God of War lives up to all the hype, and that's saying something considering the Sony hype machine. It combines genuinely good puzzle solving with button-mashing combo fighting action in a blend that seems infinitely enjoyable.
I generally don't like puzzle games and get frustrated easily by them. God of War has puzzles, but they're perfectly designed so that they're not moronically easy nor are they "time to go read the faq 'cause I give UP!" difficult. Each one just requires a couple of minutes of thought, trial and error and make you feel like you've solved something semi difficult when done. And when you solve a puzzle, you get the reward - nicely animated and fun thrashing of mythological foes.
The fighting itself is pretty decent. The combos are basically button mashers, and there's a helpful block technique and an evade maneuver. Animations are good, if pointlessly gross.
My only minor complaints are with the gore level; I'm not offended or anysuch, but this game definitely over does it with regard to geysers of blood and bone-cracking sounds and screams and the like. The game would lose nothing without all that "appeal to the hip teenagers, make it gross!" crap if you ask me.