Up Next: God of War III

Oh yes. I felt I deserved a treat after the punishment I endured from playing Donkey Kong Country - and I can think of nothing more enjoyable to play than a God of War game.

My first job after graduating college was a sales clerk at EB Games. Not the best or most glamorous post-grad position, but it was a sweet gig. At the time, I had put a self-imposed boycott on PS2 games for myself. I was a Gamecube fanboy and for some ridiculous reason, I felt that PS2 games were stupid.

Then one day a Sony rep came into the store flaunting God of War - singing its praises, talking about how it was revitalize the PS2. I was like "yeah right - I'm playing Smash Bros - don't bother me." Then she gave us a store demo copy to play. My boycott instantly disintegrated. This was the most incredible game I had ever played. It was so vicious, the graphics were pushing the PS2 as far as it could go, the music was as epic as it could be, the controls were rock solid, the sense of scale was unmatched. I was obsessed.

Any guy who came into the store who was like "Uh...I'm sick of Madden, what should I play next?" My response would always be God of War. I used to say, "You'll feel so freaking manly while playing this game." I sold a lot of copies of this game.

My store manage was a total weirdo though. He was this older guy in his late 50s - knew nothing about video games, was cold to customers, refused to play music in the store (which made it really awkward), but he was obsessed with doing a good job and getting good numbers. The only thing he knew about games was what was on the back of the boxes and whatever promo materials we got at the store. So one time we were working together and a guy came up to the counter and asked us "What's God of War like?"

I was getting ready to answer excitedly, as I did every time someone asked that question, when my manager gave me the "I got this" look. I deferred to him and here's what he said:

You are Kratos. You must defeat the God of War. 

That was it. And guess where that's from? The back of the box. He read it verbatim. There was a few seconds of silence and the customer just kind of slowly backed out of the store.

Anyway - I love these games. At the conclusion of the second game I was literally jumping and shouting because of how freaking incredible the ending was. I'm so pumped to see this trilogy through to its conclusion.

God of War III for PS3 - let's do it!