God of War

makes me happy.

So about a week ago I finally decided to buy that copy of God of War that's been glaring at me for the past year or so, angrily waving about a chain blade and yelling "by the wrath of Zeus you will buy me!! D8<". I figured after such an open and heart felt statement I couldn't possibly leave it lying there on the store shelf, alone and unloved. After all even murderous spartan nut jobs need some love. So after buying the game at half price (the reason I usually wait to buy games. Limited budgets are limited) I had to wait a bit to play it because I had my afore mentioned camping trip to go on and when I got back I remembered that I had borrowed my playstation 2 to someone in my family. So sadly my blood lust would have to wait a few days. But thankfully I went over to said family member and retrieved my playstation on Saturday. After a brief stint of running around in Star Ocean 3 (Till the End of Time, if you don't know it. Decent RPG really)I finally broke out GoW and got straight into beating the holy hell out of a giant Hydra.
It was while I was manically slamming down on the O button (crazed laughing and screaming in tow) to force the big ugly beasty's head down onto a broken mast that I remembered how much I adore slaughtering digital life forms. It's been quite a while since I've played anything remotely like GoW and when I really started getting into the game and the massacres started I found myself giggling like a pyro with a crate full of matches and a barrel of lighter fluid. I had my lovely little spartan warrior dashing about, swinging his chaos blades like a mad man, practically drooling at the blood and gore. Heck I even started killing poor Athenians that just happened to get in the way.
Now you see anyone who knows me (and I pity the poor fools because I must drive them nuts) will know that when I play games that allow you to choose between a path of Good or Evil I will always choose Good. Oh I might start out with something a little naughty but I almost always feel bad and end up redirecting myself toward the path of light. So when I found myself laughing manically as I slaughtered adorable little Cerberus pups and slicing up anything from giant ogres to harmless peasants (they do come in handy for a little health boost when you need it) I was understandably a little surprised. It's been quite a while since I've indulged in a little digital slaughter and I'd forgotten what a fantastic stress reliever it can be. Beating the crap out of something when it has no consequences or aftermath involved is pure bliss to those of us who lead dull, work-driven lives during the week. I was so hooked up in the game that I was playing long after my mother decided to reclaim her bed (the perch I was using for my slaughter fest. It's more convenient than the living room because it just happens to be a squishy place in front of an extra TV that's loaded with cushy pillows), coffee cups littering the floor and eyes bloodshot with mad malice. My mother must have thought I'd gone beyond insane by then.
If that weren't enough I was still massacring Athenians and monsters the next day when my sister and her man came around for a visit with their new puppy, which promptly reminded me of the Cerberus I had annihilated only moments before (if not for the fact that both dogs are diabolically adorable, then for the fact that my sister's puppy is both very playful and very stupid...and has very sharp teeth).

Now I'm sure by now you are wondering where in the name of Zeus I am going with this. Well to be honest I'm not entirely sure myself. Maybe I just felt it necessary to ramble on about how epically awesome I find God of War and how much I enjoy swinging a sword around to cut up anything in my path. Or maybe the point is in the benefits of good old fashioned digital violence and its positive effects on the stress levels of working individuals with nothing better to do.
Either way I say good gaming and happy plundering, pillaging and general mayhem for all.