Having taken a few weeks to complete the campaign, I sit thinking of how to describe the experience. The game may have received rave reviews across the board, but was it truly as memorable, inspiring and wonderful as everyone says? To begin, let’s address some facts after the obligatory here be spoilers warning.
The middle sections were iffy and revisiting places felt a bit drawn out. The music wasn’t as heroic as I’d hoped and I never found myself humming any tunes as I itched to return to Midgard. There were some lighting issues, particularly with shadows, where everything would go dark and it gave the game an unnatural and jarring feeling from time to time. Initially, there were too many menus, upgrade choices and options to go through. One of the later gameplay mechanics felt too video-gamey, especially for a title that aimed to bridge the gap between cinematic experience and games and I also hit a checkpoint bug that was frustrating and made for too much work.
Phew…that’s a long list of woes. However, as a true testament to the game’s magnificence, I would still give it a 10/10 as the laundry list of good/great/fan-fucking-tastic things is easily 20 times the length of the previous paragraph. From a gameplay perspective, the puzzles were almost all interesting and fun and they were tied in with the story or side quests perfectly. Fighting as Kratos has never been as satisfying, challenging or glorious to behold. A series staple, this game somehow made me forget about the blades of chaos, at least until they returned. On the one hand, the leviathan axe was a brilliant change of pace, both brutal in its weight and also marvelous to watch, and its integration into puzzles made it the ideal weapon of choice. But as Kratos’s past returned, the blades were not merely a prop or throwaway weapon: they served a purpose, both with their fire element and also the gravity of accepting his prior life.
Which leads, inevitably, into that conflict Kratos suffered. I can all but guarantee nobody saw our protagonist as the “most developed character of 2018”. (I realize, Red Dead Redemption 2 will likely win story of the year for many). Honestly, who believed Kratos could undergo such a transformation from a one-dimensional anger machine to a wonderfully-blended father figure, tormented god and, rarely, funny character. The BOY memes are not unfair, but I genuinely cared about him, his journey and above all, his relationship with Atreus.
The dynamics the duo faced throughout this journey were simply remarkable. When Atreus was in trouble, I felt my own inner Spartan Rage building. I don’t know if non-parents could truly experience the emotional side of this story, but I like to think they can, even if a portion might not resonate as much as a father of a son, like I am, can. At points, I hated Atreus and wanted to slap his face. On others, I felt for him, the way I do when my own child hurts. Finally, on others, I relied upon him to stun my enemies, distract them, reach those I couldn’t and for tossing me some energy when I was getting an all-too-frequent beat-down. He is the single best non-player sidekick I’ve ever had the joy of semi-controlling and his journey, as Kratos mentions at the end, is the true center stage of this tale.
Finding that out, however, was a vast undertaking, through realms, fighting behemoths and ultimately landing at one of the more emotional finales I’ve ever experienced. The implications of Faye’s predictions: whatever that final panel meant, makes me yearn for more in a way no God Of War ever has. The significance of the final name reveal: Loki, has me questioning everything! I’ve been entrenched in Norse mythology and, knowing my stuff, the ending means OMG – bad shit’s a’comin’! Balder’s death signifies the beginning of Ragnarök – orchestrated by Loki himself. Plus, Loki is the father of Jormungand AND Fenrir which turns the entire timeline on its head.
And all these superlatives just gloss over the incredible attention to detail, the way the developers integrated lore without overwhelming you, the utterly gorgeous graphics and pristine sound design. It doesn’t capture how after my finale and the post-finale, “I want the sequel NOW” reveal, that I just want to dive back in to collect more, defeat valkyries, upgrade equipment and, as of yesterday, tinker with the new photo mode.
The only true downside is that a sequel will never be able to capture the magic this reboot has offered us. This game is very similar to the Tomb Raider reboot from several years ago: the new take on Lara was compelling and its gameplay superb. I actually cared about the lore, though that was overshadowed by GOW’s, but the two have many parallels. Much like the Tomb Raider sequel, more is always great, but I don’t think it can ever live up to the experience I just had which is, without a doubt, among the best in my gaming life. And to think, I only just beat Bloodborne three months ago! Two games which likely reside on my top-20, mayhaps even my top-15!
I’ll cut this off now, as I surely could gush for countless other paragraphs about Brok and Sindri, about the single-shot presentation, about those damn valkyries, about…..yeah….let’s call it a day now. I’m pegging it as Game of the Year now. It’s not a question of it being deserving, it’s only a question of something else being able to topple it. OMG, so good.
