When I was a mere whippersnapper and the Atari 2600 reigned supreme, Saturday afternoons usually meant one of two things. A long drawn out few hours of the execrably boring ‘World of Sport” starring Dickie Davis, or a rare treat – a TV outing for one of the fantastic Charles Schneer / Ray Harryhausen flicks that were sporadically broadcast from time to time.

Long before computers were capable of letting a visual director’s imagination fly, Harryhausen was tasked with bringing creature of myth and legend to life and he did so in an utterly convincing fashion. Using painstaking stop-motion animation, he brought the Hydra, the Ymir, Medusa and the Cyclops to life. Each would do battle against the hapless heroes in whatever legend was getting the treatment, whether it was ancient Greece or Persia.

One thing the God of War games have always been fantastic at is pulling the same trick, using bang-up-to-date technology to pit the shambling forces of evil against Kratos, possibly the universe’s angriest man.

The ash-covered “Ghost of Sparta” is back for a third game (not counting the excellent roll-up PSP title) and Sony’s Santa Monica Studios have squeezed the innards of the PS3 until it has bled forth the goriest killfest of the year.

As you’d expect, the first thing that’ll make your jaw drop is the sheer visual splendour of the title. During the opening moments where you finally take control, and the cut scenes merge seamlessly with the in-game action, you’ll marvel at the spectacle. Wearing its 18 rating firmly on its sleeve, God of War III does not hold back and you’ll be ripping out spleens, painting walls with giblets and generally doing a lot of very horrible things to a huge variety of enemies called forth by Zeus, the king of the gods.

For those new to the God of War storyline, Kratos has fallen out with the ancient gods of Olympus, lost his family, caused countless others to lose theirs and we find him in the third game with one absolutely unshakeable goal in mind – To turn Zeus into a bloody puddle.

Needless to say, the King of the Gods takes great exception to this and sends his brethren against Kratos. Without going too far into spoiler territory, you will face off against some of the most recognisable characters from greek mythology, and hopefully best them all.

Gameplay hasn’t changed much from the previous games. The combat is what you’re here for, and it’s as fluid and satisfyingly solid as it has always been. As before, you start with a fairly basic array of weapons, and will eventually extend your armoury to ever-more powerful mythical items, as well as several side arms and magical items that will prove invaluable to your quest.

In your first skirmish with Zeus’ forces, there’s gigantic satisfaction in pummelling, lancing and eviscerating baddies using Kratos’ signature weapons, the Blades of Exile. Like the chained weapons in GOW 1 and 2, these babies can be used in a variety of ways. Quick hits using the square button will get you out of trouble but using the triangle button for more powerful strikes can wipe out an advancing group of enemies with one blow, particularly when you start spending souls (the in-game currency) on upgrades.

Melee combat is one half of the story and you will also find a particularly useful ranged weapon early on in the game. The rest? I’ll leave you to find out for yourself but you’ll certainly find a favourite amongst the various types.

The game virtually throbs with detail, and though gamers this year may feel a bit overwhelmed with a selection of very similar titles (like Darksiders, Dante’s Inferno and even to some extents Bayonetta) God of War III is the daddy and shows exactly how a game of this ilk should be done.

As the quest progresses, the designers throw absolutely everything including the kitchen sink at you. Physical puzzles, gigantic battles and brain-melting visual trickery all contribute to the game’s (approx) 10 hour lifespan and that’s before you leap back in and play other difficulty levels and the extra challenges you unlock once the game’s completed. There’s no multiplayer but God of War III doesn’t need it, never has.

In this third episode it feels like the player grows to understand Kratos’ plight a little more, and the sheer hopelessness of what he’s trying to achieve at such a massive cost to himself and to the populace but most players won’t want to sit and analyse the storyline too closely. After all, what’s the point when the action is this much fun.

Although it’s nigh-on perfect, and a real showcase for the Playstation 3, the game’s let down by using the same horrible old quick-time events, button mashing and annoying analogue stick gestural stuff that have, to be fair, been stock in trade of the series since game one. It just feels a little disappointing that for a game this utterly fantastic, the developers couldn’t come up with a better way of delivering the set-piece action that’s so vital to the title’s success.

That said, I’ve never liked QTEs or button-mashing in any game and in God of War III the designers have at least towed the line and made QTE sequences follow the same pattern every time. It’s still jarring and immersion-breaking stuff for me, but other players might feel that removing them altogether would’ve taken too much of the game’s trademarks away. Still, if you can sit through one utterly awful “Guitar Hero-esque” puzzle with a straight face (or without cracking out your guitar controller for a quick swap around to help you get through it) you’re a better man than I.

Moans and niggles aside, God of War III does not disappoint. It’s a beautifully produced title full of polish and playability. Every encounter from the weakling undead minions to the gigantic boss monsters will make you work for your victories, and will really put Kratos (and you) through the mill. Load times are nippy (considering the game doesn’t install anything or at least does it all very sneakily while you watch the extended unskippable movie-like intro at the start) and save / checkpoints are plentiful ensuring that the action and flow is not disrupted when you finally quit through sheer exhaustion at 3 in the morning.

God of War III is another essential exclusive for the Playstation 3, and shows exactly what the machine is capable of in the right hands. If you’ve loved the previous games then you owe it to yourself to pawn your grandmother in order to get a PS3 and this. If you’ve never experienced the series before, this is a fantastic introduction to Kratos’ world (and if you can stand the import duty,  it’s definitely worth grabbing the Special Edition with reworked God of War 1 / 2 bundled – or failing that, picking up the original 2 games for the PS2 on the cheap).

Superb epoch-making stuff. Strip to the waist, dab on some talc, paint a red stripe on your baldy head and get waist-deep in gore!