God of War has been an ongoing franchise made by Santa Monica studios. It started with the original God of War that was made in 2005. In 2018, Monica studios released God of War (2018) for the PS4. It cost $20, which is surprisingly inexpensive. This game is a complete 180 from the previous games, as it takes gameplay elements from Dark Souls and combines them with the hack and slash combat that the games previously had. This game took the series in the right direction, and it could be argued that this is one of the best games of its time.

PLOT

​God of War (2018) is a sequel to God of War 3, as the reign of Kratos’s revenge against the Olympian Gods seems to have come to an end. In the previous titles of God of War, the story features the well-beloved Kratos as he ventures through Olympus enacting his revenge against the Greek Gods. He was an angry, ruthless killing machine, and he tore through his enemies brutally. His thirst for revenge wouldn’t be quenched until every God in Olympus was killed. 

In God of War (2018), however, they took Kratos and made a complete left turn. He’s settled down and even started a family (I’m so proud of Kratos). Kratos has a son (Atreus) and is learning to control his anger. Kratos's late wife (Faye) wished for her ashes to be spread at the highest point of all the nine realms. This is the setting of the story of God of War (2018). 

I really like this plot set up because it’s simple and easy to follow. It also gives the players a chance to get to know this new Kratos, who is vastly different from who he once was. He is much calmer and is able to control his anger significantly better than in the past. 

As in all games, typically the first hour is usually the slowest due to the tutorial, but I was really in tune with the environment. Who knew beating on monsters while in a forest would be so relaxing? Anyway, the story is amazing and the characters are well written. There are times when you’re just exploring and characters enact dialogue. The conversions are so interesting that I can’t help but  want to explore more to try to get the characters to talk even more.

Combat

The combat in this game is very fluid. The game rewards mastery of combat, as you can do really flashy power combos. You start off with the Leviathan Axe, an ax that was given to Kratos by his late wife. Later on, you get access to Kratos’s signature weapon, the Blades of Chaos. You can switch between the two weapons whenever you want. However, each weapon is more useful in different situations. The ax feels more powerful; it can stagger opponents more easily as well as freeze them. The Blades of Chaos are faster and can be easily combined into one another. They can burn the enemy as well. 

The combat in this game is really simplistic and always makes me feel adrenaline because every fight keeps me on my toes. Once, I was being cocky and the trash mobs killed me (albeit I was playing on the hardest difficulty). In this game, you always have to be aware and play like every enemy is a boss.

​My Thoughts

​Overall, I really enjoyed this game. I love the character interaction in the story. God of War (2018) does a good job in keeping me drawn to the story with its comedic humor. I also love what Monica Studios has done with Kratos. They revived Kratos and made him into a better character. He isn’t a mindless meat head bent on revenge. He tries to learn from his mistakes and what’s better for his son. Throughout the game, we see the relationship between Kratos and Atreus grow exponentially, and it changes Kratos for the better. The combat is expansive and rewarding towards the player. You have control over how you want to play, which I enjoy as well. The graphics are amazing and visually pleasing to look at (I thought Atreus was pretty weird to look at at first, but he’s grown on me). I would rate this game a 9/10. I hope you enjoy this game like I did.

Earnest Thomas