God of War

God of War is the fifth full-fledged entry in the legendary series of slasher games. It is the first installment developed exclusively for the eighth generation console. The title was developed by the creators of the previous games in the series, Santa Monica Studios – the first-party studio of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The God of War series is focused on spectacular, blood-filled action and impressive system of battles against powerful bosses. The protagonist, a Greek warrior named Kratos, quickly became a gaming icon.

Plot

Kratos is once again the main protagonist of God of War. After wraith and madness-filled adventures in Greece that ended with the destruction of Olymp and death of many of Greece gods and heroes, the protagonist escapes to the far North where he looks for peace. There he finds a new love and starts a family. When his wife suddenly dies, he remains alone with a young son named Atreus.

Sadly, the two can’t live in peace. The Nordic gods are fully aware of Kratos’ role in the fall of Olympus and they fear him. The protagonists are forced to start a journey filled with bodies of demonic and fantasy beasts. During the journey, Kratos must face the consequences of his actions and the anger that is still buried in his heart. What makes things more complicated is the fact that Atreus gradually discovers his father’s past and his loyalty towards him diminishes.

Mechanics

God of War introduces previously unseen gameplay mechanics and it slightly changes them and the speed of the game. This can be seen in the change of the camera’s position – now it is constantly following the back of the protagonist like in modern action-adventure games. The style of the narration’ and tone of the story has been changed as well. Kratos abandons his favorite weapon – double blades with chains – and instead, he uses an axe that returns to him whenever he throws it. The weapon can be upgraded with magic runes. They enable the player to increase damage from elements like ice or fire to which some enemies are vulnerable.

During the adventure, the players travel through vast levels that hide many secrets, corridors and optional encounters with enemies. The game once again features spectacular battles with bosses – a characteristic trait of the whole series. Instead of multi-phase battles based on quick time events (where the player must press buttons displayed on the screen), now the players have full control over Kratos’ movement. Above the head of the boss, there are two bars – one of them informs the players about his health bar and the other represents how stunned he is.

Atreus helps in combat as well. The players can give him orders with a separate button. He can, for example, help the protagonist by shooting arrows. Similarly to his father, the boy gains experience, new skills and attacks.

Technical aspects

The developers of God of War took advantage of the power of the console in order to provide spectacular action and the level of graphics that was inaccessible for the previous entries in the series. The game features additional visual gimmicks and graphics options for owners of PlayStation 4 Pro. Once again the players can experience inventive ideas and impressive cutscenes and multi-leveled boss battles. The soundtrack was composed by Bear McCreary, an American composer who created music for awarded TV series like Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Walking Dead and Outlander.

Last updated on 09 February 2024