Santa Monica began development of "God of War" in 2002, under the working title "Dark Odyssey", and unveiled it two years later at SCEA Santa Monica Gamers' Day 2004. In a meeting with GameSpot at the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the developers said there would be 15 to 25 different attacks with the player's main weapon in the final game, with a free-form combo system that would allow players to combine moves in almost any order. GameSpot said the developers described the gameplay "as merging the action of "Devil May Cry" with the puzzle-solving of "Ico"" and noted that players would be able to "sunder enemies with a single move, such as by ripping them in half".