➤ God of War: the review of the new work of Santa Monica 🎮

Here we are finally with the highly anticipated God of War review. Eight years after the last numbered title, God of War III to be exact and five years after the last episode released on a home console, Ascension, considered by many to be the lowest point reached, in terms of quality, of the entire franchise . In this long, very long juncture, we have witnessed a change of generation (and a half if we consider the Pro versions of the consoles), the incredible success of Nintendo, a process of maturation, and perhaps even flattening, of the entire sector of the 'entertainment. The productions have become polarized: small independent jewels that try to carry forward innovations on the artistic and gameplay front are opposed to the triple A mega productions which, today more than ever, must possess certain production values and fulfill a whole series of expectations that the mass player, the one who does the numbers, has a good mind when preparing to shell out € 70.

We found this preamble necessary to better frame this review of the new God of War. Because since its amazing announcement that surprised everyone at E3 in Los Angeles 2 years ago it immediately became clear why Sony has decided to upset a franchise from the very foundations that had made familiarity and the concept of "more of the same" of the characterizing elements of the product. But when you change everything, does nothing really change like a popular saying goes? In the opinion of the writer this is not quite the case and even if this new God of War, made on PS4 as always by the students of the studio Santa Monica this time with the direction of Cory Barlog, the director of the second chapter, it is an exceptional title from many points of view, it fails to rise to the rank of absolute and essential masterpiece.

Plot and Characters: off to young people

In technical terms, the operation of design made with this new God of War takes the name of soft reboot, and can be easily approached to what Ubisoft did with Assassin's Creed Origins. It is in fact, in effect, a sequel given that in chronological terms and knowledge of the protagonist the game presupposes the existence of the previous chapters, but most of the basic elements of the gameplay, the setting and the narrative structure, are forcefully move away from the tradition of the series. What we are facing, at the start of the campaign, is a Kratos aged and weighed down by age, with a long, thick beard. Olympus and the Greek gods are a distant memory because, in a sort of self-imposed exile, he decided to go to Norway while maintaining the utmost secrecy about his past and his troubled life story, confiding exclusively to his partner. Just the death of the latter will give way to the long journey of Kratos in the company of son Atreus, along the lines of any road movie, through a part of the nine realms of Norse mythology. As you can imagine, the situation will get complicated almost immediately forcing the Phantom of Sparta to have to deal with an antagonist of divine origin and the small gang in tow. In addition to a representation of minor creatures, these too are expertly fished from the vast Norse literature.

To keep this God of War review completely spoiler free, we will avoid saying anything else about the plot, focusing instead on the total change of register for what concerns the narrative and in particular the relationship between Kratos and Atreus. God of War in this respect fully respects and undergoes the "Naughty Dog treatment": the work done by the popular Californian software house on the Uncharted series and in particular on The Last of Us has in fact become a point of reference that many productions of the latter two generations have tried to chase. A plot with deep dialogues, well-defined protagonists and supporting actors, narrative arcs that are easy to follow but still capable of arousing emotions and above all a directorial cut able to blend perfectly with the gameplay through cutscenes that enter and exit the game phases without solution of continuity.

And it must be said: the result works because even if at first finding a Kratos so deep, internally fought, able to express himself with words as well as with punches, often hiding behind an impenetrable aura of mystery has displaced us, there is no doubt that for the whole adventure it is his stage presence and in particular the whole evolution of the relationship with Atreus, to keep the player's interest always on. The link between the two is credible and coherent and we will see it go through many phases, all of which, however obvious, are absolutely convincing. In purely informational terms, know that to complete the campaign it took us just over thirty hours. Unfortunately, lacking specific counters we cannot be more detailed but taking into account the percentages of exploration of the realms, we feel comfortable in saying that, to complete everything at 100%, we would have needed at least another dozen hours. While there is no need to point this out, God of War is exclusively single player and has a single ending.

Setting: open spaces

Let's start immediately with the age-old dilemma: but this God of War is or is not a openworld? It depends. It depends on the definition you give to this feature. If you are among the fundamentalists who see only The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild respectful of this feature, then no, it is not. If instead you use the concept of open world to differentiate the titles that do not offer a pure linear browsing experience, then God of War is certainly an open title, at times with different characteristics typical of the open world. What is certain is that it moves away with enormous strength from the past of the series and also from those attempts at hybridization operated for example by Naughty Dog with the latest Uncharted which in a couple of contexts offered much wider and freely explorable sections. Wanting to inevitably make a comparison, here we are on the side of a Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Outside of a heavily linear opening and a couple of more guided sections, this God of War offers a 'setting very large and freely explorable far and wide with the classic Zelda ploy which assumes that certain sections and treasures are accessible only after unlocking some upgrades through the continuation of the plot. There is a lot of exploratory backtracking, there is fast travel (which is initially very limited), there is a means of locomotion that can be used at one's discretion (the infamous boat) and above all there are others additional maps, some unlockable optionally through the collectibles, which expand the game environment in a consistent way.

This open world of rose water is supported by a new system of missions: next to the main campaign, it is possible to carry out favors that are in effect secondary quests and a very long series of collectibles which, alongside the more standard incremental tests related to the enemies killed and the methods of execution, include treasure maps and various elements related to exploration and meeting with special bosses to face. All strictly optional but essential for grinding issues, especially when you decide to increase the level of difficulty.

The inevitable RPG mode

Today it is almost impossible to think of a triple A that does not have some role-playing element integrated into its gameplay and God of War is no exception to this great truth. We have access to three pieces of Kratos armor and a single Atreus garment, all of which can be purchased or produced by the two blacksmith dwarves who will follow us for the entire adventure and, on very rare occasions, recoverable from the chests scattered throughout the game. L'equipment it can also be enhanced and sometimes it can host bezels where you can insert spells, these too loot and buy. As for the Leviathan, the arch of Atreus is the only other weapon that we can find during the campaign, we have access to a single equipment slot (the weapon handle) and to the inserts for the runes. All of these elements contribute to the improvement of the six stats that determine Kratos' battle worth. If we exclude strength, vitality and defense, which are fairly self-explanatory, the other three values affect the damage and reload speed of special shots, and experience gain. Yes, because there is also the classic experience.

In fact, if all the crafting and upgrading part is based on silver and resources that we can collect by killing the enemies larger or by addressing the two activities extra inserted in the two optionally unlockable realms, the skills of Kratos and Atreus and just the management of the runes, are linked to the process of growth of the experience. The skills are divided into three trees that later become four and are related to weapons, combat with bare hands and with the shield, and competence with the bow and arrows of Atreus. There is nothing particularly revolutionary on this front, but the XP can also be spent to improve the runes equipped on the weapons by forcing us in the intermediate stages of the game to make customization choices. The runes are of the light and heavy type and represent, to all intents and purposes, special hits that Kratos can use in battle while respecting their cooldown. It is about attacks of great impact, often accompanied by slow motion and pyrotechnic graphic effects but which in no way alter the "basic" functionality of the equipped weapon.

The difficulty levels of the new God of War

In our review session we faced the God of War released in 2018 with the second difficulty level out of the four available, the one marked as a "balanced experience". We initially tried to use the third one, but right from the start the challenge seemed excessive, especially in light of the limited time available. There is a further degree, called "the real God of War" where, in addition to almost always dying with a single blow inflicted by enemies, the title significantly increases the attack patterns of the enemies and their ability to dodge the blows of Kratos or to become even more aggressive in simultaneous attacks. It is possible that those who decide to tackle the game at its maximum difficulty may find the limitations to the partially mitigated combat system highlighted in this review, due to the need to use every single tactic in an attempt to get through the clashes unscathed.

Fights and Enemies: When Everything Changes ...

If up to this point it is practically evident how much this new God of War has been enhanced in every element with very positive results - it is bigger, longer-lived, more narrated, deeper, more customizable - it is when we focus on the combat and on enemies that things become less unambiguous in judgment. The total change of view has led the game to transform itself from a action pure, almost on the edge of a hack & slash, complete with an indicator of the combos completed and a fixed camera, to a third-person tactical action with an unobstructed view, perfectly in line with current trends. The movement is slower, although never woody, but carries important limitations, such as the inability to keep an eye on the entire battlefield relegating perception to the use of visible indicators and the constant screams of Atreus shots coming from the shoulders. For the rest, the mechanics are based on the classic elements that we find in the action RPG: there are the blows inflicted by the equipped weapon or from the distance through Atreus, the quick dodge and somersault, the parry with a lot of counter move if activated at the right time, the stun of the enemies indicated by a second bar alongside that of life and which is affected by the blows based on the type of resistance of the opponent. When the latter value reaches its maximum, the enemy can be taken by Kratos by starting a small execution cutscene or a quick time event that allows you to inflict a certain number of hits before the enemy awakens. The problem is that, once you have matured a certain amount of hours on the battlefield, you realize that the combat system is actually a hybrid that cannot fully satisfy the most demanding player.

In fact, if the idea of Japanese action that tried to bring God of War closer to the various Devil May Cry, Godhand or Bayonetta has been completely lost, on the other hand this sequel does not even fully become a Souls like because the attention to the attack patterns it is very small and everything is resolved in giving priority to the various targets by continuously dodging the incoming attacks.The set of moves is limited and very slow in its growth and evolution and after about ten hours you will realize that it is enough to use always and only few attack combinations to continue. Nothing to say instead about the sensation of impact and the feedback of the shots, and more generally about the choreography of the clashes. The management of Atreus convinced us instead: the boy has quite aggressive behaviors and always participates in the clashes independently by distracting the opponents, strangling them to help us with the attacks and always being very effective in throwing arrows. These, in addition to being managed automatically by the character, can be controlled directly with the press of a button and are crucial both to allow you to target and hit a specific type of enemies, and to slow down and stun all opponents.

And we conclude the paragraph that will surely make you discuss more in the comments, with an analysis of the enemies that perfectly joins the criticalities of the combat system. In fact, where God of War sins unequivocally is in the variety of opponents and in the loss of that epic aura that permeated the series' clashes. The simple hostiles can be counted with one hand but, above all, it is the bosses who do not convey that feeling of power that is expected from a challenger of Kratos. In fact, if we exclude the main antagonist and a single clash of massive dimensions, all the other bosses are closer, in our opinion, to the idea of "mid-boss" of the most adrenaline-pumping actions: the first time we meet them we they are presented in a certain way, then we see them reappear with some elemental variations or becoming part of the "normal" clashes with the aim of adding variety to the composition of the waves. We cannot go into more detail to avoid any spoilers but we are convinced that, once the title is concluded, you will feel in your mouth that strange taste of the wasted opportunity regarding the actual use of the divinities present in the Nordic pantheon.

What is the sequence shot?

The entire God of War campaign is told and played as if it were a single sequence shot, using the single camera which, in normal game conditions, is positioned behind Kratos, the protagonist. According to the definition written on Wikipedia, to which we refer you for a deeper and full of examples, the sequence shot is a cinematographic technique that allows you to tell a narrative sequence using a single shot. The sequence shot is independent of editing and respects real-world time precisely with the aim of reproducing reality in the most credible way possible, avoiding all the filters of meaning imposed by editing.

Graphics: A visual marvel

Where the game does not have any kind of uncertainty is in the technical sector. God of War is, quite simply, the new benchmark of what can be done and shown on consoles. The game does not have a single loading screen and even the fast travel is designed in such a way as to keep intact the gimmick of the only sequence shot that distinguishes the directorial cut of this production. Played on PlayStation 4 Pro with a TV capable of supportingHDR it is a visual experience that we hope everyone can do at least once in their life. Of course we have to take into account some trade-offs. In resolution mode, where the 4k it is achieved not natively but through upscaling with checkerboard rendering, the title never manages to reach a stable 30 frames per second. We are closer to 25 with some slowdowns visible but never able to affect the gameplay. When you switch to performance mode, knocking down the resolution to 1080p, aliasing becomes conspicuous, details are lost in the distance and nevertheless the game practically never manages to touch 60 FPS while remaining very fluid. We also tried the title on for a few hours PlayStation 4 smooth, where a single rendering in full hd is available and we must say that the title was presented in excellent shape, always being fully playable despite some showy stuttering phenomena. In our opinion this is the exact same performance version available on PS4 Pro, with the frame rate locked down. In this regard, we refer you to our incredible video coverage consisting of the first minutes of gameplay in 4k and a couple of specific video comparisons for the PlayStation 4 Pro and standard version that will arrive in the next few days on these pages.

The characters are modeled with enormous detail and the animations, especially the bodily ones rather than the facial ones, are particularly believable. The game world it is amazing thanks to a truly obsessive attention to detail and an endless visual horizon even if optimized through a clever management of open spaces, which are always free of elements moving over the distance or in any case lightened by the presence of scenic components that actually cover the areas reachable. All the effects in post-processing they then add a layer of pleasantness to the scenes with sparks, dust, foliage, which move in the air in an always credible way also thanks to a management of the lights of indisputable quality. Good the dubbing entirely in Spanish with an excellent sample of voices and interpretations that are always very credible. Finally, subtle but incisive God of War soundtrack that accompanies us in the most excited and important moments of the plot with orchestral sounds and a very catchy background theme.

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The new work of the boys of Santa Monica unquestionably takes the God of War franchise to new levels, as explained in our review. It keeps it in step with the times, significantly modifying its structure but maintaining an important coherence with the past of the series. It is not only Kratos who has matured in this change, but the entire gameplay structure that is now larger and more impressive in every single aspect. It is the criticalities of a combat system that is not sufficiently advanced and deep, combined with a lack of variety in the opponents that do not allow the title to reach the status of this generation's masterpiece. Notwithstanding that not playing it would simply be a crime, even if only to admire the technical majesty achieved by the development team.