Squint or you'll miss God of War protagonist Kratos in new screenshots released by Sony today. Click through them here and I'll explain what in the world is happening via captions next to each shot.

The shots were captured from the briefest playable sequence of a major game that I've ever been asked to try. Last month, Sony was showing its early 2010 line-up a couple of blocks from Kotaku's New York City office and I charged over with expectations to cover God of War III. I could play it, but I couldn't cover it — for a month. Still, people around the demo station showing the game seemed giddy about the 90 or so seconds that were available to play.

The first shot sets things up just about where the playable sequence started. Kratos is on some terrain that, if you'd been paying attention to teasers for the game during the past year, you'd recognize as the back of a Titan — essentially a massive Greek super-God. See that Titan face over to the left? Over to the right, that Alien-looking thing was a water-and-crustacean enemy. Not necessarily a boss. As Kratos I fought the enemy, using some wrist-blade attacks with reckless abandon. (Click the next image.)