Pre-E3 blowout day two: PS2/PSP

God of War II
We had a blast disemboweling our way through an imaginary zoo's worth of Greek monsters in God of War, but ultimately it left us hungry for more. And while we've only seen a little of God of War II, it already looks to deliver everything we want - namely, more epic-scale action, more puzzles and buckets of gore pulled raw from the quivering bellies of mythic abominations.

But God of War was more than just a gruesome spectacle, and while most of what we've seen involves Greek death machine Kratos tearing the eye out of a Cyclops or slicing the wing off a gryphon in flight, we're hoping for more of the fast, visceral thrills that made the first game so great. Brief flashes of the action have revealed that you'll still swing around Kratos' whiplike, chain-linked swords, and we've also seen Kratos wielding a bow and some magical attacks, so our hopes are high.

If nothing else, the sequel looks to pack in the same high level of graphical detail that made our PS2s choke last year, with sweeping vistas and vast, gleaming temples to explore. It's not due until early next year, but the snippets Sony's shown so far look so polished that we wouldn't be surprised to see this in playable form at the show.