God of War is the fifth main installment in the popular video game franchise, acting as a soft-reboot in some aspects. There's a new setting, a new camera angle, reworked combat, and a few implemented RPG mechanics. I admittedly had my doubts before the release. Then I saw the reviews pouring in.
They practically praised the new game, and the game director himself even cried tears of joy after seeing the Metacritic score! After playing the game for the past few days and finally completing the main story, I can confidently say that God of War is an early contender for Game of the Year!
One of God of War's main highlights is the story! You play as Kratos, a demi-god living in solitude. Kratos is older, wiser, and has a (somewhat) calmer demeanor than previous games, relocating to Scandinavia after slaughtering the Greek gods. He settled down and fathered a child with his new wife.
She passes away and her dying wish is to have her ashes scattered atop the highest mountain in the land. Kratos and his son, Atreus, set out to fulfill her wish. I'd like to explain more, but the story is best experienced on your own (and I kinda want to avoid spoilers).
The gameplay is amazing! Kratos ditches his trademark Blades of Chaos for the Leviathan Axe, a magical weapon embedded with frost powers! You can hurl it at trolls or draugrs and recall it, similar to Thor and his hammer. The controls are responsive and the combat is as visceral as ever!
The transition from cutscene to gameplay is seamless and really immerses the player in the world and lore. You can also customize Kratos (and Atreus) with armor and weapon enhancements. The story itself takes around 20-25 hours to complete, not counting the side quests and collectibles. The boss fights were great as well! They're definitely innovative and require critical thinking in order to win.
The visuals were spectacular and the graphics were crisp! Everything was captivating on my journey, from wandering the witch's woods to traversing a fallen giant's corpse! The actors did a great job at bringing the characters to life; even the supporting characters had relevance! The framerate is steady and only dips a few times throughout the game.
I had a hard time thinking of any major complaints, but a few stood out. Sometimes the same animation will play when executing enemies. I can only stomp a draugr's head in so many times before it gets repetitive. Oh, and there are some repeat boss fights. Regardless, the many positives outweigh the few negatives/nitpicks.
It's the end of the semester and I should've been working on a couple of papers, but I just couldn't put the controller down. I was curious as to what happened next in the narrative and the gameplay is just satisfying! If you own a PS4, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not picking this up!
