The Underworld
River Styx
As Kratos swims through this eerie river, half of his health and magic as well as his abilities will be stripped by the savage river denizens. Continue following the river and limp forward to trigger a cut-scene, during which Kratos is bestowed the Blades of Exile.
Realm of Hades
Moving on, Kratos swings across the wide chasm to the platform. There are a couple of chests sitting at the bottom level, one of which contains a Gorgon Eye. Collect three of these to lengthen Kratos' health bar. Climb up the side of the wall to the top to meet some resistance. This is a good opportunity to experiment with a nifty new move that has Kratos fling his twin blades into the chest of his foes and propels him forward, slamming into his target and surrounding enemies.
While the path here splits, the choice here is made obvious because the path to the right currently leads to a dead-end. Moving past the save point, Kratos must double-jump and expand his wings to hop from pillar to pillar. Kratos is granted a new type of magic, Army of Sparta, which is useful against clusters of enemies. As if on cue, a horde of Hades' minions flock toward Kratos.
Only after all enemies have been eliminated with the huge spears blocking the way retract into the ground. Jump up to the long chain and shimmy across. To make traversing the chain more interesting, Kratos faces enemies hanging from the chain. Cross to the other side and empty the chests of its contents. Run down the hall and lift open the chests for red Orbs. Push open the doors at the end and step into battle.
The small room teems with standard enemy fare, but roaming prominently amid the crowd of small fry is a Gorgon, a slithering creature that possesses Medusa-like abilities. If Kratos ever gets caught in its gaze, you must furiously wiggle the Analog Stick to break free. Fortunately, the easiest way to deal with such an adversary is to repeatedly use Hyperion Ram (L1 + Circle). This never allows the Gorgon to react in reprisal and also shuts down its deadly stone gaze move. Execute the QTE prompt to clear out the Gorgon and the other enemies. A second Gorgon rushes in to replace the deceased one. Unfortunately for the Gorgon, it will be unable to escape the same fate.
Continue down, collecting the Orbs from their respective chests, and enter a vast chamber.
Peirithous' Chamber
Peirithous strikes an enticing deal with Kratos: free him from his thorny prison and Kratos shall have his bow. Good enough. Start by hopping atop the ledge above Peirithous and onto the chandelier-type object. Leap off toward the ledge along the left wall. An unlit brazier can be found here; push it off the edge and drag it toward the opposite end of the room, where a caged hellhound called a Cerberus can breathe fire on it.
The newly lit brazier releases a jet of uplifting steam. This allows Kratos to reach the lever in the alcove above by spreading his wings and riding the updraft. But first, you probably need to return to the moving chandelier near Peirithous to open access to the lever.
As you soon find out, the lever frees the hot-headed Cerberus from its prison. Drop down to deal with the mutt. Hyperion Ram doesn't work quite as well against the fire-spitting hound; dodge the fireballs and successfully complete the QTE prompt to gain complete reign of the hound. Gallop toward Peirithous while plowing through the clumps of enemies and pressing Cross to burn them to a crisp.
Use the tamed Cerberus to burn away the thorns and pluck Bow of Apollo from Peirithous' charred corpse. The bow incinerates the previously impassable patches of bramble. There's a patch of it on the ledge above. Fry it with a charged shot and use the brazier to hitch a ride to the level above like before. Pick up some Orbs and a Phoenix Feather.
Remember the path choked off by a thicket of bramble? It can easily be cleared away now and ultimately leads to the acquisition of a Minotaur Horn. Climb the ledge on the left and advance into the next room. A nice and easy way of taking care of the flying enemies in the next room involves using an aerial version of the Hyperion Ram. Jump into the air and tap the usual command to pull Kratos toward the target for a vicious beating.
Afterwards, head down and shuffle across, hugging the wall along the side of the cliff. Press R1 to drop into a hanging position and proceed onward. As you move Kratos along back towards the left, move to the far left, past a waterfall to find a Gorgon Eye in a chest. Double back and climb up to the top, where Kratos must hang from the ceiling and monkey-bar over the abyss. Spread Icarus' Wings to safely reach the prominent structure across from Kratos.
