He's entirely one-dimensional but it works for the story and gameplay. I don't love the character but I don't dislike him, either. He's an appropriate lead for what is basically a mindless action game.

If I went through what Kratos went through I would be just as pissed off. Everyone he serves betrays him. Every mortal fears him for what Ares made him do. He wanted to kill himself but the gods wouldn't let him, do you think someone who doesn't care about his own life can care about a random citizen?

It does make sense in the story if you played GoW3. He was overcome by guilt and had no hope for life until he opened Pandoras box and he actually cares for someone after he does (Pandora.) Only time I felt I hated Kratos was when he killed Gaia.

^^ Thanks for writing my answer for me rocket!

In the demo (haven't played the real thing yet) there was a guy trying to escape a burning building.  Kratos killed him, too!  And what about the guy in God of War 1 who thought Kratos was trying to save him that Kratos killed?  That was my uncle!!  For that reason, I have sworn vengeance on Kratos.

I was about to write "I really loved the fact that he was Lloyd father. Would have loved to see more out of their relationship, though... Oh, sorry, wrong game!".

You blew it away. I thought you should know it.

So you play God of War and die over and over? That's just mean...

I have a theory that most gamers like it because he kind of complements their nerdish characteristics (defined muscles, kill people who annoy it, have sex with hot women etc.).

Having no need of Kratos to complement myself haha I personally hate him.

Hah, no problem! I like Kratos the same way I like Master Chief. He's a vehicle to keep the story (term used loosely here) moving and little else.

It's really just "main character syndrome" at work though. Most casts have more interesting secondary characters. Who really likes Luke Skywalker? Yeck. Of course Malcolm Reynolds is a great exception, and Nathan Drake from Uncharted is pretty damned likeable in video games.

I don't think that's actually all that uncommon in games. I know I have spent HOURS finding new and interesting ways to kill characters I didn't like in games. I restarted the same Goldeneye level more times than I could count because I kept executing Natasha. In FFVII, I had Cait Sith in my party just to watch him die over and over again (especially against the Ruby Weapon, when I would restart if Cait wasn't the one kicked out of battle). I routintely execute Marines in Halo if they don't follow my (unspoken) orders within seconds. In MGS2, it didn't offer any fantastic ways to make Raiden die a spectacular death but I still tried my best to make it happen. In FPS and sandbox games, I spend an inordinate amount of time killing the main character.

... or maybe that's only me. If I don't like a character, I take delight in making them fail.