18 cert, Ready at Dawn/Sony Playstation 3 ****

God bless God of War,the violent and forceful franchise that's spawned a legion of fans and rapturously received sequels. Now the PSP spin-off games, Chains of Olympusand Ghost of Sparta, have been spruced up in HD for a PS3 reissue. As always, you play Kratos, a tragic Spartan warrior. Kratos's journeys usually take him to battlefields and horrific otherworldly places, from a harbour under Persian attack to Hades itself, duking it out with mortals, monsters and gods. The games are more sophisticated than your average hack-and- slashers: the combat is varied and exciting, the puzzles smart and fair, and the quick-time events inventive. All of this is propelled by a grandiose score, spirited voicework, imaginative graphics and eye-gouging, neck-snapping, face-stomping violence. Well, it's not called God of Kittens, you know.