Is The New 'God Of War' A Good Video Game? Here's What The Reviews Say

The "God of War" franchise, to put it charitably, is a product of its time. When it was released on the Playstation 2 in 2005, the game critics of that era gleefully billed it as the pinnacle of the medium.  Yet, when Sony announced a rebirth of the franchise earlier this year, those who had managed to mature past our prime video game-playing years couldn't help but flinch and think, "Oh god, not again."

Which is maybe a bit weird to follow! As pieces of entertainment where you push buttons to do things and marvel at the technical prowess required to produce the computer graphics, they are still great games.

The combat is bathed in delicious sticky friction. The quick time events — essentially interactive cutscenes in which your character does some crazy impressive nonsense, facilitated by the bare-minimum level of interaction demanded by large button prompts — are still some of the best examples of what's largely become a joke mechanic. The visuals, at least for "God of War" and "God of War 2" have made their transit from revolutionary at the time, to dated, to now nostalgia-inducing low-fidelity cool.

Narratively, however, the "God of War" games have not aged well. The are, in short, maybe the worst manifestation of mid-aughts video game power fantasy. Kratos, the franchise's main protagonist, is a Spartan warrior who wields two blades that are fused into his forearms with chains. In a rage he "mistakenly" kills his own wife and child. He shouts a lot. Within the first 20 minutes of the first game you can press buttons on your video game controller to have sex with two computer women.1 This act grants you Red Orbs, the same currency that you earn from killing your foes and is used to upgrade Kratos's abilities. Kratos's hubris is so extreme that the narrative structure can barely rationalize it — you spend the better part of three games killing just about every Greek god known to middle schoolers.

So it's not insane to hear that a new "God of War" in the year 2018 might be redundant. A good friend and former coworker remarked in a group chat earlier today: "isn't this just another punchy punch big combo attacko game?" A good question! Is the new "God of War" another mindless romp through Ancient Greece? 

Admittedly, I do not own a Playstation 4, nor have I had the time to complete the new "God of War" and its 40-plus hour campaign today, April 20, the day "God of War" hits store shelves. So to answer this pressing question I'm going to lean on the folks who, as part of their job, own PS4's and have had the time to play through the entire game, and offer up their thoughts just in time for today's "God of War" Launch.

'God of War' (2018) Is Definitely Not 'God Of War' (2005)

Let's first address the thing that we're all wondering: Is the new "God of War" a David Jaffe-fueled brofest? Refreshingly, and perhaps most importantly, it doesn't seem like it. This is in large part to a fairly large shift in the game mechanics, and in turn, the message of "God of War". In past installments, Kratos was a widower — an angry man shouting at the gods, promising revenge. In the new "God of War" Kratos has a son, Atreus, and he must guide him. Waypoint's Patrick Klepek explains how this shift in gameplay and narrative is an elegant way to further the "God of War" story, while also acknowledging the failings of the previous installments.

The most powerful storytelling in God of War has nothing to do with how the larger narrative — the war between the gods — plays out, but how Kratos and Atreus explore being father and son, now that Kratos can no longer rely on his wife to be the medium between them. He's the parent.

Somehow, in a game about gods fighting other gods, God of War feels grounded. 

[Waypoint]

It is a huge relief, and maybe one of the best triumphs in rebooting a stale franchise since Doom (2016), to read that the "God of War" central change — adding in a non-playable sidekick — pays off in spades. Here's Polygon's Chris Plante on how Sony's creative gamble with Atreus and Kratos paid off in a narrative sense:

The dialogue doesn't put on a faux-Shakespearean haughtiness. Atreus talks like a kid, sweet and also selfish. And Kratos acts, in turn, like a father who has no clue how to be a parent, and yet feels a profound need to protect this boy from the world and his own bloodline. God of War is awesome at times, in the true sense of the word, but its heart lives in the small ways this man and this boy are building and unbuilding their relationship.

[Polygon]

Sure, OK, But How Does It Play?

It would be silly to assume that everyone is invested in the maturation of the "God of War" franchise. In fact, I would imagine that somewhere on the internet, someone has expressed their disgust that the new "God of War" is now a game about babysitting your kid and not murdering gods. No, I do not hate myself enough to check.

So: You'll all be jazzed to know that the new "God of War" is a hecking good beat-em-up time. Kratos is, after all, a mortal who, through slaughtering many Greek gods, managed to ascend to god status. The man knows how to throw a punch, and the folks over at Sony have acknowledged this fact in their new "God of War" game. What's changed, however, is that Kratos now wields a single axe instead of two godlike blades attached to fiery chains, and the camera, which was previously cinematic in how it would zoom and pan with your actions, is now locked behind Kratos.² 

Giant Bomb's Dan Ryckert notes that the combat system is different, but very much for the better:

Combat has changed in more fundamental ways than "it's over-the-shoulder and you have a kid now." Rather than the face button-centric combat of the past, the majority of attacks are now handled via some combination of the triggers. Instead of a directional evade controlled by the right analog stick, you can now block (or parry) with L1 or roll out of the way by double-tapping X. It takes some time to get used to and I found myself messing up for many hours before I acclimated myself to the new system. Once everything clicks into place and you've earned some upgrades, combat feels as intense and responsive as ever.

[Giant Bomb] 

And if this description doesn't quite sate your curiosity for Daddy Kratos And His New Axe, then you should take 20 minutes out of your day to watch Kotaku's Tim Rogers get delightfully specific about why the combat in "God of War" owns.

What's even more impressive is how "God of War" not only manages to weave Atreus's character arc into the narrative, but also cleverly incorporates his growth into the gameplay. Here's IGN's Jonathan Dornbush on how that all works:

Though the two were estranged, Atreus is still Kratos' son, and so he listens to your directions and behaves as an almost invulnerable extension of your own abilities in combat. Equipped with a bow and a bottomless quiver of arrows, Atreus will automatically plink away at enemies or jump on them to stun them, and he'll take a more powerful shot at whatever you're looking at when directed with a tap of the square button, creating a rhythm as you time taps to match his recharge rate and employ his attacks effectively. His skill tree can also be upgraded to follow up on Kratos' more powerful attacks. Yet God of War plays with the assumption that Atreus is always at your beck and call, and the weight of the changes in their relationship are cleverly woven into your battles.

[IGN]

It's Pretty Cool When Video Games Are Good

I have to say, it's pretty awesome to see this rebirth of an important, but also very flawed, video game franchise. Reading the critical praise for "God of War" is sort of a reminder that things — even if they are as "trivial"³ as a video game — can change for the better! Watching the praise roll out for the new "God of War" is like watching an insensitive jerk from your high school finally come to understand toxic masculinity. The new "God of War" is Chris Evans growing a tasteful mustache, starting a creatively rewarding theater career and talking about reading Rebecca Solnit in the New York Times.