We were haters at first, but the new P.O.V. started to grow on us. Watching our character cartwheel through the air like a T.J. Hooker stunt double makes for some heady moments.

The first time we laid down a "Harmonic Combo" and watched as the body parts of our enemies literally rained down from the sky, we were hopelessly, head-over-heels in love.

The trademark 360-degree combat system still has us using the right control stick to assign attack buttons to enemies, but the fisticuffs now seem stale by today's action-game standards.

The graphics on the Xbox are as perfect as the platform can deliver, and walking into steam-filled rooms only to have the lights blink out, then hearing something hiss at you out of the darkness, are moments that would have made Dante soil his short pants.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is flatter than a bottle of Mountain Dew past its "Best By" date, but the polished gameplay makes the racing action a total gas.

Seriously, we did more cool things in God Of War in the first 20 minutes that we do in the entirety of most games.

The narrative is a bit thin—there's a new drug on the street called "Liquid Soul" and your task is to figure out where it's coming from—but once the fists and lead start flying, you won't really give a damn why you're doing what you're doing.

The narrative is a bit thin-there's a new drug on the street called "Liquid Soul" and your task is to figure out where it's coming from-but once the fists and lead start flying, you won't really give a damn why you're doing what you're doing.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

Much of the run-and-gun action is marvelously good but whenever we were just starting to get comfortable with a level or a particular set of weapons, the game was already zipping us off to someplace new.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is flatter than a bottle of Mountain Dew past its "Best By" date, but the polished gameplay makes the racing action a total gas.

It's pretty short—six to eight hours, tops. The Xbox version is the way to go, since the load times between "rooms" are a fraction of what they are on the PS2.

It's pretty short-six to eight hours, tops. The Xbox version is the way to go, since the load times between "rooms" are a fraction of what they are on the PS2.

And speaking of those late stages, don't plan on seeing them. Ever. This game is so controller-bustingly hard that even the one guy in the office who beat "Ninja Gaiden" ended up wetting himself, then shivering in a corner of the Xerox room all afternoon. Which is a real shame, because behind that near-impossible difficulty there's a big, beautiful action game here.

Another big change: You now have the ability to switch weight classes in mid-career, so you can go from heavyweight, to light heavy, and back to heavyweight again to beef up your bank account.

This game features the best hecklers of all time. When Boston's hirsute Johnny Damon steps to the plate, someone in the crowd shouts, "Cut your hair, you hippie!" Amen to that, brother!

The single-player campaign is a little too short and too linear, but we're guessing it's probably still about a hundred times more thrilling than anything you'll see in "Episode III" come this May.

Another big change: You now have the ability to switch weight classes in mid-career, so you can go from heavyweight, to light heavy, and back to heavyweight again to beef up your bank account.

The entire SNES-era "Super Punch-Out!!," one of the greatest boxing games of all times, is hidden on the disc. All hail the mighty Bald Bull!

Unfortunately, you can't play Tekken 5 online—say it isn't so!—but the easy-on-the-eyes Nina Williams can still kick our fat, pale asses any old day of the week. We love you Nina!

This game features the best hecklers of all time. When Boston's hirsute Johnny Damon steps to the plate, someone in the crowd shouts, "Cut your hair, you hippie!" Amen to that, brother!

It's also a tiny bit dry for our tastes. We prefer laying rubber, doing donuts, and crashing into exploding oil tankers to finesse driving and engine tinkering, but that's just us.

Using the various bio-augmentations is a hoot (one makes you invulnerable, another slows down time, etc.) Unfortunately, the developers were damn stingy with the save points, which means you'll be replaying some levels more times than you'd like.

We're fond of the new Hitter's Eye feature, which means that the ball changes color as it leaves the pitcher's hand, letting the batter know what kind of pitch is on the way to the plate. Red means breaking ball; white means fastball; green means changeup; and brown means that Randy Johnson has been into the Skoal tin again.

Using the various bio-augmentations is a hoot (one makes you invulnerable, another slows down time, etc.) Unfortunately, the developers were damn stingy with the save points, which means you'll be replaying some levels more times than you'd like.

We're fond of the new Hitter's Eye feature, which means that the ball changes color as it leaves the pitcher's hand, letting the batter know what kind of pitch is on the way to the plate. Red means breaking ball; white means fastball; green means changeup; and brown means that Randy Johnson has been into the Skoal tin again.

We're fond of the new Hitter's Eye feature, which means that the ball changes color as it leaves the pitcher's hand, letting the batter know what kind of pitch is on the way to the plate. Red means breaking ball; white means fastball; green means changeup; and brown means that Randy Johnson has been into the Skoal tin again.