specifically for the game.

Platforming elements require the player to climb walls, jump across chasms, swing on ropes, and balance across beams to proceed through sections of the game.

Kratos learns to use up to three magical abilities, including the Eye of Atlantis, Scourge of Erinys, and the Horn of Boreas, giving him a variety of ways to attack and kill enemies.

The relic Poseidon's Trident is retained from the prior installment, which allows him to breathe underwater, a necessary ability as parts of the game require long periods of time there.

A Combat Arena (similar to the version in God of War III) allows players to pick adversaries and adjust the level of difficulty to improve their skills.

Minor characters include Lanaeus (Fred Tatasciore); a servant of Poseidon; King Midas (Fred Tatasciore), a king whose touch will turn anything to gold; the gravedigger (Paul Eiding), who warns Kratos to not alienate the gods; a loyal Spartan soldier (Gideon Emery); and Poseidon (Gideon Emery), the God of the Sea.

Zeus (Fred Tatasciore), the King of the Gods, appears in the "Combat Arena" (bonus feature) after the player selects the gravedigger.

[8] A series of flashbacks reveals that the oracle had foretold that the demise of Olympus would come not by the revenge of the Titans, who had been imprisoned after the Great War, but by a mortal, a marked warrior.

Prior to departure, Kratos encounters and frees the trapped Titan, Thera, which causes the eruption of the Methana Volcano, and subsequently destroys Atlantis.

Defeating both foes, Kratos journeys to the Temple of Ares, where he encounters the spirit of his child self and learns that he must return to the now sunken Atlantis and locate the Domain of Death.

At this point, Thanatos realizes Ares chose the wrong Spartan; it was Kratos who should have been taken, the "mark" being his red tattoo and the white ashes of his wife and child bound to his skin.

"[9] Athena appears, begs for forgiveness, and offers full godhood for not revealing the truth, but Kratos ignores her and returns to Olympus, promising that "the gods will pay for this.

Ghost of Sparta offers "over 25% more gameplay" than its PSP predecessor, Chains of Olympus, while adding more enemies on screen and a greater number of boss encounters.

At Comic-Con 2010, Jan noted that when development began in 2008, the goal was to make the game "bigger" than Chains of Olympus, which had "pushed" the PSP to its functional limits.

The trophy revealed a site called spartansstandtall.com—it initially featured a simple animation of torrential rain falling into a body of water and a Spartan shield encompassed by a meter on the screen.

For puzzles, Jan stated that they tried to make the outcomes unexpected because players assume that they will have to "push something, carry a body or smash something with [the] blades."

The collection is a remastered port of both games to the PlayStation 3, with features including high-definition resolution, stereoscopic 3D, anti-aliased graphics locked in at 60 frames per second, DualShock 3 vibration function, and Trophies.

[30] For a limited time, specially marked packages included a voucher enabling a download of the "Deimos Skin" for use in God of War III.

[34] God of War: Ghost of Sparta – Original Soundtrack from the Video Game—composed by Gerard K. Marino and Mike Reagan—was released on iTunes on October 18, 2010, by Sony Computer Entertainment and includes three bonus tracks from Chains of Olympus.

"[44] Joe Juba of Game Informer stated that "the other core fighting mechanics are familiar, but the tweaks go a long way toward improving gameplay".

[45] Simon Parkin of Eurogamer praised the battle system as strong, however, he stated "There is a sense that Ghost of Sparta is a step back for the series" and claimed that it is "best enjoyed by newcomers" or "those yet to play" God of War III.

[39] Nelson stated that it is "a game that upholds the standard of quality in gameplay, storytelling and sheer wow factor of the series, while also—like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker before it—blurring the lines between portable and console experiences with its amazing presentation.

"[44] Juba said that it "doesn’t have any mind-blowing moments", but "this isn’t an optional side-story; Ghost of Sparta is a must-play for God of War fans.

[42] Parkin, however, stated the "game's primary problem...is in its in-built focus" and that the series "is principally concerned with endlessly upping the ante."

He also claimed that the developers have "[taken] away the sense of wonder" that is expected of a God of War game and stated "the remaining components struggle to carry the experience.

[42] Parkin described the set-pieces as "incredible" for a handheld platform, however, he stated they "seem tired" in comparison to the opening scenes of God of War III.

[45] Kotaku awarded it "Editor's Choice", stating "God of War: Ghost of Sparta is a palm-sized epic video game.