God Of War is the playable answer to the 1981 Ray Harryhausen epic Clash Of The Titans, though technological advances means that the game doesn't have to share the film's ice-age special effects. A brutal experience that often feels like a movie crafted by Starship Troopers director Paul Verhoeven, God Of War puts players in control of Kratos, a Spartan busting up the undead in mythological Greece. The cinematic opening has the anti-hero launching into a suicide swan-dive off a cliff edge, but before he gunks up the rocks below, the game calls a time-out and puts him back in time, at the tale's beginning. You then play through his journey, which has Kratos, a murderous human, trying to play Greek god. Going after Pandora's box, Kratos violently surges through massive, beautifully realized landscapes, hoping to gain the power to kill Ares, the god of war.
To battle baddies, Kratos relies primarily on two slingable swords attached to long chains. With this potent hardware, you can carve opponents up in standard fashion, or whip them into the air and do the damage six feet off the ground. Outside of these thrashings, you'll twist off Medusa's skull, tear the wings off low-flying harpies, and finish off minotaurs by feeding them a knife sandwich. You're also handed the proverbial keys to some magic powers, acquired from different gods. You'll score Poseidon's Rage (a splash of energy that deflects enemies), Medusa's Gaze (the ability to turn adversaries to stone) and Zeus' Bolt (lightning from the heavens).