GOD OF WAR
Worth the wait? Norse it is, just as you Thort
Kratos is back and he’s bringing junior. Could this be PlayStation 4’s greatest ever game?
As Gaming’s Angriest Man (not to mention one of its strongest), Kratos isn’t the sort of person you’d want to leave in charge of something he might break. You know, like an aircraft carrier or a quarry. How strange, then, to see him as the sole guardian of his surprisingly weedy-looking son. That’s just the beginning of this game’s surprises. The boy is called Atreus, and his mother has a very good excuse for not helping to look after him. She’s dead. It’s made clear that Kratos and Atreus are sad about this, but I’m certainly not. The woman in question, Faye, is already dead and wrapped up ready to burn when the game begins. Combine this with the fact that this is the first I’ve ever heard of her existence, and I find it impossible to become emotionally invested in a vaguely human-shaped cloth.
Atreus, however, develops a personality of his own. The respect he has for his father comes through in the way he calls him “sir”, while his growing resentment slowly becomes apparent in the way he becomes more comfortable with confronting his imposing parent. Atreus may look about as dangerous as a cheese sandwich, but he never feels like something delicate that needs to be protected.
The first objective – and what remains the ultimate goal of the game – is to scatter Faye’s ashes from the highest peak in the realms. Needless to say, this isn’t as simple as jogging up the nearest hill and back again in time for
“THE AXE MIGHT DISMAY HARDCORE FANS OF THE SERIES, BUT THERE’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.”
tea. This is an epic adventure, one that departs significantly from what fans would probably expect from a new God Of War.
Despite sharing the name of the very first game, this isn’t a reboot. Taking place after the events of God Of War III, the story is partly about Kratos trying (and failing) to escape his past. He’s left ancient Greece behind to start a new life in the lands of the Norse gods, now armed with a magical frost axe and Zangief facial hair. We’re not told how Faye, of these lands, died; but given the fact that Kratos accidentally killed his first wife and child in a hilarious You’ve Been Framed moment, it’s probably best not to ask.
The aforementioned axe might dismay some hardcore fans of the series, but there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Kratos still feels like Kratos, and his new toy is a wonderful plaything. Its short reach means you need to get up close and personal for combat… unless you take advantage of its boomerang properties. By aiming with p and throwing with i, you can hurl it at enemies, and send it spinning through the air back to your hand by tapping w. This never stops feeling cool.
AXE ME ANYTHING
In addition to being a great way to split heads, the axe’s frosty powers come with some pros and cons. You’ll regularly employ it for puzzles, freezing cogs in place to pause or adjust the timings of mechanisms before recalling it once you are (for example) past that previously impassable gate. The freezing properties also mean that the axe is no good against icy enemies. For foes such as these, you have three options. The first is to pummel them with your bare hands, and the second involves a few old friends Kratos is eventually reintroduced to…
The third option is Atreus. He’s by your side throughout the journey, and makes himself useful via his bow (he can also resurrect Kratos via a consumable). You’ll unlock two types of magical arrow for him as you progress, useful in both combat and unlocking new areas, but from the beginning he can help you in a fight. He’ll do this by himself, but you can also command him to shoot by hitting r.
So, Kratos has a brand-new weapon, and he’s now got somebody to growl at on his travels. Another change – theoretically simple, but very important – is the new camera. Now perched behind our grumpy Greek permanently, except when dramatic moments demand it does a bit of flying around, it affords the whole experience a solid, visceral feel. As you’re probably aware, it also looks absolutely gorgeous, even on a standard PS4. Whether battling fiery undead in the heart of a mountain, rowing a boat across a calm lake, or fighting a monstrous enemy in the land of the dead, the graphics suffer from constant close scrutiny not at all.
Vitally, the camera never causes any problems. It never gets stuck where it shouldn’t and, as a bonus, there are colour-coded indicators for when enemies are behind or otherwise not immediately visible to Kratos. You can swivel the camera around with the right stick, too, something that’s influenced level design. Secrets, enemies, and key items will sometimes be found above or below you, not always dead ahead. There’s also an awful lot of climbing to be done. You’re constantly encouraged to consider your environment from all angles, and the world feels more alive because of it.
The script is easily the best of the series so far (although, to be fair the competition there’s not particularly tough). There are a few rough patches, certainly. You probably won’t feel comfortable with the heartless way Kratos treats his son in the opening hours, which possibly comes across as just a little more harsh and cruel than was intended. A brief personality change Atreus himself goes through at one point feels too sudden and entirely out of character, and somewhat crowbarred in. Ultimately, though, these are minor complaints in a brilliantly told story. Santa Monica Studio clearly has a deep knowledge of and respect for Norse mythology, drawing from its rich history while making its world and characters its own. Dialogue even on occasion finds humour in Kratos’ gruff attitude to the world, playing it for an effective laugh without ever disintegrating into destructive self-parody.
GROWING BALDUR
The much-discussed game length will probably vary quite a bit from player to player. Ignoring all optional tasks, and playing on the easiest difficulty (which still doesn’t allow you to breeze through on autopilot), you could finish the main story in 15 to 18 hours. Choosing a higher difficulty will add a few hours at least, and making the most of things by exploring thoroughly will easily double or even triple that.
Why explore? Well, for one thing it’s the only way you’ll get your hands on materials for the very best gear. You level up Kratos (and, to a lesser extent, Atreus) by equipping and upgrading different equipment, which boosts stats and unlocks randomly-activated combat perks. As long as you take time to open chests and pick up shinies, this is a pretty painless process. Reaching story milestones gives you huge chunks of XP to spend on the skill trees, and there’s plenty of cash to be harvested out there. Just be sure to pay attention to this aspect of the game, as enemies will soon start punishing you if you don’t.
Enemies have different power levels, and any creature the game calculates you’ll have a particularly tough time fighting will boast a purple health bar. You needn’t worry about this being God Of Grind because, by and large, your toughest opponents are saved for optional quests that you’ll probably already be well geared-up for by the time you encounter them. The way in which you’re prepared is partly up to you, and how much emphasis your setup has on – for example – ability cooldowns and defence.
The open world contains specific objectives. The two Dwarves who act as the game’s shops have side missions for you, as do lost spirits. There are also nine corrupted valkyries to find and defeat. These are probably the toughest fights in the game, demanding good gear and an excellent understanding of what’s possible with the combat system. Naturally, the rewards are suitably precious. Don’t worry about missing anything first time around; you get to carry on playing after the main tale has been told, and the locations of any valkyries you have yet to find will be revealed. Then there are the treasure maps, the trapped dragons, the realm tears, the hidden chests and lore…
There are runes to be found throughout the game, languages that Kratos cannot read. Norse code, if you will (sorry). Atreus can read them – well, most, anyway. The languages of Muspelheim and Niflheim
“YOU’RE ENCOURAGED TO CONSIDER YOUR ENVIRONMENT FROM ALL ANGLES.”
remain a mystery to him… unless you search the world carefully enough, and find the translation runes for each. Do this and, not only will all runes be readable, you’ll now be able to travel to each of these realms. In gameplay terms, this means you’ll get to face a gauntlet of enemy waves and battle through a time-limited dungeon full of goodies respectively.
WAR NEVER CHANGES?
This probably doesn’t sound like the God Of War you know and love. It isn’t. It is not only bigger, but better, too. Despite the new close-enough-tosmell-Kratos’-armpits camera (the antithesis of Ascension’s), there’s (slightly) less of an emphasis on blood and gore. That’s a little odd. But allow me to introduce you to one of the most important changes. The weakest link in pretty much any entry of the series you care to mention has always been the platforming. Fiddly jumping you never asked for, getting in the way of your next bout of ripping mythical monsters apart? Ugh. Well, you can wave bye bye to that now!
There’s still plenty of leaping around to be done, but it’s now blissfully stress-free. Whether you’re jumping a small gap or making a death-defying leap hundreds of feet from the ground, a simple tap of e is all you need to worry about. It is literally impossible to miss a jump or die from a fall, just as it should be in a game like this. It’s not a platformer.
The puzzles are numerous, but never anything that will frustrate you for long enough to hamper your progress. After all, it wouldn’t be fair to present Kratos with anything that required too much brainpower. Combat is familiar but refined, complete with a rage meter to enable temporary superstrength shenanigans. Simply hitting things until they break apart and stop trying to kill you is, generally, wise. However, making clever use of the dodge, block, and parry mechanics becomes more important the further you progress. Similarly, choosing which moves and abilities to unlock first is an important part of establishing your playstyle.
Levelling up Atreus in a hurry helps with taking out opponents at a distance, as well as potentially stunning them or interrupting attacks. Concentrate on Kratos’s powers and combos, and you’ll more quickly expand your options for when things get up close and personal.
FIGHT FOR SORE EYES
Perhaps the most distinctive part of God Of War’s identity is spectacle, something this latest entry in the series embraces enthusiastically. Control is wrested away from you at times for a jaw-dropping sequence, and you’ll still be faced with a QTE now and again. These are merely the peaks; the game drips spectacle from every pore. Kratos is spectacle, a god in human form who fights hordes of
“THIS ISN’T THE GOD OF WAR YOU KNOW AND LOVE. IT’S NOT ONLY BIGGER, IT’S BETTER.”
magical creatures and regularly performs impossible feats of strength. The world is spectacle, wonderfully detailed and varied. Even little Atreus is spectacle, the unknowing son of a god trying to make sense of a world without his mother. Every minute you spend with the game is spectacular, a superbly realised fantasy that commands your attention.
Little breaks the illusion, and that’s very important. Despite the size of the world, you’ll never be faced with a loading screen. The game loads, of course, but this is always cleverly masked. A slow-moving elevator with father-son conversation here, a magical path between realms to walk along or another compelling cutscene there. It’s all smoothly integrated into the experience masterfully.
While little breaks the illusion, that’s not to say that nothing does. Sometimes, in the lake that acts as a world hub, the developer speaks through Atreus with a lack of subtlety. “Shall we go exploring, father?”, “We could go exploring. Your choice.” Okay, you’ve made a big world and there are things to do outside of the main story, I get it!
There are also a few story beats that could’ve done with being trimmed out. The “oh look, now you can access this new area ha ha, not really, not yet, go back and do something else!” tactic is used a few too many times. However, when the game those beats are in is as special as this one, that kind of thing is very easy to forgive. The god has returned.
VERDICT
Forget any fears you had. Kratos makes a truly triumphant return in what proves to be his best game yet. Every change – the addition of Atreus included – is for the better, while every non-negotiable tradition is perfected. Luke Kemp