Ahead of its time
GOW does not shy away from graphic violence, and you will see that the hero is not necessarily always a "good guy". The game will ask you to desecrate the tombs of the dead and sacrifice a helpless innocent (sort of innocent...) to the gods in order to continue your progress, and you will witness as the game moves forward the memories that Kratos bears of even more vile things Kratos has done in the past.
You will traverse the heights of Athens, the sandy plains or the Desert of Lost Souls, Pandora's temple, the depths of Hades, and even an alternate reality in your quest to confront and ultimately murder Ares, the God of War.
Throughout the game you will gain new abilities and combo techniques. Some of these abilities are rewards from the gods for reaching certain points in the game or accomplishing certain tasks. The combos are techniques using the blades of chaos, and can be "purchased" using experience orbs collected by killing enemies, smashing crates, and opening chests. Your magic meter and health meter can be expanded by collecting phoenix feathers and gorgon eyes in chests throughout the game. An addition meter is the "Rage of the Gods" meter which, when it is full, allows you a limited period of time during which you become nearly invincible, deal out massive damage with each attack, and glow a pretty cool light blue color.
There are a variety of enemies, bosses, mini-bosses, mazes, obstacles, time-challenges, and all sorts of craziness to stop you from reaching your goal. Replay value is high, as there are many collectibles to find, hidden areas to access, and new features like the Challenge of the Gods to unlock and play.There are a few glitches. A minor glitch in the auto-targeting system can cause you to lose focus on an enemy you were previously locked onto, causing you to grab nothing but thin air (and thereby allowing your enemy a brief, unhindered moment to administer some punishment to you) when you go in for a brutal kill. There were a couple of isolated instances where enemies went through solid objects, Kratos got stuck on something that didn't technically exist in the game, enemies vanished without a trace, but these were very rare; I only have multiple examples because of the many, many times I have played this game. But overall, the game was a marvel of software engineering with remarkably few bugs.
If you are looking for a game of myth, legend, blood, guts, sensuality and unparalleled brute strength, look no further. This game will likely be a gold standard for years to come. I can only hope that GOW III is nearly as good as this (GOW II dropped the ball a little bit compared to the original, but is still a pretty good game). Buy it, you'll be glad you did!