VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Third ‘God of War’ follows familiar formula with bigger bosses ­— plus other mechanics are explored

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“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

That seems to be the methodology behind “God of War III”.

Good thing there wasn’t much broken. The “God of War” series is highly cinematic and possibly the most intense and visceral game franchise ever.

This one does everything the last two did, but even bigger.

Here’s an idea for how much bigger: the hydra, the massive first boss from the original game, is fairly puny compared to your average boss encounter here.

Kratos, Spartan warrior and former god hell-bent on executing revenge on Zeus, carves his way through the Olympic pantheon in what is supposedly the final iteration of the series — and he does it with just as much brutal style as ever.

The action in this game almost never lets up. Its fluid combat transfers well from fighting huge hordes of enemies to just one titanic foe, and the secondary weapons Kratos loots as he progresses are actually very viable and lethal choices, for the most part.

Dangling upside-down from a Titan’s palm as you grapple with a group of skeletal warriors is a relative respite from heart-pounding button-prompt ridden cinematics resulting in amazingly flashy and gore-ridden finishing moves.

All this is skinned in what’s probably the most impressive graphical tour-de-force on the PlayStation 3. Everything from the pores on Kratos’ skin to craggy titan body-scapes are rendered with breathtaking “realism,” if you can call mountain-sized giants realistic.

It’s easy to overlook because “God of War III” is so smooth in motion but, if you let Kratos pause for a moment to take in the tiny details on his garments and the vast vista he’s framed against, the graphics really do seem like the kind one could only dream about ten years ago.

The occasional puzzle brings back memories of good old “Legend of Zelda” block-pushing exercises but, in at least a few cases, some genuinely interesting new mechanics are explored.

Unfortunately, there are still a few cracks in the series. Repetition is a problem, though not as much in the combat, but instead in endless lever-rotating, switch-pulling and chest-opening.

And while everything really is bigger, tearing the living guts out of mythic figure after mythic figure just isn’t quite as novel as it was back in 2005. I swear, at this point, I’ve killed more cyclopses, minotaurs, gorgons and chimeras than every Greek hero combined.

Don’t let a little bit of same-ness discourage you, though. If you liked the first two at all or are just looking for roller coaster adrenaline in a Blu-ray disc, look no further.

You’re in for one Hades of a ride.

Four out of five stars.