Believe it or not, today marks 6 years since the original release of the video game titled God of War (Although, in reality, it was the fourth main installment of this franchise) Today the Norse adventure of Kratos and Atreus is the first thing that comes to mind when people think of “God of War” but at the time this was a risky bet for Sony, which ended up working out very well. Today we remember this great game with much appreciation to answer the question: Why did it do so well?
Happy Birthday #6 to God of War 4!
A bit of background: God of War began its life on the PlayStation 2 as a series of “hack & slash” video games taking place in Greece. Kratos’ story concluded in 2010 when he wiped out the entire Greek pantheon and, after an insignificant prequel in 2013, this franchise had a hiatus for several years. Until E3 2016, when Sony revealed to the world that Kratos was still alive, had moved to Scandinavia and had a son with whom he would have an exciting new adventure. This interesting new video game was released 2 years later, on April 20, 2018.
Leaving the Greek gods behind, it was now the turn to face the mighty Norse gods, such as Baldur, Odin or Thor. But the most striking thing was that God of War 4 was not a simple violent story of revenge like the previous installments, but was centered on the complicated relationship between Kratos and his son, Atreus. After Faye’s death, both protagonists must join forces to carry her ashes to the highest point of Midgard. It’s a different story, but it worked perfectly because it took the time to thoroughly explore both characters and their relationship. Kratos’ reputation changed forever after this game, and he deserves it.
Scandinavia proved to be an excellent new setting for Kratos’ adventures, as it is a place full of intriguing mysteries, intimidating monsters, beautiful locations and, of course, crazy gods who will want to annihilate him and his son. The graphical style of God of War 4 is really impressive (we can see all the hairs in Kratos’ beard!) and special mention must be made of the excellent performances of Christopher Judge as Kratos and Sunny Suljic as Atreus who brought these characters to life.
Another very drastic change in God of War 4 was the new combat system. The camera is closer to Kratos and the action is a little less fast-paced, but deeper and more satisfying. Leviathan’s Axe is a very fun weapon to use in conjunction with all the new abilities, items and Atreus’ assistance with the bow & arrow. Although we can’t forget the Chaos Swords either, Kratos’ classic weapons that he uses again in the middle of the story and make this adventure even more epic and violent.
Needless to say, God of War 4 completely revitalized this franchise that was being somewhat forgotten at the time. Both critics and fans consider it one of the best video games of 2018 and it sold more than 3 million units worldwide. This success led to Sony making a PC port a few years later, Amazon starting to develop a Live Action adaptation for Prime Video and Santa Monica Studio launching an incredible sequel in 2023: God of War Ragnarok.
So on the day of its sixth anniversary, we can’t help but praise God of War 4, not only for being an excellent video game, but also for helping to breathe new life into this epic mythological franchise. What do you think of this game? Do you think it deserves all this success?
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