God Of War III: Incredible, bloody, unforgettable

I've been playing Sony's highly anticipated "God of War III" for a few weeks now and I'm just amazed.

I'm amazed at the graphics, the violence, the blood, and the depth of the story and characters here. Like God Of War II, this is a real candidate for the game of the year. And like GOW II, this is not a game for anyone younger than 18. Beyond the violence, there is nudity and rather graphic depictions of sex, both group and same sex.

GOWII ended with a big cliffhanger, a man turned greek god, Kratos is ascending Mount Olympus on the back of a giant creature, a Titan called Gaia. His mission: kill all the gods, including Zeus himself. Kratos, a former captain of Sparta's army, believes Zeus has betrayed him. He intends to destroy the most powerful Greek god of them all.

If it sounds a little like a Hollywood blockbuster, well, it is, and it's got just as much violence as "300" ever did. We're talking heads ripped arms, arms cut away, blood spewing in all directions; some really violent stuff. And, yet, this game is breathtaking. There are characters here, called Giants, that are immensely large, and they are drawn superbly to scale. The worlds themselves are huge and you can interact with virtually anything in them.

Some of the animation scenes -- parts of the game where you see action but cannot do anything -- are as impressive as anything you'd see on the big screen. I'd go so far as to say this is the best action adventure game of all time. Ever. I didn't see any animations in portions of the game that were open for play that didn't appear to be happening in real time (as opposed to a character made to run to a certain point automatically or climb a wall without you controlling him).

You can gain addition weapons as Kratos by taking down your prey, best achieved by mastering button combos to allow him to make multiple strike attacks.

I will tell you that Sony promises this is the last game in this story line, but maybe not the last in the series. I will tell you that Kratos fails in his attempt to start the game at destroying Zeus. He's betrayed again, by Gaia, who could've saved him. As he descends to a river in the Underworld, where he's attacked and weakened, he swears revenge on her, too.

And from there, if you're good enough, Kratos will find his way out of hell, and start working through his enemies, which include a familiar character named Hercules, boring through them -- if you're good enough -- like Tony Montana in the last hour of the 1983 cult classic "Scarface."

The action never stops and your fingers will virtually never come to rest on your PS3 controller. Played on a hi-def TV with the volume turned up, this game will enthrall you.

But parents, be warned, this is too much for your teens.