In God of War, you play as the mortal warrior Kratos, a muscular Spartan warrior who is on a mission from the gods of Olympus. Ares, the god of war, has attacked the mighty city of Athens. Athena, who cannot fight Ares as Zeus has forbidden gods to fight amongst themselves, has asked Kratos to acquire Pandora's Box, a powerful item that frightens the gods themselves. If Kratos can find Pandora's Box, he can save Athens, and kill the god of war

 

Kratos has two default swords that he will always carry with him called the Blades of Chaos. They allow you to perform combos, which will constantly climb until you can no longer fight (you've killed everyone in the area), or you take too long to register another hit. The higher your combo total, the more red orbs you get from defeated enemies

 

Similar to Devil May Cry, the red orbs you collect from fallen enemies can be used to purchase upgrades. You can upgrade your default weapons, so that you can learn new moves and strike faster, or you can put the orbs into different weapons acquired throughout the game, such as Blade of Artemis

 

Kratos will, over time, also have access to a selection of magic spells. At specific points in the game, you will be able to generate an arc of electricity, courtesy of Zeus, or you will be able to use the decapitated head of a Gorgon to turn enemies into stone, using Meduza's Gaze

 

God of War features several unlockable extras, which are only acquired when you beat the game on the different difficulty modes. Most of the features are a behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of the game, such as creating the world, modeling Kratos, and a look at deleted levels that didn't make the final cut of the game