Many, many years have passed since Kratos demanded bloody vengeance against the Gods of Olympus for tricking him into murdering his own family, and it has changed quite dramatically.
When we reach it in 2018, God of War, SIE Santa Monica Studio simultaneous continuation and restart of the beloved PlayStation series, the Spartan warrior has left behind Ancient Greece and is now living a new life with another family in the Nordic kingdom of gods and monsters. 19659002] But it's not just Norse mythology that differentiates the new God of War from previous entries in the series: its action-focused game has been completely deconstructed and reinvented, offering a new perspective of the camera over the shoulder and an ax based on the combat system that keeps Kratos on land.
He also has a companion throughout his last adventure, with his young son Atreus providing support with his faithful bow and knife during combat, while also deci filtered Nordic text and helping with riddles.
Unfortunately, this father-son relationship is complicated, with Kratos' secrets about his true nature (as well as the imminent deity of Atreus) keeping the two at odds with one another for most of his life. adventure.
And when they really break it down, this iteration of God of War is about a god who learns to be a human and a human being who learns to be a god.
A new beginning
The new game opens with the Nordic funeral of the late Kratos wife, Faye, an event that seems to announce that her brief period of peace is reaching its end. Now he has been allowed to raise Atreus alone.
The problem, as we mentioned earlier, is that the father and son are not particularly close: both Kratos and Atreus resent their new life situation, but they must travel far from home to carry out Faye's Last Wish, which is to have his ashes scattered on the highest peak in all the kingdoms.
Although he is still the most grumpy type, it is safe to say that Kratos is significantly less angry than he was during his time in Ancient Greece: he is no longer prone to kill everything he sees, and when he raises his voice, it is generally because Atreus has not obeyed his orders.
This father-son duo is forced to make comparisons with Joel and Ellie from The Naughty Dog 2013 masterpiece, The Last of Us, with Kratos and Atreus sharing a similar dynamic of the sad protector and the innocent child that could melt your frozen heart.
Do not get us wrong, however, this is a very good thing. It is a maturation of character and tone that helps take the series to new emotional levels, achieving a deeper and more satisfying general experience.
You'd better do somebody
While Kratos and son are preparing to take their trip to the highest point of all the kingdoms, they are visited by a stranger with God. similar powers (whose identity is discovered later in the game), which proceeds to give Kratos an unexpected challenge in the punching department.
After one of the most brutal and cinematic battles of the entire series of God of War, it is clear to Kratos that the Norse gods know all about their past as the Ghost of Sparta, and are quite threatened by their clue to kill God engrave.
This puts the Spartan on the defensive, a position in which it is not normally found. All previous adventures of Kratos placed him in the role of aggressor, seeking revenge for the mistakes that had been made, but now his only concerns are to fulfill the last wish of his late wife and protect his son.
Fortunately, Kratos has inherited Faye's powerful Leviathan Ax, a powerful ice-based weapon that can be used in close combat and launched for ranged attacks. You will spend most of the game wielding, although you can play with an alternative weapon based on fire later on.
Time to throw down
Perhaps inspired by the as Dark Souls and Bloodborne, the rapid and heavy attacks of the new combat system are assigned to the shoulder buttons R1 and R2, with the additional functionality granted while holding down the point button (L2).
This will throw your ax against enemies or interactive puzzle elements around the world. Sometimes, that means leaving it embedded in a cog that holds a raised platform while you fight with your fists and the trust shield, which is raised by pressing L1 (hitting that at the right time will deflect an enemy's attack, leaving them open for a against movement). By pressing the triangle button, the Leviathan Ax will return to you in the form of Mjölnir to Thor.
Aiming an enemy and pressing the square button will cause Atreus to shoot arrows at you, an invaluable tactic later in the game when the bow is lit with numerous magical abilities.
Like the above mentioned FromSoftware titles, God of War combat usually allows you to cling to an enemy at once by pressing on the right stick (R3) and dodging enemy attacks with well-timed runs by tapping the button twice X.
Fortunately, combat, although occasionally hard, is much more accessible than in the games of Souls; This remains a title of God of War in the heart. As you level up and improve your skills (spend XP will grant you new attacks, like previous games in the series), weapons and armor (applying runes will grant you magical attack skills and spend hacksilver will buy and update Kratos and Atreus Armor, ax and bow), you become more formidable, able to face multiple enemies at once.
An Open-Opened World
In stark contrast to the almost
linear nature of previous God of War games, this iteration pulls a page out of Tomb's replay playbook Raider, you have a much larger environment to move without entering the territory of the test area.
In the true fashion of Metroidvania, certain areas, objects and roads are initially blocked for Kratos and his son, and they open only after you have unlocked the new skill or weapon that allows you to overcome previously unbreakable barriers.
Yes, that means that there is a good amount of back-tracking involved throughout the approximately 30 hours of the game, and that the game time will be extended even further if you move away from your mission and begin to perform Occasional missions or you decide to track specific elements scattered by different kingdoms.
Yes, you read it correctly: this new journey of God of War will take you through multiple Nordic kingdoms, each with a different look and feel. One in particular is among the most beautiful environments we have visited in a videogame.
An encounter with a friendly witch at the beginning of the game gives you a "Witch's Compass", an invaluable element that will always guide you in the direction of your current goal, which means you'll never get lost in This epic adventure. This compass becomes especially useful when traveling to different areas within each canoe kingdom.
In fact, despite his generally bitter attitude, Kratos makes a number of useful friends during the game campaign. That includes a couple of dwarf brothers who quarrel, a head that speaks well (just let yourself go) and the witch mentioned above. Although always rude, Kratos is always respectful of his allies, which shows how much he has calmed down in the years since the conclusion of God of War III.
Visuals worthy of Odin's approval
With an amazing art direction and incredibly detailed graphics, God of War is among the best games on the PlayStation 4, in fact, We would have gotten to say that it is the most beautiful PS4 game from the visually stunning horizon: Zero Dawn from Guerrilla Games.
Its immense scope is supported by unrivaled lighting and a remarkable level of detail in costumes, faces and environments, all of which are marked to new heights when played on a PlayStation 4 Pro console.
The PS4 version Pro of God of War offers two graphic modes: one that favors resolution, shows the game on the board 2160p and another that favors performance, lowering the resolution to 1080p but at a frame rate close to 60 fps (but never really blocked ).
The one you choose will obviously be reduced to your personal preferences. The movement of the camera is much smoother in the performance mode, although there is a decrease in the visual details, especially in the game where the level of detail seen in 4K is so high.
Of course, HDR is also available for those with TVs that supports the format, and we can say that it definitely adds to the experience, particularly when it comes to lighting and shadows.
And the cat is in the cradle and the silver ax
Of course, the best images in the world do not mean much without a compelling story behind them, and with God's War, creative director Cory Barlog and his team at Sony Santa Monica have definitely achieved their best narrative to date.
Although Kratos can be incredibly rough with his son, and Atreus can enter an annoying and unbearable mucus territory from time to time, their relationship provides the anchor for the whole experience.
Even when God of War is bigger and more spectacular, he will never forget the duel father and son at the center of everything. There is something incredibly satisfying emotionally about witnessing the unspoken love between Kratos and his son growing up throughout the adventure.
Of course, that is sometimes threatened by Atreus' childish behavior, which often brings the pair almost back to the starting point in terms of tolerance between them, but fortunately the game always has the form of returning to channel things.
Verdict: Game Now
The new God of War is not only the best game of the series to date due to its redesigned combat system, updated camera, epic range and incredible images. Like his characters, he reaches new heights so incredible due to the inclusion of something that none of the previous titles of the series really had a lot of heart.
This version of Kratos finally feels like a fully developed character, one that is less a monster of one-dimensional anger and more of a deep and reflective soul that still harbors much pain and anguish.
With Atreus at his side, the game gives you constant hope that Kratos will eventually leave behind the luggage that still haunts him (we mean that literally, Kratos is visited by ghosts from his past on more than one occasion). [19659002] Although once hatred and anger fueled Kratos' desire to fight, he now fights for love, which is a great change of tone for the series, turning it into something more powerful, moving and unforgettable.