Without giving away too much of the plot for God of War II, the story picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Still set in the same alternate Greek mythology setting, our man Kratos, the no-nonsense, "kill first, ask questions never," blood-lusting war god, spends his leisure time leading his armies of Sparta on a warpath to whatever. However, the gods have become intolerant of his insolence, and even his former benefactor, Zeus, opts to shut him down in a big, big way.

So, after a brief moment of being quite dead, Kratos is de-listed from the deity roster but revivified and now operating under the tutelage of a new omnipotent sponsor, Gaia, who sends him on a quest to hook up with the Sisters of Fate and make things right. Which, to Kratos, means kill-first-ask-questions-never revenge.

If you've played the first game, controlling Kratos is just like riding a bike. That said, for those new to the series, control is a little odd, but considering the ever-flowing, 3rd-person perspective camera angles -- which continue to make for gameplay that feels like an interactive theatrical epic rather than just a game -- controls really couldn't be any better, though you must learn to deal with on-the-fly shifts where "forward" suddenly becomes "slightly-left" -- brilliant, in fact, as in not broke, didn't fix.

Moreover, though you'll spend most of the game slinging Krato's custom twin-blades on rubber-chain bullwhippy thingies, powering up and learning new ways to use them, plus pilfering the occasional new weapon along the way, an optional in-game prompt screen will talk you through the basics, new-move controls and on-the-fly menu access. Thus, from the get-go, everyone can slash and thrash with glee, no worries.

Plus, as always, there are certain kill sequences where you simply follow basic prompts that appear large and loud -- like a big X button icon, or a rotating-thumbtack arrow -- so as to continue the otherwise impossibly amazing feats of fatality Kratos lays down on select enemies (the in-flight wing-rip and griffin toss is especially satisfying). Such sequences seem a loving nod to the classic laser-disc game, Dragon's Lair, which can play out as a feature length cartoon if you hit each mark on time. However, if you miss a cue with Kratos, you don't always die, sometimes you just get back to business of tripping the bullwhippy fantastic.

That said, there are moments where gameplay tends to degenerate into button mashing nonsense. Fortunately, even the simplest of hapless horde sequences have a do-or-die intensity to them. Plus, face it, even Kratos' most basic moves are a wonder to behold, so you likely won't mind to occasional redundancy. You'll probably relish the break, actually, because it's mostly one big badass boss after another, interspersed with the occasional wall-scaling, box-shoving, puzzle-solving exercise, a bit of mo' better with the ladies, and some verbal trash talking of the gods.

Note too that God of War II is not for the squeamish; the game continues with the excessive gore one would expect from a hardcore gods-and-Spartans tale. It's unapologetic in its brutality but if you can stomach that, it's delicious; cathartic giddiness incarnate.

In fact, the crowning achievement for God of War II has got to be the game's graphics, where there's more than one way to decapitate a gorgon -- but only one way to acquire the eye of a Cyclops (think about it) -- and where even more detail has been added to make each colossal environment uh, colossaller, while stuff in the distance -- the places you're ultimately heading --, stand in the background with ominously ornate detail, making it all seem even more massively daunting than the first game (in truth, each level is quite small, but they all look so big and busy as to convey a sense of Olympian hugeness). All this on the PlayStation2, no less; a system dwarfed by the new-generation consoles, but delivering more visual mojo than seems possible.

And while it's a PlayStation2 game, God of War II goes toe-to-toe with the best of the new-generation stuff. Sure, it looks a little grainy by comparison and may be limited by the last-generation programming conventions, but God of War II exemplifies the very essence of videogaming; it grabs you by the throat and asks you to wiggle the thumbstick, break free and retaliate with unrelenting, button-thumping brutality. What more do you want? God of War III, maybe? Coming up...

• TIP: After your first encounter with the Colossus in God of War II, you'll dive into and then emerge from a pool. Right there is a breakaway wall, behind which reside some ladies you can make nice with and they'll reward you.



• TIP: If you have your PlayStation2 or PlayStation3 jacked into an HDTV, Sony's fantastic God of War II will actually play at a better resolution with sharper, cleaner visuals. Revealed recently as a cheap, viral marketing "secret" and immediately misconstrued by many as "high definition mode," which is not, but it does make the game look better... call it "enhanced definition" at 640 x 448. To enable the feature, boot up either system and immediately press and hold L1+L2+L3+Square+Circle all at the same time. The legal notice screen will show in purple if you did it right.