God of War Review

The God of War franchise set a new standard for hack and slash games back in 2005 when the first game was released. And, until now, they decided to stick with standards very close to the ones set by the original games. However, 13 years later and multiple games launched since then, the new God of War proposes a mix of a lot new elements as well as a revamp for Kratos, the Spartan.

Like many successful releases before, God of War decided to give players a taste of the open-world RPG experience and also shifted the focus from the Greek mythology to the Norse one. This can have two possible reasons that come to mind:

• They pretty much explored everything there was to explore in the Greek mythology in the previous releases of the series
• The entire world seems to be stuck on Odin, Valhalla and the entire Norse mythology with TV shows such as Vikings, American Gods or even the huge attention Iceland is enjoying at the World Cup

Atreus – the Big Change in God of War

Sure, we were all expecting a shift in the direction of God of War in order to keep things interesting and exciting, however, nobody could have predicted that the killing-machine that was Kratos will decide to go up North, get married and have a son. Atreus is a very interesting approach that the game developers decided to take. Not only that his presence couldn’t be foreseen but it also changes the Kratos we all knew in the previous installments. He now has to be responsible, more patient and even a teacher for his son in order to prepare him for the perils of the world surrounding them.

But the death of his mother changes everything as her dying wish was that her ashes were spread from the top of the highest peak in all Realms. This journey sets the father and son duo on a series of fights against numerous fiends, Norse gods and deities as well as an inner journey for both of them. Atreus on his path of becoming more independent and learning about his true nature and Kratos in his continuous fight with his past and protecting his son from it.

A New, More Immersing Combat Style

God of War comes with a new and improved over-the-shoulder camera that takes you in the middle of the fight while also limiting your view. Different from previous God of War games, you can’t see all enemies from all the angles and that means you need to be on guard constantly. You do get a bit of help through proximity icons that indicate the position of enemies you can’t see and whenever they’re about to attack, however, you can just as easily turn these off if you want to go full God of War.

Also, unlike other games, it’s quite rare that you can spam combos without making yourself vulnerable and, even though a might portion of fans won’t like it, it comes to emphasize on how God of War graduated from the standard hack-and-slash game. Its suspense and intensity can be compared to the thrills you get when you enjoy online slots at 24pokies Australian online casino. Also, the fact that Kratos now uses an axe is also changing the way combat unravels and that’s not at all a bad thing. The Leviathan Axe can be thrown, it will stick in objects around the world and it can be called back just like Thor’s hammer. This allows you to hit shielded enemies from the back and perform all kind of combat combos that will help you get through the toughest of enemies.

Final Words

In many aspects, God of War represents what the series always offered, a very spectacular action game with extraordinary set pieces, hard-hitting combat that grows in intensity as you progress into the game and upgrade Kratos and Atreus as well and the big-budget production values Santa Monica has accustomed us with. The big surprises come from the mature storytelling, seeing Kratos evolving from the predictable brute into a wise strategist and teacher for his son, along with the new setting of Norse mythology definitely sets a new path for the already most-awaited sequels.