Rate top gamesbeautiful and enveloping world supplemented with a great story that links the ones of the prior games in the best ways. combat is pretty good with a diverse moveset of abilities and attack methods, but can become formulaic after a little while once you know what's efficient, which becomes apparent in the late game. lots of uninteresting bosses used ad nauseum, intrusively tacked-on RPG elements that dont make sense, and zero replayability from the endless "moviegame" moments and tedious half-baked environmental 'puzzles' that would be a slog to get through again. also kratos takes up like half the screen. youll love it the first time and never play it again.
Story: 10/10 - Enjoyed it a lot. Loved the shift to norse mythology and the way the story played out. I found the pacing to be very good. There are a couple of moments, where the game purposefully slows the player down for some forced walking segments, which I personally dislike, but it wasn't to big of a deal here. The ending could have been a bit more climactic and the end boss could have been more spectacular (as you would expect from the series), but that's just me.
Combat: 6/10 - Serves its purpose, but it's a step back from the older GoW titles in my opinion. Still, throwing the axe and calling it back is fun (until the novelty wears off at least). Also they re-used the same mini boss (troll) about 9 times, which was a bit annoying, even though the enemy had a different twist to it's move set in every encounter, it got pretty old, pretty fast. In general enemy variety wasn't great, but that mini-boss was the only one that really rubbed me the wrong way.
Exploration: 5/10 - Kratos' movement is very limited, as are the areas he can actually reach. This may not be too noticeable while playing through the story, but it gets extremely annoying when backtracking and looking for collectibles.
Graphics: 10/10 - Absolutely amazing. The visual fidelity is probably the strongest I've seen yet. Environments are beautiful and the characters look amazing and animate very well.
Sound: 10/10 - The soundtrack and the sound design as well as the voice acting are on point.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first playthrough of God of War. As soon as I started collecting things and backtracking a lot for the platinum trophy though, the flaws in its gameplay became very noticable. Still highly recommended, if only for the first playthrough experience.
Combat: 6/10 - Serves its purpose, but it's a step back from the older GoW titles in my opinion. Still, throwing the axe and calling it back is fun (until the novelty wears off at least). Also they re-used the same mini boss (troll) about 9 times, which was a bit annoying, even though the enemy had a different twist to it's move set in every encounter, it got pretty old, pretty fast. In general enemy variety wasn't great, but that mini-boss was the only one that really rubbed me the wrong way.
Exploration: 5/10 - Kratos' movement is very limited, as are the areas he can actually reach. This may not be too noticeable while playing through the story, but it gets extremely annoying when backtracking and looking for collectibles.
Graphics: 10/10 - Absolutely amazing. The visual fidelity is probably the strongest I've seen yet. Environments are beautiful and the characters look amazing and animate very well.
Sound: 10/10 - The soundtrack and the sound design as well as the voice acting are on point.
Overall, I really enjoyed my first playthrough of God of War. As soon as I started collecting things and backtracking a lot for the platinum trophy though, the flaws in its gameplay became very noticable. Still highly recommended, if only for the first playthrough experience.
9/10
+ Very smart reinvention of stale franchise
+ Fantastic character performances (esp. Kratos)
+ Excellent touching/beautiful story
+ Combat is thrilling + challenging, never grew boring
+ Top notch visuals, environments are gorgeous
+ Way more to do than expected, meaty game
+ Soundtrack stood out (esp vocal pieces)
+ Norse mythology much more untapped than Greek
- Equipment customization too complicated, doesn't add much
- Camera too tight
+ Very smart reinvention of stale franchise
+ Fantastic character performances (esp. Kratos)
+ Excellent touching/beautiful story
+ Combat is thrilling + challenging, never grew boring
+ Top notch visuals, environments are gorgeous
+ Way more to do than expected, meaty game
+ Soundtrack stood out (esp vocal pieces)
+ Norse mythology much more untapped than Greek
- Equipment customization too complicated, doesn't add much
- Camera too tight
As of 2018, my favourite game of all time. The story moved me in ways no other piece of media ever has, and the performances captured genuinely left me in awe. The no-cuts camera is groundbreaking and provides a relatable lens to view the story through - it makes you feel like you're on this adventure. This game moved me, and I will never forget the journey it took me on. God of War deserves to go down in history as one of the best offerings of the games industry.
«Blew my mind»
Beats the shit out of any other PS4 release by far! Stop reading this review and buy the game!
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
I fucked up with this game. I did NOT want this game to be spoiled for me at all and I was also very busy in the months of April and May, combining to make this a game that I really tried blasting through. I did no side missions, didn't explore the customization options even close to their fullest, and I came across maybe one Valkyrie that I don't even think I beat. Really looking forward to giving this game another go NG+ style some time next year. From what I DID play though, this is one of the best games of the generation, and hands down the best game of the year (sorry red dead ur too realistic not very fun). The way this game FEELS is incredible, it reminded me of my first time playing any of the Arkham games and quickly getting used to that new style of combat. God of War takes those mechanics, adds an axe, makes it deeper, and RUNS with it. The combat in this game is beyond satisfying, and the mid-game reveal of getting the hell-blades that ALSO control incredibly was just the cherry on top of the tastiest pie I've ever had. They even managed to make rowing a boat feel good and natural, which when accompanied by Mimir's voice acting and stories makes me wanna stay in the boat until I'm decaying. This game also manages it's difficulty so well, I played on normal difficulty and always felt like I was earning every kill. The boss fights are hard, the Valkyrie fight is insane (can't even imagine trying to fight the final one, nervous), and FUCK the werewolf guys. And god, the graphics... the graphics... 2018 really spoiled us with Spider-Man, Forza 4, Red Dead, and this. I couldn't believe my eyes, Sony please for the love of god make a PS4 Pro that's on par with the Xbox One X, or please make the PS5 as good as the Xbox 2 or whatever awful thing they name it, I need to see God of War in the best way possible. This is my game of the year and my game of the generation so far, I can't wait to play it again and hopefully get the platinum.
«Blew my mind»
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
More like an 8.5, this game is a well-packaged adventure, is like an Alfonso Cuaron movie where the camera doesn't stop following you, an amazing feat. The thing is that the simple but satisfying combat of the previous games is gone in favor of "telling a story" and sure looks cool if you're not actually playing it but I didn't like that you have a visual cue like in Assassins Creed to tell you when an attack is going to hit you, I was looking to that spot and not the whole screen. As for the story is an interesting one, and still feels like a God of War one, it excels in the character department, almost everyone is so remarkable, well acted and well scripted, everyone except for that "boy", is just an exposition device but an annoying one, I didn't buy that this kid grew in the wild, feels more like a spoiled suburban brat and also for the most part his relationship with Kratos feels too artificial, and speaking of Kratos he's still an amazing and cool character. In the end even the repetitive combat, the repetitive enemies (I think there's like only 3 unique boss fights in the game, everything else is just reskinned enemies), the annoying kid, etc, didn't stop me for finishing this game, is a fun ride but is way too far to be a masterpiece.
"First the moon and the stars will be lost in a dense white fog. Then the rivers and the lakes and the sea will freeze over. And finally, a wolf named Skoll will open his jaws and eat the sun, sending the world into an everlasting night. I think I hear the wolf at the door. "
One thing I didn't like about the game was the bosses that were essentially just re-skins of others with little to no variation in move sets.
All in all, this game has set the bar high, I can't wait to see what comes next. 9.5/10
"BOY ... you sure are missing out if you don't play this game." So, I'll admit, I never enjoyed the other GoW games. There was just something missing from them for me. This new entry into the series hits just about every nail on the head. You've got interesting characters, Atreus isn't useless like most NPC companions, game looks great on standard PS4 though at some parts I did get very noticeable frame rate drops, great soundtrack and some good boss fights too.
One thing I didn't like about the game was the bosses that were essentially just re-skins of others with little to no variation in move sets.
All in all, this game has set the bar high, I can't wait to see what comes next. 9.5/10
Nathan Drake goes berserk on Scandinavian mythology setting. And it's great!
Actually, GOW is something between «Exceptional» and «Recommended» for me. Sometimes it's strongly reminds you, that it's only a game, like when you have that plastic level limitations or your son tells you: «Let's explore the world, dad!». Аnd you are like: «How long should we hang around with your dead mother's ash in a sac, kiddo?». And gnomes. Brok and Sindri looks like the most powerful creatures in a game with their invisibility skill, hundred of workshops around the world and ability to improve weapons with one hammer blow.
But still it's a good story and you could rarely find such a narrative about relationship between a father and a son. It's closer to Last of Us more then Witcher3. And good story shouldn't necessarily be epic and large-scale.
Combat system is balanced and spicy. Never ever it was so funny to chop and cleave your opponents. From that point, remember dry and stingy Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Witcher3 was bloody and about razor-sharp skills of trained monster-assassin, but God of War gives you real rage. One thing I missed, to be honest, is «16+» mode and gore.
Actually, GOW is something between «Exceptional» and «Recommended» for me. Sometimes it's strongly reminds you, that it's only a game, like when you have that plastic level limitations or your son tells you: «Let's explore the world, dad!». Аnd you are like: «How long should we hang around with your dead mother's ash in a sac, kiddo?». And gnomes. Brok and Sindri looks like the most powerful creatures in a game with their invisibility skill, hundred of workshops around the world and ability to improve weapons with one hammer blow.
But still it's a good story and you could rarely find such a narrative about relationship between a father and a son. It's closer to Last of Us more then Witcher3. And good story shouldn't necessarily be epic and large-scale.
Combat system is balanced and spicy. Never ever it was so funny to chop and cleave your opponents. From that point, remember dry and stingy Dark Souls or Bloodborne. Witcher3 was bloody and about razor-sharp skills of trained monster-assassin, but God of War gives you real rage. One thing I missed, to be honest, is «16+» mode and gore.