By 2005, the dawning of a new era in gaming was approaching. Microsoft, who a few years earlier entered the console video gaming world, was preparing to release its second video game console hardware – the Xbox 360. Nintendo looked to shock the world with a new console system dubbed “Revolution” that would feature a remote control-like controller and ask potential players to interact with games by actually moving more parts of their bodies other than just their thumbs and fingers. And Sony, the big kahuna of video gaming, had its eyes set on changing the way high definition media was stored and played back with “Blu-ray” discs – something they hoped to utilize with their next iteration of the Playstation. But gamers were still happy to play what had carried them into the new millennium and beyond. Four years prior to the eventual big three making their intentions known about what was in store for the future of gaming, players joined together and talked about greatness systems like the Playstation 2 and Sega’s Dreamcast offered. On the Sony front, one particular game had a marketing campaign rooted in its time while set in an alternate reality during the height of Greece’s prominence in the world featuring the mythological gods ruling its people both to their benefit and their detriment, “God of War”. In the middle of it all was Kratos – a revenge-fueled Spartan warrior filled the brim with testosterone and a level of bloodlust that would only be quenched by slaying hundreds of warriors living, undead & even divine.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed the original “God of War” on the PS2, the subsequent iterations didn’t keep me as enthused about the franchise with very few games differentiating itself from one another as it was mostly Kratos killing his way up the Greek god hierarchy; though it’s hard to state if there is a single average “God of War” experience in the entire franchise. When the most recent “God of War” was announced for the PS4 I was taken aback as it seemed instead of focusing on the frenzied style of an action brawler originally perfected by “Devil May Cry” that was the “GOW” namesake was no more. In its place is a slower system featuring juggling enemies and pulling off elemental attacks by an obviously older, potentially wiser, and definitely just as brutal Kratos as he begins a journey with his son. After the pre-release hype gave this iteration “classic” status, I came into this one with the hope that it would live up high expectations set by both its predecessors and its competitors on the PS4.
Did I Complete “God of War” (2018)?
Unlike previous “God of War” games, the 2018 iteration features Kratos and his son Atreus living in the Norse realm of Midgard where their simple, country life is suddenly uprooted by the passing of their wife & mother respectively. What begins as a simple quest to pour the ashes of their loved one from the highest peak in the realm morphs into an open-world adventure full of mythical creatures to battle, gods to confront, copious amounts of collectibles to attain, and worlds to explore featuring everything from trolls to trials, hordes of enemies that must be defeated within certain stipulations, and more lore than one could imagine. As the story progresses so do the worlds’ availabilities and the ability to explore as the player sees fit while pushing forward the overall story. While I focused mostly on the story in my playthrough, I did spend a few hours of the overall forty-plus freeing dragons, doing violent favors for dwarf blacksmiths, taking on ancient creatures just napping until Kratos & Atreus show up and start picking fights, and getting slaughtered by the hidden Valkyries meant to be taken on by the most powerful version of Kratos. There’s still a lot for me to do if I want to attain the platinum trophy including destroying all 51 of Odin’s Ravens or defeating the aforementioned Valkyries, but the scripted journey of a boy & his dad has come to a mostly satisfying end.
Did “God of War” (2018) Live Up to the Hype?
There’s no denying it, “God of War” (2018) is almost nothing like the original PS2 offering or its sequels, but in the best way possible starting with the combat. Rather than sticking with the same combat style seen in its praised prequels, “GOW” goes with a heavier, slower, and, arguably, more satisfying approach where Kratos uses his Leviathan Axe and Guardian Shield from a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective to cut through & launch enemies upwards with the prior while blocking & even deflecting projectile attacks via the latter. The Axe can also be thrown by Kratos and called back to his awaiting hand at any time in battle a la Thor to potentially take a chunk of health from an unprepared opponent. Kratos’ Axe features an ice element attached to it that will allow Kratos to add a freezing status effect that slows enemies susceptible to cold attacks. Sometimes it proves to be smarter to fight with Kratos’ fists because one of the key ways to defeat an enemy no matter the size (and there are some big enemies Kratos must continuously take on in different environments) is by raising an adversary’s “Stun” meter – a meter that fills up faster from hand-to-hand combat compared to Axe strikes and the fire-based weapons Kratos attains later in the game. Once an enemy is stunned they will collapse and be prone to an R3-triggered one-hit kill.
With each successful attack, Kratos’ “Spartan Rage” meter becomes full. By pressing the L3 & R3 buttons at the same time, Kratos fires up and can unleash a series of fast, unblockable strikes be it simple punches to a giant stomp that’ll send everyone around him flying. “Spartan Rage” is best used as a last-ditch effort that can save a player from restarting at a checkpoint after dying if the player doesn’t have a Resurrection Stone (Kratos can only have one Stone in possession at a time) as landing strikes while in “Rage” will add some health to Kratos’ dwindling life bar. When it comes to Atreus, he’s more than just a passive ally as the boy can shoot arrows (at the command of the player courtesy of the square button or whenever the AI feels like helping) that transforms from mere methods of distraction to being a way to keep Kratos alive such as using one of Atreus’ summon attacks to keep enemies at bay while his dad finds a health orb to stomp. Both characters can be upgraded thanks to their changes in armor bought and/or crafted by the marvelous blacksmiths Brok & Sindri with Kratos actually having a numbered level attached to everything that he puts on his body that will determine how well he can take on certain adversaries (don’t expect to overcome an enemy with a purple-colored health bar because Kratos is too under-leveled).
Kratos & Atreus can add special “Rune” attacks to their weaponry that really opens up the combat options in the most minimalist way possible. With the upgrading of both characters’ weaponry comes the opening of the game’s skill tree that isn’t robust, but works incredibly well when the player pulls off something like a backwards rolls and hits the light attack button (R1) to toss the Axe for a hazardous boomerang effect. Learning enemies’ strengths, weaknesses & patterns is a necessity in “God of War” if a player wants to progress as no enemy class is the same and even the color palette change enemies featuring different elemental attacks can prove to be different than their counterparts in speed, strength & striking. No better example of this happens early in the game when the Reavers are introduced as sword-wielding, fire-based, easily deflected punching bags, only to have a another type of Reaver show up minutes later sporting a different color, shields & an ability to throw ice balls at Kratos. Failing against enemies rarely feels cheap as rushing and not paying attention against adversaries that are obviously strong enough to take Kratos down in a few hits are meant to be avoided & struck when the time is right. But the game’s combat isn’t perfect mostly thanks to the nearness of the camera in regards to Kratos’ positioning and indicators placed around his body whenever he’s surrounded by enemies (the number of enemies Kratos & Atreus fight at one time definitely doesn’t reach the absurd numbers of previous “GOW” games).
With the camera being too close to Kratos during the heat of battle and the indicators sometimes not flashing or even showing up soon enough in correlation to the moving protagonist it’s very likely a player will get hit without seeing it coming in the most frustrating fashion possible. Kratos can’t jump in this game, meaning there are times when enemies are knocked higher or lower than Kratos can reach and the player must wait or try to hit them with a well-placed Axe throw to succeed (not to mention reward items flying out of deceased enemies landing on a ledge that Kratos can’t attain). The enemy offerings are lacking as well; especially when it comes to boss battles. After a roaring start featuring two memorable boss fights (the second being one of the best in gaming history in regards to an early major battle), the game shows its lack of enemy diversity as there are barely five types of boss enemies with one type being completely optional and another having several color palette swaps. In truth, the minor enemies later in the game can prove to be tougher than any of the boss battles especially when it’s a horde.
Just as impressive as the world itself is the fact Midgard proves to be not only beautiful in this single shot (no camera cuts featuring a lack of loading when switching between gameplay & cutscenes) visual offering, but also dense in the amount of things Kratos & Atreus can discover. A majority of the collectibles – usually connected to the rarely brain-teasing, yet rewarding puzzles – either expands upon the world’s lore (kept in a small-printed journal written by Atreus) or helps Kratos become a more effective killing machine by boosting his health, rage and attack variety. Fans of Norse mythology will get a kick out of the re-imaging of some famous & infamous figures including Freya and Baldur – something made even better by the stellar voice work by everyone involved especially standout side characters Brok (Robert Craighead) & Sindri (Adam Harrington). This game’s soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful with a more somber, folk-focused approach that fits incredibly well in correlation with the setting.
The visual presentation does have some faults including small text when it comes to subtitles and framerate drops, though the latter happens rarely. And realm hopping in “GOW” isn’t as memorable or even critical to the story as a majority of the realms are locked until post-game or after completing certain side quests. These extra realms usually don’t provide much in the way of narrative, just more combat and item collecting. Bringing it all together is the story of Kratos and his son setting out on a journey to honor the sole woman in their respective lives they held dear. Beyond the violence shared by both father and his offspring is a simple narrative of understanding one another; accepting their truths, and, most importantly for Kratos, coming to terms with his actions in a time before Atreus existed. Their budding relationship also ties into the gameplay as Atreus will ask his father what Kratos thinks of his performance after a battle; resulting in Kratos becoming more complementary and the two feeling more like a unit than at the start of the game. Unfortunately the need to make a more long-lasting plot causes meandering with at least third of the experience featuring backtracking – something that isn’t helped by the game’s lacking fast travel system that doesn’t fully work until the last third of the game and sometimes are placed in inconvenient areas.
As with any video game, “God of War” isn’t perfect with its flaws becoming obvious as the game progresses. But for every minor negative there’s a profound positive that truly puts this iteration of “God of War” near the top, if not at the top of lists ranking both great Playstation 4 exclusives and the “GOW” franchise.
Should You Play “God of War” (2018)?
The term “system seller” gets thrown around a lot when it comes to exclusive AAA games, but a good amount of them either have shortcomings that remove them from the conversation of classic video games or just aren’t able to reach that status of greatness. Though it’s completely different from anything before it in the franchise, this “God of War” is so much like its original predecessor – a standout Playstation exclusive released near the end of a gaming generation that shows just how much power & promise the console still has; convincing some that there’s still a lot of life left in both the genre it’s a part of and the system it’s played on be it an original PS4 or a PS4 Pro (the game works incredibly well on both). The combat change and Kratos’ relationship with Atreus are the real draw points of this “God of War” with the linear open world, RPG elements, and visual & aural presentation being the icing on the figurative cake. “GOW” is one of those experiences that will stick with any gamer for a long time and deserves to be played if you’re a PS4 owner or have been on the fence about picking up a Playstation 4 and needed that one game to make it a worthy purchase.
