Brilliant continuation of known series, completely reworking it - creating arguably the best exclusive on PS4.

I won’t lie - I was so waiting for it. Not many game’s hype is getting to me, but I was so anticipating it. And I’d say it even surpassed my expectations in some areas.

The game is gorgeous. Not the most important thing, but holy moly, it looks amazing. And it’s on a PS4, which is not the strongest hardware. The characters looks amazing and super detailed. Animations super smooth. And landscapes, buildings and everything is just breathtaking. With that, the world and level design is also amazing. It combines so good with the puzzles hidden throughout the world and many “mechanisms” you need to operate to go through that it really shows how much work they put into it. The puzzles are also quite inventive and not being too repetitive, forcing to really look around and think where you could find the answers. I really liked that aspect.

The main thing I was anticipating, was the story. Yes, I know that this will be a combat game, but one can totally say that it’s equally that and a story game. And it is really, really well written and done. Shrouded a bit in mystery, even for people knowing the series, your journey is just about 1 thing - fulfill your dead wife’s last wish. But this leads to an adventure, with your son. You barely know him, he barely knows you. And it really is a wonderful dad and son story. Especially considering someone like Kratos, who… doesn’t seem like a role model father, not really. And apart the journey, they are also discovering themselves. Of course, tangled again into god’s business. And the change into Norse mythology really freshened up things. The story explores quite a bit of it, being true to it in most things, apart from some minor adjustments needed for the story. For someone knowing some stuff about Norse mythology, some of the things won’t be surprising, but there are still elements that will be unexpected. And the story is something. It’s basically a great adventure movie, mixed with combat and epic things happening. I’d even say that when it comes to giving a fluid story and mechanics experience, it surpassed the Uncharted 4, which had a great story and adventure epic moments, but slightly lacked in mechanics IMO.

But what would be a God of War game, without combat. And this is yet another element revamped and.. it’s great. Completely different and great. Utilizing both melee and ranged combat, with a lot of skills and combos to unlock, runic attacks and many many more. What’s new - Kratos using the shield - and you really really need it. Both blocking and dodging is crucial - because the fights are not a button smasher combos (maybe a bit exaggerated) like in previous games. You need to be more defensive and tactical - basically because of 2 things. First of them, is the difficulty. It is difficult. I played on the harder difficulty (not the hardest) and it was really a challenge. You really need to learn the game and focus, to not die. You need to utilize everything you got to be on top. What’s funny, you might say that 1v1 fights, and even boss fights, are sometimes easier than fighting a pack of weaker enemies. And the second things - enemies. I’m totally surprised how many types of enemies there are, and how many different variations they have. I didn’t count, but my ballpark would be at 50 different enemies throughout the game. And some of them really different - so you need to plan your fight and defenses, to leverage their weaknesses and avoid their strengths.

The combat is really difficult at first and takes a while to grasp it. You get better at it, you unlock more skills which are opening a lot of options in the fight.. And the combat is still difficult, but in other ways. I think the progression is done really well - you feel more powerful, more skilled in mechanics, but the game still stays difficult, challenging and most of all - satisfying. Another progression done very well is your son - how he changes throughout the story, not only character related, but also combat. He really progresses with you, being a great companion and frankly, would be a lot harder without him.

The thing glueing it all together is definitely the quality of the game. It is really polished - stuff just works, mechanics are really fitting, gameplay design is on par. The story writing is really good, with well written dialogues and interactions, putting some jokes into it to lighten the mood. And an amazing voice acting - really, I can’t imagine voice acting done better. When I heard about Chrisopther Judge as Kratos I thought “changing Kratos’ voice? Oh man”. Oh I was mistaken. Judge’s voice is amazing and really complements the older Kratos. It is truly amazing. Just as the music - creating a great atmosphere, really in nordic tones, accenting the story in important moments. It’s available on Spotify, so I recommend taking a hear ;)

Throughout the story, there are quite a lot of things to do “on the side” - some small sidequests, challenges, going back to some puzzles. And even after the game - you’re unlocking some other realms to travel. To be honest, I mostly focused on the main story, but it’s great that you can still continue the journey and challenge yourself in even harder fights if you want to. Or if you’re a 100% kind of guy.

Can’t say anything else - it’s an amazing game. It shines in every aspect, fulfilling the hype, showing how you can combine amazing story with great mechanics and gameplay. If there is a game to sell PS4 to someone, it’s this one. BOY.

My rating: 10/10
Playtime: 18h
Tags: action  adventure  story rich 
God of War on playstation.com