God Of War came out on Friday for Playstation 4, and the reviews have been stellar, so much so that it is now the highest-rated PS4 exclusive on Metacritic, with a score of 95. As someone who had hours of mindless beat-em-up fun with the older games in the series, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of the new one, and oh boy, I’m grinning from ear to ear so far.
This is not a review as such – instead these are just some first impressions of the game after sinking a good couple of hours into it.
It’s A God Of War Game Through And Through
When I heard that Sony was bringing a soft God Of War reboot to the current generation of consoles, I wondered just how much they’d decide to mess with the established formula in order to bring the game up to date. Would we have to get used to the idea of Kratos running around an open world, hunting endless collectibles and doing side quests for ungrateful jerks? Would there be a one in fifty chance of unlocking some sweet-arse new armour from a random loot crate, available for the low, low price of only $5.99?!
As it turns out, I didn’t need to worry.
God Of War rebuilds the series from the ground up, putting Kratos in a world of Norse mythology, with a whole new, snowy setting to explore and a new pantheon of gods to meet. While the combat, camera and setting have all been radically overhauled, this still feels like the classic games in the series, and stays true to all the things that made them so much fun in the first place. Though there’s a world map this time, with fast travel points that can be unlocked, the structure of your journey is still fundamentally the same – you’ll enter a forest or a temple, fight off a horde of very determined enemies, solve a puzzle or two, fight off some more enemies, and eventually meet a boss who wants to crush, destroy or otherwise humiliate you in some way.
… But It Has Some Neat New Tricks
Combat-wise, this new game shakes things up quite a bit. Kratos’ signature chain blade weapons are gone, replaced with a sturdy battle axe that packs a big wallop. The Leviathan Axe, as it’s called, can be modified with various runes for different light and heavy attacks, and it can be thrown at enemies or objects then recalled with the triangle button. Once you get your head around how to use the axe, you can develop your own strategy, whether that’s keeping your distance and chipping away at foes with ranged attacks, or getting right in there and unleashing some rapid flurries to try and stun the enemy. There’s also something very satisfying about lodging you axe in one monster, then recalling it to see it slice through one or two more on its way back to you.
There are other tweaks and improvements – the ability to forge and customise various pieces of armour, upgrade your weapons and spend experience points across different attributes gives the game a bit more of an RPG feel than before, and the camera is no longer fixed, which means you are free to move it around and look at your surroundings in keeping with the current generation of games.
It Will Kick Your Arse If You Are Not Paying Attention
On this initial playthrough, I’ve been using the standard difficulty setting, but there is still a satisfying level of challenge. You’ll need to adapt to each new enemy and find a strategy that works, whether it’s giant, lumbering trolls swinging heavy rocks at you, or nimble dark elves that can swarm on you from all sides (I loudly gasped when I got to Alfheim and saw those guys coming at me for the first time). The point is, if you go into each encounter just blindly swinging your axe without a plan, you’ll be knocked on your arse pretty fast.
I also just want to say something about this bloke. Early in the piece, he shows up at your door. He may look like a primitive Soundcloud rapper, but he packs a mighty punch, and like all the best baddies in God Of War, he’s a smug arsehole who wants to both taunt you and beat the shit out of you. Lil Viking, as I’ve been calling him (he does have a name, but I don’t want to spoil it) is the first real boss you’ll face, and he’s no pushover either, so you’ll have to learn how to block and dodge pretty fast if you want to survive. It’s a fast-paced and thrilling encounter, and so far at least, it sets up a lot of what’s to come from the combat in this game.
It’s A Story About Dad-Son Bonding
Kratos is great at laying waste to hordes of monsters, but can he cut it as a single dad? I guess we’ll find out, because in the fine tradition of games where our brooding hero is followed around by a needy little kid – I’m looking at you, The Last Of Us – Kratos is a lot older now, and is accompanied by his young son Atreus. Serving as your companion throughout the game, he’s nimble and quick and can distract enemies and assist in solving puzzles with his bow. He is also a fully fleshed-out character, though, and his relationship with Kratos forms the emotional core of the story.
Kratos is not exactly great at dad-son bonding, and he frequently comes down hard on Atreus, taking the tough love approach to parenting, with predictable results. It could have been cheesy as hell to team the gruff, monosyllabic Kratos up with a wise-ass kid and watch sparks fly, but the dialogue is thoughtfully-written and well-acted, and I found myself really enjoying the first few hours of father-son banter as the pair explore temples and fight monsters together.
It’s Really Pretty
I haven’t mentioned much about the game’s new setting yet, but God Of War takes place many years after the original games, in a world based on Norse myths and legends, and holy shit, it’s beautiful to look at. The world is far bigger and richer and more sweeping than anything the series has produced before, and you’ll explore majestic snowy mountains, forbidding forests and caves, as well as more fantastical realms like Alfheim, which are rich in detail. On a purely visual level, it’s really appealing so far, I’d say it’s probably only rivaled by Horizon Zero Dawn in terms of how beautiful its world is.
Bottom line, it’s very good, and definitely worth a play if you’re currently sitting on the fence.
As a little bit of a something extra, check out this very sweet video of director Cory Barlog as he checks the game’s reviews for the first time, and has a bit of a cry as he realises that his five year of hard work paid off:
God Of War is out now for Playstation 4.
