Beloved franchise returns to dominate your console and ground you for life
The revenge fueled deicidal maniac we’ve all come to love and respect is back baby! A bit long in tooth and in facial hair but with a new mythological wasteland to cause glorious death and mayhem in.
God of War, the Sony exclusive that has captured the hearts and minds of militant atheists and philhellenes the world over returns to cleave in our faces with exuberant shock and awe.
Santa Monica Studio’s God of War 3 was the pinnacle of action/adventure games. Kratos, The Ghost of Sparta wreaked havoc against the Olympians ultimately sending all of creation into chaos as the Greek pantheon fell mercilessly to his rage. His fate was left unknown after bringing Zeus to a righteous death, well everyone’s death actually.
For me it was a satisfying conclusion to a great franchise and awesome anti-hero. Of course a game that lets you gouge out Poseidon’s eyes, kill Titans from the inside out, and use Helios’ head as a flashlight is a tough act to follow up with anything other than a cigarette.
So it was love at first sight from the first teaser featuring my favorite Greek murder machine sporting a majestic beard and kneecapping monsters with an axe.
I ordered the Special Edition PS4 Pro which is now married to the 4k UHD monstrosity dwelling in my living room. If I’m going to be bashing the guts out of my favorite group of Scandinavian Gods I’m going all in; Father Odin wouldn’t appreciate anything less!
But I haven’t owned a console since 2008 so the PS4 Pro is a bit intimidating. I’m still futzing around with the bells and whistles of this technology but I can say that GOW on this machine is simply a beauty to behold. Muscle fibers flex and bend with realistic body motions, the eyes of Kratos gleam and smolder with uncanny predatory focus, clouds of breath vaporize between spoken words and pockets of fog effects curl around the base of trees and the mouths of caves.
Christopher Judge the famed Teal’c from Stargate SG-1 brings this new incarnation of Kratos to life through voice work and motion capture. Although voice actor T.C. Carson will always be the one who initially gave Kratos to the world, Judge’s performance as this seemingly older and more philosophical god slayer works on so many levels.
Because of the heavy emphasis on story progression through character interaction every character encountered has surprising personality and depth. The dialogue is well written and well-acted so it’s very clear that Santa Monica Studio has brought out the big guns to take this beloved franchise to the next level.
The combat system is a beefy slugfest requiring a mix of tactical forward thinking and catlike reflexes. The impact of fist against bone, axe against skull, and spatters of flying viscera during grapple kills are fully animated and rendered in mouthwatering HD. It’s brutal, gritty, and in your face fighting with magic, axe, and shield. A far cry from the dazzling Cirque du Soleil style of combat from the original games.
Kratos isn’t without a new set of toys for battle a collapsible shield and retrievable ice axe along with a secret weapon: his son Atreus. Atreus can hold his own in a scrap by tripping enemies to buy his dad time to ready a block or stun them in place with a magically charged arrow for daddy to land a sweet axe chop to the torso.
Both characters are leveled up through a reduced RPG style crafting and tiered skill system that makes Kratos’ son more vital as his mystical powers end up saving your bacon against overwhelming odds more often than not.
The game is a thoughtful adventure through a living breathing Norse wonderland. Jotun are towering stacks of sinew and death, Ogres are drooling nightmares of hatred and fangs, but just don’t get me started on Revenants, the godawful pus banshees that those are. GOW will have you exploring flooded ruins, repairing ancient machines, solving ingenious puzzles and collecting loot.
Oh baby! The satisfying smash of chests, tombs, and bodies will keep you busy for a while and it violates my cheapskate sensibilities but I give this game a full recommend. It’s a triple A title that won’t leave you regretting the sales receipt the day after.
God of War is the total package, a truly amazing experience that successfully blends the concepts of interactive fiction with the visual arts to forges a new standard in electronic gaming.
When not vaporizing zombies or leading space marines as a mousepad Mattis, Brandon Watson is making gourmet pancakes and promoting local artists.