The unedited God of War III trailer has just landed on our desks with a wet thump and we're now even more excited about the prospect of next-gen God of War. Not only because it reveals the entire level is actually being played out on the back of a huge beast. Not only because the sense of scale is like Shadow of the Colossus multiplied by ten. No - simply because it looks like being the bloodiest, most brutal action game ever made.

See the trailer below, then check out our eight reasons why the game will be the superlative of 'brutal'.

1) Kratos is even more stab-happy
Our favourite anti-hero seems even more keen to get pokey this time round. In the trailer, we see him not only take down a centaur with a violent flourish, but then rip its guts out. Always good to go the extra mile, eh? Here's hoping there's less QTE and more fully interactive bits like this this time round.

2) PS3 makes the gore much more convincing
Forget flat flashes of red – the blood here looks thick and juicy. And actually very similar to that found in Gears of War… definitely a good thing. Even the skeletal enemies seem full of the red stuff, which is probably a tad unrealistic. But who's complaining?

3) The weapons are all kinds of nasty
Kratos has still got his signature weapon, the Blades of Athena, but there are plenty of other pain-bringing devices on show in the trailer. A centaur attacks Kratos with a spear that's got a mace attached to the other end and the skeleton army is equipped with spiked, angled swords. And then there's Kratos' lovely new gloves, Cestus, which we're still in awe of…

4) It's got evil crows 
Which like to pull the eyes out of dead people. A cosmetic detail, we'd imagine, but still brilliantly dark.

5) PS3 allows for more enemies
PS2 let you cut though swathes of bad guys, but PS3 looks set to go one better. Or, rather, all the way up to fifty at once.

6) You can control enemies
Taking a leaf out of Crash Bandicoot's book (shudder), Kratos can control large foes by jumping on and riding them. In the trailer, he uses a Cyclops' huge arms to take out skeletons while he stabs it in the head. Addaboy.

7) Harpie-ripping returns
At the end of the trailer, Kratos makes his getaway on a harpie - a winged demon. He causes it grievous bodily harm, seemingly for fun, but it's still alive as the scene fades out. But after the logo, we get another bloody little treat as the video returns briefly, and Kratos rips it in half.

8) Kratos looks ready to pull people's heads off. 
Either that or pop them like a zit. Either way, there's only one way this is going to end…

Want more new screenshots? Then check them out here.

13 Feb, 2009