It’s been five long years since God of War: Ascension was released, but Kratos is back. And this time, he has a companion to aid him on his quest…his son. Duh, duh…duuuuhhh! And that is not the only change in the latest installment of God of War 4, for Kratos travels to Midgard, gets married once more and has a son named Atreus. Together, father and son set sail through Norse mythology, but the ride is a topsy-turvy one to say the least. Traversing new lands, discovering secrets and treasures of Odin and his demigod kin, fighting Dark Elves, Trolls and even the gods themselves all while attempting to make the great journey to release Atreus’s mother’s ashes at the storied land of Jotunheim.
Gameplay
The bread and butter of any God of War game is the hack ‘n slash, gory gameplay. This time around, God of War 4 mixes some of the old with some new elements as well. The first new thing I noticed right away was the camera angle. The previous entries in the series had a pushed back 3rd person camera which I actually really liked. But during my first couple of hours of play with the new game, I was honestly put off by the much closer but still 3rd person view of the game.
To me, the far away camera made the God of War games unique and special in a way. And by pushing the camera in closer I initially felt like this would be no different from any other 3rd person action game out there. Yet after getting acclimated with the game, my anxiety quickly lifted like a valkyrie and flew away. It made me think of when the game developers for Resident Evil 4 decided to bring the camera in tight in place of the familiar surveillance like camera angles of earlier games. And RE4 was the best game in the series thus far, go figure.
Camera angles aside, let me talk about the actual gameplay here. Kratos has traded his Blades of Chaos in for a shiny new weapon called the Leviathan Axe. A weapon that can be used to impale enemies up close and personal or be thrown to dismember foes from a distance. My favorite thing about the new weapon is being able to channel my inner Thor and call it back into Kratos’s hand with the push of a button. If only I could do that with the remote control, or my phone.
The axe also has many upgrades the more you level it up. My fav has to be the one where you freeze your enemies sub-zero style. Never got tired of using that one seriously. Although many other axe upgrades have a freezing element as well and are all fun to perform.
But Kratos and his bad ass Leviathan Axe are only one half of this action game equation. Atreus wields a bow which you first get to test out in the deer hunting tutorial part of the game. You control the boys aim by having Kratos facing the foe and proceeding to press the square button for each arrow. Much like Kratos’s axe and armor upgrades, Atreus’s bow and armor can be upgraded to your little hearts content. Or well, until you max out all your stats anyway.
The boys bow also has a special ability that is activated by holding down the square button on your PS4 controller for a second or two. This is used to summon forth anything from stampeding boar, a wolf or my personal favorite: a murder of crows. Just watching as they swoop down and peck viciously at their prey gives me the opening I need to wail away at them with my axe. I must say that Atreus isn’t just a whinny annoying pre-teen brat who is a useless in-game companion, he is actually a tough little guy who helps Kratos quite a bit solving puzzles, deciphering rune text in addition to kicking some Norse mythology butt with his old man.
Graphics & Sound
This definitely is the prettiest GOW game to date. The colorful detail is eye-catching. From the environments to the characters, this game is beautiful. The cut scenes and gameplay are seamless and smooth. I wonder what the pixel count on the World Serpent must be.
Sound is also very well done. The bone splitting sound effects of Kratos jamming his Leviathan Axe into a giant creatures skull is intense. Although sometimes I find myself not hearing an enemy approach from behind and I quickly get jumped, but not beaten. The music is not the fury of violins from games past, it’s a different culture and mythology, so the lessening of certain instrumentals and vocal tone is bound to reflect that.
Story
Next to the gameplay, I really enjoyed God of War’s story. In the earlier games, God of War was a glorified revenge story. The whole Gods of Olympus have abandoned me thing was bound to run its course and it did. This go around, Kratos is more of a parent whose protecting his child and less of a murderer of Gods. The game feels more mature, in a growing as a person sort of way and not a M rated game with more gore and sex mini-games. (which their isn’t one in this game, *sob*)
Kratos and Atreus travel to far away places to take Atreus’s mother Faye’s ashes to Jotunheim per her dying wish. But it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey of father and son who grow and develop a stronger bond together. And that is perhaps what Faye would have wanted all along. Atreus is always referred to as boy by his dad, but by the games end, he is a man. Well not technically, but I won’t spoil it for any of you who haven’t played through the whole game yet.
Closing Comments
In short, this is simply the best God of War game to date. The changes that came with entering Kratos into a new mythology have paid off. The game is a very fun one to play through just to count how many times Kratos says boy to Atreus. But also the gameplay itself doesn’t get repetitive as the older games did after a while. Everything about the new God of War feels fresh, more character driven, yet while still retaining much of what made the original 2005 game so great. Now if you would excuse me, I’m off to defeat all 8 Valkyries. Wish me luck!
Nerdish Rating
5 out of 5
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