Genre: Action-Adventure, Hack-n-Slash
Year: 2018
Developed by: Santa Monica Studio
Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: PS4, PC
#51
Feeling Like: Boy oh Boy
Games like God of War are why Sony has cornered the market in regards to cinematic, narrative focused experiences. The budget, the quality of the production, the voice acting and motion capture technology means that performances from actors are performances now, not just reciting lines from a script. One of my guilty pleasures is to obsess over a behind the scenes, or making of video. Sometimes learning how the sausage is made diminishes the magic, but not here. It is so satisfying to see the artistic collaboration between hundreds of programmers, artists, costume designers, producers, directors and actors in a way that we traditionally haven’t seen before. There’s a reason that I immediately empathize with a character like Ellie from The Last of Us Part 2, or find Nathan Drake impossibly charming in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. It’s the emotion from the actors coming through the screen, thanks to a mix of art and technology that gets better every single year. Lucky us!
Santa Monica Studios hit it out of the park with this version of Kratos. I enjoyed the previous God of Wars, but only on a surface level. I don’t blame them for being what they are; if you’re going to do a revenge story with Greek mythology as your backdrop, you better make it as over the top and bloody as possible. And they did.
But this felt like Carlito’s Way to me – if Scarface had survived, gone to prison and was a free man once again. He felt his past constantly on his shoulder and, as a result, is wiser and more bitter than ever. And far more interesting.
Kratos is a real character now. He has a son and is trying his best to guide him in the aftermath of the death of his wife, Atreus’ mother. He’s still an insufferable grump at times, but far more human in terms of his reflections, thoughts, rationalizations and temper. The action is as good as ever, but the world crafting and attention to detail is staggering. A cut above. I wanted to explore every inch of Kratos’ new surroundings because of how realistic it looked, but also because I didn’t want to miss any conversations between the God of War and his boy.
What really got to me though, and the game’s main hook, was the camera. It’s an ambitious choice, to say the least but essentially there are no cuts. The entire game is one long take. No obvious loading scenes, no cutting away to other characters, no title cards telling you the setting, no interruption of the action. It’s as if you’re literally standing behind the God of War the entire journey. You’re privy to even the most private conversations, and you’re thrust into the harshest conflicts right alongside him. God of War: Ragnarok showed that sometimes this camera style can hurt the narrative slightly, but here in God of War it’s so unbelievably fresh and sophisticated that I felt sorry for other games trying to follow suit. Being a few feet away from Kratos and Baldur’s initial fracas is like having a front row seat to a Super Saiyan brawl. It is absolutely brilliant.
What’s a God of War without an amazing supporting cast? The actress who plays Freya (Danielle Nicole Bisutti) crushes her role, knocks it out of the park. When you go to her house (which is underneath a giant turtle…I love these games!), you immediately get a sense of how much the lads could benefit from a woman’s touch. She’s no-nonsense, obviously skilled, fearsome and you can sense some desperation in her voice. It’s a terrific portrayal of someone who will become a central figure later on in the story.
The dwarf brothers, Baldur, and Mimir all get their due and I never felt like any of them were just a copy/pasted trope from another story. Every time they’re on screen, my curiosity was piqued. I wanted to hear what they had to say and I never skipped a conversation. Even friendly banter or traveling conversations revealed backstory, or motivations, or humor. I’m all in on this style of game; it’s irrelevant whether I’m trying to help Kratos be more sensitive to Atreus’ needs, or plunging my axe into the spine of an oncoming draugr, I’m having a great time either way.
There’s a reason it snagged the number 2 spot in my Top 10 of 2018 and it was a very difficult call. It could have easily been number 1, ditto for God of War: Ragnarok in 2022. Santa Monica Studios are on the exclusive list of developers I follow on social media. I have to. Any project they’re involved in, I’ll be in line for day 1 release. They’ve justified that with two stellar, modern interpretations of what Kratos would be after the hyper bloodshed of his past. That journey, alongside some unforgettable characters and set-pieces, is one worth taking.
To cap the entry off, I’ll include what I said about God of War in the Top 10 of 2018.
My only complaint about God of War is that it’s not called God of War 4. You already HAD God of War. Now, we’re going to be forced to call this God of War 2018, which sounds ridiculous. Don’t get me started on nomenclature.
Anyway, the game – outstanding. Easily the best God of War, surpassing the previous entries of button mashing and murdering everything in your path. Kratos is older here, a father, and takes part in a story that feels straight out of an epic written by Homer.
There’s brutal combat, yes, but it’s far more meaningful here. Throwing your axe and calling it back remains satisfying after the thousandth time you’ve done it. The slight wiggle it experiences and the auditory “thud” it makes when it returns back to your hand is addicting.
The environmental puzzles are never frustrating, the skills and upgrades are meaningful, there’s not a single loading screen to be seen outside the initial startup and when a big moment happens, it is BIG. Be it the giant Serpent, the conflict with Baldur, or returning to your cabin to pick up some old weapons; the choir builds, the fire in Kratos’ eyes flare up and I had to contain myself; it was all to tempting to gleefully scream along with the Ghost of Sparta as he clobbered trolls and slashed Valkryies by the dozens.
I seriously don’t know how much better games can look. Will I look back, years later, and mock myself for saying this? Each section of the mountain had its own gorgeous vista, and Freya’s garden was such a contrast in color that I had no choice but to stay and drink it all with my eyes. There absolutely will be a God of War 5….I mean, God of War 2? Sigh. See how stupid this is?
The 500 