By Alexandru Tanase

God of War is one of the most important gaming series out there. But right until this point, all we knew about Kratos is that he liked to battle with chains and a variety of swords. He was also known to be a part of the Greek mythos, but with the new God of War game we finally see him as a part of the Norse mythos.

A New Life for a God

The life of a warrior wasn’t really kind on Kratos. He had to deal with lots of challenges, and unfortunately for him he did end up dealing with many issues. But right now he has a son, and he tries to protect him no matter what. But this also means he needs to deal with new challenges. And his son will become a hero due to that, which is really interesting. Atreus is Kratos’s son and he is young, adventurous and just a pleasure to be around. The thing to note about the game is that it’s really fun and exciting to go through. It’s slower paced, but it also comes with the Norso mythos. And it really brings in front some unique creatures and characters.

The story is dense and full of exciting moments. They do a great job at using the Norse mythology here. The enemies are really powerful, and you do have those massive gaming moments as well as a huge variety of gameplay mechanics too. The game is really good at what it delivers, and the story is really good. The villain is relatable, and that gives another layer of ideas and bonuses here, which is exactly what you need from something like this.

What changed a lot in this God of War is the combat. Gone are the days when Kratos had chains. Now he has only an axe, but he can also wield some other stuff too. It’s not exactly the most challenging thing out there at first, in fact it can be boring. But the fact that the axe comes back and you have a variety of unique things coming right in front of you do flesh out the experience quite a lot.

Tools of the Trade

The controls are intuitive, although they can require a bit of getting used to. Not too much, but there’s definitely a time when you need get accustomed to them. The over the shoulder perspective is a good addition in my opinion. Fans of the series will dislike the perspective a bit, but again, as they go through the story they will be accustomed to it.

The battles are more personal and visceral this way, which says a lot. Atreus is on the battlefield too, and he will assist you with arrow strikes and a huge range of attacks too. A thing to realize with God of War is that the game is really intense. It doesn’t feel like that for sure, but it does get very intense towards the end. It all comes down to the impact that the game regions have on you. Most of them are visually impressive and appealing. But there are puzzles, many of them quite hard to complete.

In addition, you can craft armor, axe pommels are in there too, you have runes and talismans, so the game world is really exciting and interesting to begin with. It’s definitely the type of thing that you will enjoy quite a bit, and it does wonders the more you explore it and enjoy everything. Another unique thing about the game is that it’s coming with less enemies most of the time.

The previous games in the God of War series were all about killing tons of enemies. You don’t get that with this one, at least not until the late game. There are less enemies, the combat is more focused and it’s really great for everyone involved. The developers did a very good job at making the experience feel more personal, and that can surely be interesting as you go along.

God of War is one of the best games for the PS4, there’s no question about that. The game world is huge, and each location speaks to you, not to mention it looks astonishing. The character design is impressive, very detailed and increasingly complex as you go along. They did a very good job with this, and the gameplay just tends to get better and better each time you try this out, which is insane. The sound design is realistic, and the soundtrack is epic, although it does have some mellow moments too. It’s a great approach for people that love action packed soundtracks, but it definitely has something for everyone in there.

You will find a few downsides. For example, a lot of people believe that the new game doesn’t have a huge variety of low tier enemies, and that’s definitely right. There could be more, but then again, it wouldn’t make the experience so impactful and interesting. There are some large bosses, but most of the time the bosses here are more down to Earth. It’s not a problem for the game, instead it’s just different when compared to what we know about the franchise already. It’s really nice to have something like that, and being able to explore all this stuff is quite exciting in its own right.

A New Life for Kratos

I liked God of War a lot, and I would gladly play through it again. The story is really good, the experience is intense and the game itself is quite long too, which is always exciting and interesting. In addition, God of War does set up a sequel quite nicely, and if it sells well we will most likely see that game come to life at some point.

This is one of the best games you could play on the PlayStation 4 and it really is among some of the nicest action titles ever created. The story is amazing, the soundtrack, graphics and the gameplay itself add up to create a masterpiece.

Alexandru Tanase is a freelance writer who enjoys playing video games and has written for numerous publications. The game he used for this review was purchased.