The new God of War game changes everything. It is the biggest release of 2018 so far, in terms of hype, mindshare, review scores, references and sales―making it also the fastest selling PS4 game ever.
In the previous seven games, Kratos, a man marked by blood and with chained blades, battled his way through the Olympian deadfall in a mirthful parade of blood, sex and divine-encounters. Gory deaths, orgy mini games, and the anti-hero walking away from it all like nothing matters―these used to define the franchise!
The 2018 God of War is considerably different with its mature theme. Maturing themes have begun to be a trend in contemporary games. The theme has been experimented with in a few recent big releases like 'The Last of Us', as well as a host of smaller titles.
Kratos has to fight new gods, travel through nine realms and decipher Tyr’s secret messages among other things. The new God of War follows Kratos to ancient Scandinavia and builds on the events of its predecessors. God of War marks a new turn in the grand narrative, which began in 2005.
Kratos is different―he is calmer, reasonable, tries to be a good father, teacher and everything that one would never expect from Kratos. He no longer “fights” but “defends”. He helps others to not be consumed by vengeance―the force that made him the Ghost of Sparta. He now sees things clearly and wishes to live a happy life. But the ‘marked-god’ is not left alone, even in the Norse realm.
With visually thrilling sets, over the shoulder free camera and absorbingly vicious combat, God of War is more than a worthy prodigy. The mysteries of the realms and their Gods are tactically dealt with, making good use of them. The cut-scenes are a visual treat, especially on 4K UHD.
The veteran players are more than happy to mature with Kratos, helping little Atreus not become a “ghost” like his father. The storyline leans heavily on the father-son relationship in a vast unforgiving land, and has great depth when compared to the previous titles.
God of War has added features like a journal― recording enemy details, hidden treasure locations, decrypted messages and much more. A new photo mode has been included in the latest update, helping the players capture the vivid lands. It almost appears to be an understatement, to say how good the game really is.
God of War is breaking the charts with 10/10 on IGN, 94 per cent on metacritic, 9.9/10 on IMdb and similar perfect-score reviews everywhere.
It’s raining gods, hallelujah!
Developer: Santa Monica Studios
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Genre: Action-adventure
Platforms: PS4