God of War
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
I’ve played through nearly every entry in the God of War series. While on the whole I am a fan of the series, I would never say that I’m CRAZY about it. The games are a bit repetitive, and their storylines are usually all over the place. If this had been just another game in the series, I wouldn’t have been very excited to play it. But seeing as how this is basically a reboot with new characters, a new storyline, and a new setting, I was super pumped to give it a shot. Doesn’t hurt that it got rave reviews, either. I came into this game expecting nothing but the best.
Did it live up to those lofty expectations? Let’s find out.
Story:
God of War takes place an undisclosed amount of time after the events of God of War III. Kratos has put his violent history to rest and has relocated to Norway, where he lives in isolation with his wife Faye and son Atreus. When Faye dies, Kratos and Atreus are tasked with taking her ashes to the top of the mountain to scatter them. Before they can get started, they are attacked by a mysterious tattooed stranger, who Kratos kills (or at least thinks he kills) after an epic battle.
The basic plot of the game is Kratos and Atreus’s journey to the top of the mountain. It is a long, perilous trek. Kratos and the boy have to solve puzzles, open paths, and slay mystical creatures who try to hamper their progress. Atreus is a bit of a mama’s boy, and this is the first amount of real bonding time he’s gotten to spend with his dad. Much of the game focuses on their relationship and how they grow close together as the game goes on.
I don’t know why this came as such a big surprise to me given the fact that gods and mythology played such a heavy role in the first “phase” of the God of War series, but this game is filled with figures and locations from Norse mythology. Thor and Odin exist in this world. Action shifts from the centrally-located Midgard to other Norse realms like Jotunheim and Alfheim. The Yggdrasil exists, and you can use a chunk of the Bifrost to use it to cross realms. Dwarves, giants, trolls, elves, and magic are very real things in this world. Maybe I just assumed because the Greek gods were all dead in this series that it meant that ALL gods were dead. But in the God of War universe, this is not the case.
I don’t want to spoil any surprises, but along the way you will encounter lots of twists and turns in the plot. Stuff about Kratos’s past, stuff about his dead wife Faye, secrets of the lineage of his son Atreus (on his mom’s side), and hints as to what is to come in future games in the series. And there will indeed be more games to come in this series. The way this one ends makes it impossible for there NOT to be one.
Good stuff. If I had to complain, however, it would be that much of the story is told through conversations that talk place while you are walking around and exploring and solving puzzles. When I play games I am always very focused on what I am doing and where I am going. I lose track of what the characters are talking about, and before I know it I have missed a good-sized chunk of important plot information. I know that this is more of a "me" problem, and not everyone has this issue. But it affected my enjoyment of the game and likely its final score, so I have no choice but to bring it up.
Gameplay:
This game plays out in a far different fashion from past God of War games. Most of those games are filled with nonstop fighting, death, and destruction, with only occasional gaps in the action to allow you to solve a puzzle or two. This game is a bit slower in pace, and focuses more on exploration and character development rather than combat. Not to say that there isn’t combat. You are going to get more than your fair share of fighting in before this game is done. But I wouldn’t say that combat is necessarily God of War’s main focus.
Action takes place from a behind-the-back 3D perspective. Kratos is less agile and more grounded than he was in the past. You won’t be speeding around and jumping all over everything. He moves a lot more realistically nowadays. What you can do is run, sprint, climb ledges, and swing and throw your battle axe. That’s right, the Blades of Chaos are gone! Kratos has a new battle axe that you use in combat. You can swing it with either a quick, but weak attack, or a slow and powerful one. Different button combinations unleash different attacks. You can also throw the axe at enemies too. I found this to be a pretty cool feature. It makes combat feel more varied than it would normally, as it allows you to attack both close and long-ranged enemies at the same time. The triangle button brings the axe back to Kratos’s hand with a powerful fwoop sound, kind of like when Thor calls Mjolnir back to him in the Avengers movie. Admittedly, it made me feel super cool the very first time I did this, and the feeling never really wore off. Don’t judge me.
I was a little worried about the role of Atreus in combat. I didn’t want this game to feel like an escort mission where I had to constantly protect him and look out for myself at the same time. Luckily, this isn’t the case. I am not sure if Atreus has a health gauge, but I left him unattended in combat and he was fine. Enemies would grab him occasionally and I had to run over and hit them to make them drop him, but this only happened about ten times the entire game. I don’t even know if he would have died if I didn’t rush to free him each time. But yeah like I said for the most part he is not any kind of a hindrance in battle. In fact, he often helps you out. Hitting the square button makes Atreus fire arrows at your enemies. The arrows don’t do a whole lot of damage, but they do work towards stunning your enemies. Each enemy has a stun gauge that when it fills up, leaves them vulnerable to a powerful attack with the L3 (or is it R3?) trigger button. Most enemies die before their gauge fills up, but this does come in handy against boss characters or particularly challenging regular enemies.
God of War contains some RPG elements you don’t see in past games in the series. You collect money, experience points, and you can level Kratos up using a skill grid. Along the way to the top of the mountain you will encounter dwarf weapon shops where you can buy or upgrade your equipment. The world of the game isn’t necessarily “open world” as we know it. You start the game at a fixed location and you progress on a fairly linear, guided pathway for most of your journey. You can backtrack and visit old areas to collect things you missed once you get new equipment, but doing so isn’t necessary to beating the game. I’d almost say it is more of a 3D Metroidvania type game than an open world one.
Once you beat the game, you are allowed to go back and explore to your heart’s content. There is one location in the game that acts like a central hub. This is the closest thing to open world you will see from God of War. It is the Lake of Nine area. Most of this area you will explore during the story campaign, but you can hop on the canoe and check out uncharted islands and locations for secrets. I didn’t realize how much content was crammed into this section. I skipped over exploring most of the lake to focus on the story. I didn’t think there would be much out there to explore. I was wrong. There are missions from NPCs to take on, chained dragons to free, and plenty of secrets to discover. I came back after beating the game, and exploring the lake and its surrounding areas added another 7 or 8 hours to my total play time.
Even when I finally hung up my controller after I'd seen and done everything I had wanted to see and do, there was still a LOT of stuff left out there that I hadn't discovered yet. I could have easily sunk another 10 to 15 hours into the game, if not more.
Graphics:
There is no denying that this is a fantastic looking game. Kratos, Atreus, Baldur, Freya, basically every character in this game looks amazing and lifelike. They move, talk, and act like real people. The animation in the game is top of the line. The attention to detail is too, not just with the characters but with the environments. There were so many areas in this game where I just had to stop and look around and soak it all in because it was so magnificent. Beasts and wild creatures are designed beautifully as well. The deer with the glowing antlers: super cool. The way the tall grass sways in the wind. The world of the game feels so alive and authentic. I expected the whole game to be snowy and drab and dreary, but you visit a ton of bright and colorful locations.
The special effects are eye popping and over the top. When I first traveled to another realm through the Yggdrasil and all the colors on the screen changed and everything shook and the shapes flashed across the room, I nearly pooped myself at how awesome it all was. The whole game is filled with stuff like that. Magic spells, fires, dreams, hallucinations, glowing creatures. It pulls off the whole mystical theme supremely well and constantly left me in a state of "whoa".
Cinematography in the game is great. Right off the bat, you square off against a very challenging god-like enemy, and let me tell you it is one of the most epic and over the top introductions to a game that I've ever seen. Intense, action packed. It tells you right away what kind of game this is going to be.
Sound:
I just got finished saying how this game's presentation was of cinematic quality, and I have to say it is not only the graphics that are responsible for this, it is the game's music and sound effects as well. The music goes from booming and epic in battle to quiet and serene during the game's more personal moments between father and son.
All the little sound effects that you probably don't even notice really add to the game's environment. Wind blowing, waters rushing, birds chirping, creatures moving in the trees, all of this stuff helps immerse you in the game. You can't give all the credit to the game's graphics. Immersion is a team effort.
Voice acting is great too. I am pretty sure there is a new person voicing Kratos, but he does a fine job with the role. All the voice acting in this game is really good. It truly feels like Kratos and Atreus have a believable father/son relationship, and none of it would have been possible without A+ voice acting bringing the characters to life.
Overall:
It seems I have made it pretty clear I am a fan of the game's presentation, as well as its graphics, music, and sound effects. We don't even need to talk about that anymore. Now let's focus on what really matters: is the game any fun?
Short answer: Yes. It's fantastic. Play it.
Long answer: Yes. God of War is an excellent game, but I expected just a bit more from it.
"A bit more?" you say. Well, yeah. Remember God of War was voted game of the year in 2018. To me, a game of the year winner should be a mind-blowing game that I fall head over heels with. God of War is a really good game. You could even say it is a great game. But did it change my life in ways like Super Mario 64, Resident Evil, and Final Fantasy VII did for me in my teenage years? No. It didn't even touch me like The Last of Us or Telltale's Walking Dead did in recent years. Those titles did the whole "adult character protecting a small child" thing much better than this one.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the progression of Kratos and Atreus's relationship. And I did have a lot of fun playing this. But the game is not without flaws. The fighting gets old pretty quickly. I started running past enemies as I got closer to the end of the game because all the fighting was getting to me. Also, I already wrote up above how I don't like that much of the game's story is told while you are walking around controlling Kratos and exploring. There is a lot going on with this game's plot, and I often missed big chunks of important information because I was too focused on how to get over there to open that secret chest, or what order I had to throw my axe to break the glyph pieces. As a result, I didn't fully understand what was going on and why certain things in the game had happened. Wait, why are we going off course to find this witch person? Why do I have to travel to another realm? I thought we were headed to the top of the mountain. Wait, why are these people trying to kill me and Atreus? I had to go to Google or Wikipedia and read recaps of what I'd missed.
It almost didn't even make a difference, because the game is still a lot of fun to play even if you have no idea what is going on half the time. Fighting can be repetitive, but the big, epic boss battles are worth it. Exploration is fun. There are collectibles to find in this game, but they are more spaced out and not located every five steps like they are in Horizon Zero Dawn. The game's story keeps you moving from area to area at a brisk pace. The puzzles aren't too hard to figure out. You can even stop and explore around the Lake of Nine area to try to tackle side quests, find hidden treasure chests, and take on special challenges.
All in all, this is definitely a very good game and I can see why people like it. It is SO close to getting an A+, but I can't do it. It is missing just the tiniest little thing that I can't even put my finger on. I liked the game a lot, but I couldn't help but feel that I could have liked it a little more. Like I mentioned earlier, The Last of Us and Telltale's The Walking Dead really nailed the personal connection between the adult and the child characters. Both games had me in tears on at least one occasion. That never even came remotely close to happening here. There is a time or two where Atreus appears to be close to death, but I never took those threats seriously because he is too well-protected by plot armor.
Before I wrap this up, I need to point out that I forgot to mention that Kratos calls Atreus "boy" all the time. You've probably seen all the memes by now. You better get used to hearing it, boy. He says it a lot. And by a lot I mean a lot... boy.
My Verdict:
A
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