During the arcade craze of the 1970s and early 1980s, game developers learned an important lesson: a successful game had to be "hot." No, before you ask, they weren't referring to T&A. By "hot," what was meant was that a game had to seize a player's attention, and do so quickly.

If an arcade title didn't grab the player in the first 30 seconds or so, he or she was more likely to take their quarters and move on to the next game. In short, a game that wasn't "hot" was likely destined to become a financial failure.

It's a lesson, in short, that many developers would do well to remember in the present day, and a lesson that far too many have forgotten. Fortunately, the God of War development team, headed by David Jaffe, appear to have taken said lesson to heart.

God of War grabs you by the short and curlies from the beginning, and for the most part, doesn't let up. There are a couple of moments where the game's pacing stumbles slightly, but by and large, God of War plays like a blockbuster action movie: carnage from start to finish.

Unfortunately, when I say "carnage," I'm not kidding. The "M" rating on today's games is generally well-earned, but God of War pushes the envelope clear off the map; it's the first "M"-rated title I've seen where I honestly wondered how it managed to avoid the "Ao" rating (Adults-Only), which would have been the kiss of death at retail.

The premise behind God of War is fairly simple: you are Kratos, a Greek soldier who has behaved like, well, a soldier. If this were Egyptian mythology, you might say that his heart didn't just outweigh the feather; it launched the sucker into orbit when balanced against it on the scales.

Anyway, Kratos has committed atrocities in war, the gods are most displeased, they make his life a living hell, you know the drill. But wait! All is not lost! It seems Ares, the God of War, has taken it upon himself to destroy the city of Athens, rid the world of its corruption, and so forth. The gods of Olympus, naturally, have this pesky little prohibition against divine infighting.

Enter Kratos: the gods will lend him their power, and "end the nightmare," in return for which service Kratos has to simply kill Ares. That's all, nothing major.

In addition to the powers of the gods, such as the Thunderbolts of Zeus, the Gorgon Stare, or Poseidon's Rage, Kratos also wields the Blades of Chaos, and it is these latter that will cause most of the havoc over the course of the game.

In keeping with the spirit of the "keep it hot" admonition, the controls are pretty basic. The left analog stick moves you around, the right stick evades, and the square and triangle buttons are your primary attack buttons. Pressing square and triangle in various combinations will unleash different moves, and as the game progresses, you'll eventually be able to add jumps to the mix, courtesy of the X button.

In addition to 'regular' attacks, you'll also see context-sensitive attacks throughout the game. Sometimes these will pop up in boss fights, where the only way to really injure the boss is to follow the on-screen direction. In other cases, following the commands will result in a more spectacular kill (and, frequently, a refill of health or magical energy). These context-sensitive attacks are basically "Simon Says" with the PS2 controller. As the action appears onscreen, simply mimic it with the controller.

So those're the controls, in a nutshell. As you earn experience (represented by red orbs), you can raise the effectiveness of any of your attacks by pouring the experience into said attack. As you add experience to the attacks, they'll gain levels, which in turn will make new combos available to you on the field of battle. Reminds you of an RPG a little bit, huh?

Moving on, God of War sports some of the more impressive visuals I've seen on the platform; one scene in particular that stands out is a cliffside view of Ares' assault on Athens, as the massive god deals out death and destruction, while flames and arrows rain down around him from the city's defenders.

The action is fast-paced, and even with enemies swarming after you, there's barely a hiccup in the frame rate. The character models are detailed, the animations are fluid, and the environments are vibrant, for the most part. There are a couple of situations where the lighting is a little dark for my tastes, and more control over the camera would be nice, but on the whole, there isn't much to complain about here.

Aurally, I could say the same. The music is stirring, and the voice acting is excellent, but as I've said with other games, can't help but wish that subtitles were present. It would make it easier for me (and other hard-of-hearing gamers) to follow what's going on, particularly in an environment that's not conducive to turning up the volume. It's a little bit like building a gorgeous mansion, and forgetting to put in the windows.

On the whole, though, God of War is an entertaining experience. If director David Jaffe is to be believed, it also represents just the first chapter in a larger tale to come - most likely on the PlayStation 3, more as a matter of timing than anything else.

It's a game absolutely worth experiencing, but I must reiterate, this is not a game for children to play. It isn't that the violence is necessarily more severe than what we've seen in other games, nor is it that the nudity and sexual innuendoes are that drastically different from other recent "M"-rated releases. Rather, it's the combination of the two.

God of War isn't just violent; it's gratuitously violent, and the sex, while certainly a part of the era depicted, just serves to reinforce the notion that this is an "M"-rated title for very good reason. I hate to sound like an old fogey on this one, but I just want parents to be absolutely certain what this title holds in store. If you're of age, you're in for a wild ride. If you're underage...do the gaming community a favor and wait until you're old enough. With the PlayStation 3 sporting backwards compatibility, you can be sure God of War won't be going anywhere.