Before I continue fangirling over this game, let me tell you a bit about the franchise and the earlier games. This story begins with a Spartan warrior, Kratos, that ends up working for Ares, the Greek God of War. Kratos is a man’s man: no-nonsense, alpha male, over-powered. He ends up killing his family while tricked by Ares and swears revenge on the gods. So far, this is a typical story, only Kratos actually goes ahead and does it. In the first game, he makes his way to Ares and ends him, becoming the new god of war in the process. Kratos is brash, direct and goes toward what he wants in a straight line. His rage is, just like the rest of his character, over the top. In the second game, he is robbed of his god powers and decides to kill the head of all the Olympians, Zeus himself. He fails, only to finally manage it in God of War 3.
The games are a hack n’ slash fan’s dreams come true. The gameplay is brutal, littered with interactive cutscenes that make you feel pretty awesome. The scale of the boss fights is in a league of its own, starting with monsters the size of a ship and going as far as fighting Titans literally the size of mountains. These are not children’s games. Evisceration and ripping apart finishers are very common in the GOW (God of War) franchise and so are nudity and sex scenes. The gameplay is chaotic, fun and awesome. Kratos uses the blades of Chaos, heavy short blades linked to his hands by chains. He uses them as normal blades and can also flail them around over relatively long distances using the chains, enabling him to strike multiple enemies at once.
The latest God of War is different. This is a sequel, taking place many years after the defeat of Zeus in GOW 3. Kratos is now visibly older. The game begins with him and his son, Atreus who gather wood to burn the freshly dead wife of the main character. Kratos has a son, maybe 10-12 years old and, as per the wishes of his dead wife, they are supposed to take her ashes and scatter them from the highest mountain peak. The game follows the success recipe of its precursors, with Norse gods getting involved and ultimately being defeated in the classical, over the top, GOW manner. What sets this game apart from the others and makes it, in my opinion, the best in the series, is the fact that Kratos is a father and, over the course of the game, learns to act like one. This is a masterpiece! The man who wouldn’t yield to mighty gods must now restrain his anger and teach his son what he needs to know in order to survive the journey to the mountain peak which he realizes pretty early in the game, will not be an easy one. Kratos is a Spartan and his teaching methods show it. However, there is also gentleness in him, very uncharacteristic of the man, which is endearing and brings him closer to us, mere mortals.
Atreus makes mistakes. He is hot-headed, unfocused, air-headed. He is a child, thrust in the middle of a battle between gods and he has very little time to drop the childish nonsense and steel himself for the battles that await him. Kratos is hard on him because it is his nature to be like that but also because he wants to protect him. This game is, in essence about the journey that a father and son make together and the lessons that both take from it. One has many years of combat and life experience to share, while the other still has his humanity intact and is pure. Both take from the other what they need to complete themselves. From a male perspective, this is family bonding at its finest. The child is constantly sent in the midst of danger while his father protects him at all times, showing him how to become a man and protect what he holds dear. I thought they don’t make games like this anymore. Imagine my surprise when I found myself genuinely attached to the characters and immersed in a rich, cohesive world, full of beauty and danger.
God of War is a must play. For those that haven’t played the others, I urge you to try them out. If, however, you decide to start with the latest one, that is also fine. You will not get many of the references but the essence of the game remains intact for you as well. This is a game that speaks to more than one generation and depending on the level of maturity that you find yourself at, it will speak to you differently than it does to others. This game shows a level of maturity that is seldom achieved in the industry. If this article hasn’t convinced you, watch some trailers. You will buy it for the mindless fun but eventually play it for the deep story and lessons that it has to teach.
