Greek mythology is filled with epic stories, fearsome creatures, and larger than life heroes, so you’d think it would be a natural setting for many video games. For some strange reason, though, it has been pretty much ignored by game developers. God of War will attempt to correct this oversight when it debuts on the PlayStation 2 in March of 2005. God of War puts you in the role of Kratos, a Spartan warrior of heroic proportions, and will draw heavily upon classical mythology for its monsters, magic, and settings. The game opens with you committing suicide by jumping off of a tall mountain. As you fall the game fades into a flashback of the chain of events that led you to your current situation. The game thus really begins three weeks in the past, and as you play you’ll learn about his quest to kill Ares, the god of war, and how it drove Kratos to kill himself.

Fighting on the ropes high above the ship's deck.

It all begins on a dark and stormy night. Seriously – I know because I was able to play a preview of the game. Anyway, you’re on the deck of a ship being battered by the storm and before you can take a single step you’re surrounded by skeletal warriors. By dropping you into the fire right from the start, the game sets the tone for the nearly non-stop action to follow. You’re armed with duel swords known as the Blades of Chaos and it’s amazing what you can do with them. They’re connected by a chain so you can use them as a whip, spin them around to make a deadly circle, and of course to hack and slash your enemies with a slew of combo moves. Control is pretty easy and utilizes heavy and light attack buttons. You can use these buttons in different sequences and combined with moves performed with the controller sticks to pull off a variety of moves – many of which are enemy specific. The Circle button can be used to grab onto an enemy, and then you can slay, throw, or severely injure him. There are a surprising number of moves in the game and some are context sensitive to your enemy or location. You can crush skeletons into dust and cut the wings from harpies. When climbing the ship’s scaffolding you’ll be able to pull enemies off and drop them to their deaths below and if you’re swallowed by a hydra you’ll have the chance to push open its jaws so that you can escape its maw. All of this combat is very fluid and easy to control, so even action game rookies will be able to string together some wicked combos.

The opening ship battle gives you a good glimpse into the different facets of gameplay you can expect from God of War. You’ll need to walk planks between ships, break your way through blocked corridors, zip-line down ropes, and solve puzzles such as how to get past a group of archers perched high above your reach. There are also boss battles to provide even more excitement, in this case you must fight several as hydra heads have the disturbing habit of busting up through ships or swing at you from the sea. You’ll also receive your first god power, courtesy of Poseidon. In this case you can invoke his rage to send lightning strikes at your enemies, and through the course of the game other gods will give you magical powers as well.

Some games take a little play before you warm up to them or before they hit their stride. God of War hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. It looks like it will be an action-packed, lightning fast, and brutal experience when it is released this March … and I can’t wait to play it.