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The story of God of War revolves around Kratos, a former captain in the Spartan army who sets out to kill Ares, the god of war. It is the goddess Athena who requests him to destroy Ares, as his army is attacking her patron city Athens. Since Zeus has forbidden the gods from directly declaring war against each other, only a mortal can stop Ares. But Kratos is already motivated by revenge; as the game progresses, Kratos' backstory is gradually explained, revealing that he had formerly been a murderous servant of Ares and had received from him his weapons, the Blades of Chaos (which, along with Kratos' recurrent nightmares, continue throughout the story to serve as a reminder of his past), but had renounced his service to him after the god tricked him into killing his own family.

After making it to Athens by ship, and fighting through it, Kratos learns from the city's oracle that the only way to defeat Ares is to use the legendary Pandora's Box, which can give any mortal the power to kill a god. However, the Oracle explains that the Box is hidden within the Temple of Pandora, carried on the back of the last living Titan, Cronos, who has been commanded by Zeus to endlessly wander the Desert of Lost Souls as punishment for his past actions. Kratos travels to the Desert to find Cronos, and upon doing so, gains entrance to the Temple after scaling the Titan's back.

Most of the game takes place within the Temple, inside of which Kratos must solve numerous puzzles and overcome hordes of hostile creatures to reach Pandora's Box. Ultimately, he retrieves the magical artifact, but as he does so, Ares learns of his success and kills him by hurling a broken pillar at him from Athens. After doing so, Ares sends harpies to claim the Box for himself. Kratos meanwhile, falls into Hades, the ancient Greek realm of the dead. However, he manages to grab onto a ledge, and fights his way back into the world of the living.

After escaping from the Underworld, Kratos recovers Pandora's Box from Ares (who threatens to usurp the other gods of Olympus), and opens it. The powers unleashed cause him to grow until he is the same size as Ares, and the two engage one another in battle. When Kratos has the upper hand, Ares traps him in an alternate dimension in which he is seemingly reunited of his family, but is forced to defend them against clones of himself. After saving them, Ares strips Kratos of his Blades of Chaos (and the magical powers he had acquired during his journey), and uses the Blades to kill his family. A distraught Kratos is returned to the battleground and, after finding the ancient Blade of the Gods nearby, succeeds in finally defeating and destroying Ares.

Despite his victory, Kratos is informed by Athena that the gods cannot rid him of his frequent nightmares of the past (since none can forget his atrocities), and only promised to forgive him for his sins. Thinking all his troubles have been in vain, he attempts to commit suicide by throwing himself off a cliff. However, Athena intervenes and takes him to Mount Olympus where, because of his service to the gods, he is offered the chance to become the new god of war. Kratos' magical abilities are restored, and he is given new weapons, the Blades of Athena.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_(video_game)#Plot