Kratos returns for more brutal violence with bits of family feels in Santa Monica Studios’ God of War (2018) review.

We left Kratos last dying after ushering the destruction of the Greek pantheon and the end of their world. There was a tease at the end of his survival and now we find out that he managed to find a new land and even start a new family with his wife Faye and son Atreus.

The actual game picks up with Kratos and son on a quest to scatter the ashes of Faye and encounter all sorts of trouble along the way.

Gameplay

Everything we loved about God of War from the past games return here. The puzzles are still insane and engaging, the fights, whether big or small, are high octane and the controls are simple.

But don’t think for a second that you can master the controls and it will bring you victory because as you progress and unlock better moves, it becomes trickier especially since you also control the actions of Atreus here. So imagine doing a cool attack with L1 and R2 and then switching L2 and Square consecutively.

Visuals

Gone are the days when its a third person button masher as God of War 4 or God of War has followed the style of another Sony game called Uncharted. Turning the camera angle to such a way makes the game more in-your-face and immersive. It also lets you suck in the worlds before you unlike ever before.

I’m pleased to write in this God of War (2018) review that the game looks amazing whether its the characters, the various realms you have to prance around and murder around in and the atmosphere that the game provides. Midgard for example looks like a normal European forest with dense foliage and all sorts of animals and then the story forces Kratos and Atreus to venture into another Norse realm called “Vanaheim” or go to hell in “Helheim” and you see the complete change.

So while everything looks beautiful in this game, there’s a bit of repetitiveness from time to time. It’s not lazy but more of, following the theme of the world by recycling stuff here and there.

Narrative

I love Norse Mythology just as much as Greek Mythology and seeing bits and pieces and reimaginings of the various elements from Norse myth made me go wild over this game. One of the biggest moments in the game comes towards the end and while I won’t spoil that particular bit, I am going to say that it was awesome. Plus the fact that I never saw that coming AND it humanizes Kratos more makes it thrice as appealing.

The game features Baldur as the main enemy with heavyweight characters like Odin and Thor either mentioned or entirely absent. But the effects they have on all the realms can be felt.

What can also be felt is the effects of Kratos and Atreus path of destruction. Again no spoilers here, but you can definitely say that Kratos just loves to rekt humanity and the world wherever he goes. And Atreus too, although he’s too young to do so, but he definitely has his share of things that screw the world.

I love the look they gave to various characters here from mythology from Mimir to Freyja to even the Valkyries (who you have to hunt down and kill in spectacular fashion).

I love the foreshadowing in this game; if we weren’t all too keen on calling the game “Dad of Boy” I’d probably call this “God of Foreshadowing”. Because it foreshadows everything from the game’s final battle to the next two to three God of War games which are all set in Norse Mythology.

Other Stuff

Missions – I would have been preaching to the heavens and back if God of War had more missions that the player can do. Sadly, we’re limited to three to five extra missions from Brok and Sindri. Then there are the treasure maps and the quest for the “Infinity Gauntlet” within the game. But at least its doesnt get too boring because you either explore new

Pop-Culture References – There’s A LOT of popculture stuff referenced here in this game. Whether its a play at “puny god” from Atreus to more Avengers stuff to other games and past God of War games, everything’s fun.

Less QTE – One of the harder pills to swallow when it came to the previous GOW games was the fact that it had an insane number of QTEs or Quick Time Events. For this God of War (2018) review, I’m happy to report that QTEs are limited to just a handful. Of course we have to forgive Santa Monica Studios for putting more of these annoying things in boss fights but the way it was done and shown to players shows the value the game developer has with audience response.

Replayability – There’s no New Game + for God of War but its nice to re-experience everything while shifting to a higher difficulty. Alas we don’t have that yet but I’m sure SCIE will be doing something about that in the near future.

God of War (2018) Review – VERDICT

9/10

There were a few things here and there that made sigh a bit but that doesn’t mean God of War doesn’t rank high in my book. Too be honest, its almost going to the top of my list. The beautiful sets, the great characters, controls that keep you on your feet, aesthetically pleasing upgrades, RPG skill trees and an awesome story makes God of War such an awesome game. It’s definitely worth every peso you spent buying the game. There were a few aspects though that made me realize that it’s not a perfect game but it’s definitely one of the “Greats” for the Playstation 4.

I highly recommend God of War for action / adventure fans and for people who just love the story of the former God of War Kratos as he matures into the role of a father.