Welcome
back to my look at the games presented at E3 and holy crap! After six years we finally an official look
at the first honest to God continuation to the God of War series, (the prequels don’t count). And the footage we have of it so far looks….
….well. Allow
me to use this highly inappropriate yet perfect metaphoric image from South Park to express my feelings on
this.
In
all seriousness though, this is really cool.
The God of War series is, in
my mind, a modern classic hack and slash series and not one that should have
faded into obscurity the way it seemed to for a while. What is so interesting about this gameplay
footage is how much we can infer from it as it tells us so much and so little. The aesthetics, for example, confirm the
rumors that the game is in fact based around Norse Mythology with its obviously
Nordic inspired setting, icy tundra environments, and a troll actually
namedropping Valhalla during a fight featured in the footage. Graphics-wise the game looks absolutely
beautiful with the footage taking full advantage of the PS4’s capabilities as
well as modern graphics technology.
Granted you have to take the graphics end with a grain of salt, given
the game industry’s reputation with these things and simply because this is E3,
but what we have on display here is some of the most graphically impressive
stuff I’ve seen presented at the expo so far.
As to
how the game plays, it’s next to impossible to tell because I didn’t actually
have a controller in my hand, but it seems to be taking the franchise in a
different direction. The various blades
attached to Kratos’ in previous entries to the series are gone and seemed to
have been replaced with a battle axe that clearly has some magical properties
but beyond that it’s hard to tell. The
life bar appears to be gone as is any kind of apparent mana bar which is an
unfortunate compromise for the time we live in but a manageable one all the
same. For reasons that I cannot
comprehend, however, the game still seems to include quick time finishers;
something that has always been a thing with the God of War franchise but has always been something that can unnecessarily
complicate an otherwise by-the-numbers kill.
On
the story end it’s a little hard to tell just what is going here. It clearly takes place several years after
the end of the third game, with Kratos having survived impaling himself with
the Sword of Olympus, (although considering all the other crap he has somehow
survived that shouldn’t have come as a big surprise), and left the Greek
setting and went north and apparently started another family. He seems to have a loving if stern
relationship with his new son and seems intent on teaching him what it means to
be a survivor and a warrior; harsh with him when necessary but still patient
with him and seems to understand that he is still a boy and I am very
interested in seeing how this relationship plays out over the game. Beyond that, however, there really isn’t
anything that we can infer about the game’s story.
All
in all, this gameplay demo has me really excited. I’m excited to see Kratos’ story
continue. I’m excited at the prospect of
killing new monsters. I’m excited to see
a new gameplay style in this new game.
I’m salivating at the prospect of battling Norse Gods. But most of all, I am so glad that the God of War series is back in full force
and I cannot wait to get my hands on this game whenever it comes out.
So until next time, please follow the site, like the Facebook page and follow me on twitter and….
“Carry
we who die in battle
Over
Land and Sea.
Across
the Rainbow Bridge to Valhalla
Odin’s
waiting for me!”
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