It’s a bit more difficult to praise the game’s upgrade system. You’d think that they might slow down the game’s pacing, but they’re actually cleverly integrated in ways that ultimately leave you feeling just as satisfied as at the end of any major battle.įurther Reading: 60 Underrated PlayStation 1 Games God of War has always featured a few brain teasers, but this new collection of puzzles features some truly challenging scenarios. The ax is also used to solve many of the game’s puzzles. That mechanic works great during combat – nothing is more satisfying than killing one enemy with a throw and taking out another with the rebound – and is one of the many ways that God of War’s combat keeps you on your toes and inspires you to come up with creative solutions to increasingly complicated conflicts. It’s similar to Thor’s hammer in that respect. The “gimmick” of the ax is that you’re able to throw and recall it at will. Time will tell if it will become as iconic as the Blades of Chaos, but it feels great to use. The star of God of War’s combat spectacular is undoubtedly Kratos’ ax.
You feel like a god, but the game does make you work for it. It’s just that you now have to consider things like blocks, counters, enemy positioning, and the various attack types it takes to take down the game’s various foes. Everything is much more deliberate and “meatier” than in previous God of War games and you’re rarely left with the feeling that you are not the true powerhouse. Early previews compared the game’s combat to Dark Souls, but that comparison doesn’t quite hold in the final version of the title. He maintains his arrows – which you can upgrade – but watching his character growth manifest itself in the form of his direct combat is a true joy.Īctually, God of War’s combat is generally a true joy. However, as the game goes on, Atreus becomes bolder and begins to enter the fray directly. The arrows don’t do much damage and largely serve as an extra parry. At first, Atreus is only able to shoot arrows at enemies at your command. We even get to watch Atreus evolve as a warrior as his skills grow greater in combat. When Kratos teaches his son a harsh – but often necessary – lesson about life and the world, we feel Atreus’ silent disappointment because many of those lessons are ones that we’ve learned, too. When Atreus is put in any kind of danger, Kratos launches into an old-school God of War rage. What ultimately makes the Kratos/Atreus dynamic work as well as it does is the way the game weaves their relationship into nearly every aspect of the experience. While his perky personality helps bring out a more human side of Kratos, there are moments when he exhibits a “Gee-whiz” attitude that doesn’t really match the circumstances of his situation and what we believe to be his upbringing.
Truth be told, though, there are times when Atreus’ dialogue and actions seem a bit out of place. Granted, that has something to do with the fact that we genuinely come to care for Atreus as someone whom we cannot lose (even if he cannot actually die during combat). Ok, that last part isn’t very typical, but the point still stands that Atreus serves as the emotional counterpoint to his father’s stoic nature.Īctually, for as much as people like to take Kratos to task for being a generic character notable only for his bloodlust and the spectacle of his rage, many of God of War’s best moments are the result of Kratos launching into the most epic form of dad mode that we’ve ever seen in a video game. He’s energetic, prone to get into trouble, and is capable of reading ancient runes. On the other hand, Atreus is pretty much like every young boy you’ve ever known. Well, the game deals with that as Kratos initially treats Atreus more as a tool or weapon that has to be honed in order to survive in this world. Going into this sequel (although perhaps we should call it a revival), then, it was difficult to imagine how he would ever manage to be a father. The God of War games up until this point have established Kratos as more of a force of nature than a man. The relationship between Kratos and Atreus is a…complicated one.