Let's go all the way back to the beginning, folks. In fact, let's go to the start of the beginning, and see how far Kratos has come to become the badass that we all love in God of War: Ascension's first half hour of gameplay.

This video, courtesy of Polygon, shows off all the brutality we've come to expect from Kratos and some of his early skills. But most importantly, we get a look at the game's story.

At the start, we're treated to some back-story about a hundred-armed giant named Hecatonchires who was punished by the Furies after betraying Zeus. This being was to be eternally punished, since the Furies thought that death "was too kind." We then see Kratos chained up, thanks to these retribution-seeking creatures, and surrounded by strange bugs.

Megaera, one of the Furies, comes by to torture Kratos and teach him respect with a couple of clawed uppercuts. Of course, this would be a boring game if we just saw Kratos being pummeled over and over, so the god eventually breaks free of his chains and goes after Meg.

The video is below, for your viewing pleasure, but do keep in mind that there will be massive spoilers since this is the first 30 minutes of the game. God of War: Ascension hits store shelves on March 12th, 2013.

Let us know what you think of the start of Kratos' latest journey in the comments!

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