Now this is what Sony Santa Monica should have shown at E3. The new God of War III trailer shows what we'll actually be playing on PS3 next year. And judging by our first glimpse at the incredible in-game action, this truly is going to be a title of mythical proportions. Don't believe us? Check out the trailer below, then read our six reasons why GOW III could be THE game of 2009.

1) Wall running: Ancient Greek-style

OK, so we’re speculating a tad here. But nine seconds into the trailer and we’re pretty sure the God of War’s pulling of a POP-style wall run to cripple that Centaur. Granted, it could be a QTE. Although, judging by how far Kratos is from the half man/half horse monstrosity, this seems unlikely for a system that usually requires you to be within grappling distance of your foe to initiate.

So if this is indeed a real time mechanic, and not some glorified timed button sequence, could this mean GOW III will focus more on platforming than its predecessors? Personally, we think this would provide a welcome break from the relentless fighting and would give the game more variety.

2) It’s even more epic

The daunting scale and grandeur of previous GOW games is one of the main reasons why Kratos' adventures have been so lauded. And now the same scale that gripped you when you first saw the Steeds of Time or Atlas’ lair has been replicated in the game’s battles. Namely, with the number of enemies the fallen god is going to have to square off against at once.

There are two bits in the new trailer where you can see just how much more epic this game will be. If you look carefully as Kratos introduces the Centaur to the sharp end of the Blades of Athena, you can clearly see there are dozens of enemy cronies in the background. Couple this with the action at 00:00:21, and it’s clear the power of PS3 is going to absolutely shame the scale of GOW II’s battles.

3) The lion gauntlets could break a god’s face

Have you seen what they do to that group of skeleton-style enemies and that massive Cyclops at 00:00:15? It looks like the latest editions to Kratos’ arsenal could break ancient Greece. In half. Apart from being able to cause mini earthquakes, it seems you can also detract and extend them during battle, as seen 18 seconds into the video. We suspect they’ll be used for environment-based puzzles during parts of the game, although we really hope we get to cave Zeus’ craggy face in with them, too.