After defeating all of the Olympian gods, Kratos has decided to head up north. In the snowy regions of the Scandinavian states, Kratos and his son Atreus will find new dangers based on Norse mythology. This is the premise for God of War, the fourth main game in the God of War series. Santa Monica Studio is trying something remarkable with this installment. Changing everything about a character in order to tell new stories.
The first big change is the weapon that Kratos uses. Gone is the double-chained blades replaced by the Leviathan Axe. This change signifies that while it is still a God of War game, it is not the one you remember. The fighting mechanic has been completely revamped, even to the point that the quick time events you remember are presented in a totally unique way. Kratos can attack enemies and he can also stun them. There is more flexibility on how to advance the story and there are optional enemies that you can choose to face. Kratos also doesn’t fight alone anymore, as his son will attack enemies and assist his father in some of the puzzles. The mystery of Atreus is one that has been driving speculation ever since the first trailer dropped. Who is his mother? Is he a god like his father, or something else entirely?
How is this going to work? While players had started tired of Kratos after God of War III, the game sold well enough to not warrant a total redesign. In this new version of God of War, players can feel a bit more relaxed that they indeed won’t be exhausted doing the same things anymore. Kratos was never the most complex character, the only thing he seemed to want to do is kill things. This game poses a very interesting premise. What does a man do when he can’t kill and instead has to protect his own son? The developers have not let any of the story out of the bag, leaving fans to speculate about a story line they never expected to happen.
Graphically the game looks gorgeous. With a reliance on water and ice, this is about as far from the great stone temples of Greece as you can get. The voice actors and character models come together very well to portray the mysterious story line here and the creatures alone take on a persona of their own. One thing that has not changed is that this game will probably be very gory. Kratos still tosses and beats his enemies mercilessly at any chance.
I’m waiting for this game release mostly because I want to see how the story plays out. I want to know what the backstory is of the son Atreus and see how everything is going to come together. The graphics and everything else is just that, I’m mostly interested in a hopefully great story. With the new battle mechanics and new territory, there is hope that enemies will be fun entertainment and fall right in to line with the story.
God of War will be available on PS4 on April 20, 2018
