God of War Review

Content Summary

We will examine God of War, released by Santa Monica Studio in 2018, and touch on Kratos’ story. Let’s say in advance, it is a game that everyone who sees himself as a player should definitely play once.

A Teaser Image from God of War

Mythology is a bottomless pit. It is impossible to know everything in detail. Because even the same myth has dozens of different versions, and the interpretations of symbols vary from nation to nation.

However, it is impossible not to know mythology at all. Because almost all the narrative accumulation of humanity is based on mythology or refers to it. Therefore, in order to understand God of War, it is necessary to know a little mythology.

The Story of Gof Of War

God of War begins with the death of the wife of Kratos, a Greek god. Kratos embarks on a journey with his son Atreus to scatter his wife’s ashes from the highest peak of the realms.

Officially the Ax God Kratos, that awesome ax that is so fun to use.

We experience this journey throughout the game and improve our skills with side quests as we progress through the carefully designed story. It should be noted that these side quests are extremely inviting and entertaining, even for a main story oriented person like me. 

However, you have to strike a good balance here. It’s fun to play the side missions and the achievements are well reflected in the game, so don’t go too far from the main story. Proceed with balance. Otherwise, if you are a story-oriented type, when you try to finish the game 100%, you may find yourself a little distant from the story.

God of War

There are things that make God of War more than just a game where we seek the highest peak to scatter our spouse’s ashes. To reveal this, we must first get to know our main hero, Kratos.

Who is Kratos in God of War?

Kratos, as described in the game, is a Spartan warrior, a god who has risen to the rank of general with his skill and armed with unique powers. However, due to a mistake he made while fighting the Barbarians, he is very close to death, and just as he is about to die, he prays to the god of war Ares, “Destroy my enemies, I dedicate my life to your service.” Ares accepts Kratos’ prayers and gives him the Blades of Chaos. In this way, Kratos, who defeated the Barbarians, dedicates his life to the service of Ares.

Under Ares’ control, Kratos destroys villages, slaughters innocent people, and acts like a bloodthirsty monster. When he kills his wife and son one day, he comes to his senses and realizes what he has done under the influence of Ares.

He gets his revenge by killing Ares.

Mythology is an important and bottomless pit

After Ares’ death, Kratos, the new war god of Olympus, sees the Rhodes Statue come to life with an eagle landing on it, while he intervenes in the Rhodes War.

Zeus gives Kratos the Blades of Olympus to defeat the revived statue of Rhodes. This time, Kratos, using the Blades of Olympus, sees that things are not going as he thought, and when he learns that the eagle that revives the Rhodes Statue is actually Zeus, he attacks Zeus. Zeus kills Kratos with the knife he gave and sends him to the underworld. While staying here forever, the titans known to be at war with the Gods arrive and make a deal with Kratos to kill Zeus.

Kratos kills Zeus.

Tragically, he will later learn that Zeus is his father.

Then, hating all the titans and gods, he sets out to avenge them. The death of Zeus, Hermes, Poseidon, Hades, Hephaestus, Helios, Hera, Hercules and the titans are always at the hands of Kratos.

Artwork from God of War

In the end, Kratos joins his life with a woman he thinks is mortal and decides to stay away from everything and lead a normal life in a town. The story of God of War, which was released in 2018, begins exactly after this.

Of course, Kratos as described in this game. A God who cannot come to injustice, who is good and vice versa. The generally accepted myth in mythology is the exact opposite. It is said that Kratos is a fool who solves the events based on brute force, and does not give a fuck about what Zeus says. But what is important for us is the way it is told in the game.

General Review of God of War

I don’t like fantasy literature, movies or games very much. However, I am not prejudiced and make an effort to open my memory on this subject. That’s how I started God of War. But with God of War, I understood. It’s not whether the story is science fiction, fantasy, or cyberpunk. The important thing is that the story deals with the way it is told and a human reality.

God of War is also very successful in this respect. In particular, Kratos’s early game demeanor and ego, as a god by name, is incredibly well illustrated. It was also incredibly impressive to witness the transformation she went through and how she slowly began to reveal her compassion for her son.

However, one of the most impressive aspects of the game was the emotions that began to change after Kratos discovered that his son was also a God, and it made him think about how power can poison innocence.

In terms of gameplay, there is not a single glitch in the game. There is no very complex control plan. Every new skill we gain until the end has a positive effect on the dynamics and tempo of the game. It is not difficult to use newly acquired skills and get used to the control schemes. In this respect, it should be noted that the use of these weapons is enjoyable despite the variety and limited weapons of the gameplay.

The world of the game is a world containing caves, secret rooms and new myths that somehow engulf people with a mystery in every corner.

A gameplay footage

As we play the game, we feel that humans and even other gods are toys of bigger gods. They just keep creating problems and putting harmful weapons into the hands of humans or demigods to solve them. So is life.

A handmade Kratos ax sells for $480 over there.

There is also the issue of the delay of correct information. This is the helpless side of destiny and narrative. Kratos finding out too late that he is the son of Zeus, realizing too late that Freya’s gift to her son was a terrible curse for him, discovering Atreus’ Goddess… take it and apply it to your own life. This is the basic narrative principle. Finding out after it’s too late that you’ve been cheated on, someone suddenly stops loving you while you’re staring at the ceiling, your feet are lifted with political footwork, and you realize it later…

God of War is an amazing game with a really extraordinary, impressive, great atmosphere and realistic storytelling that every self-player and every other person must experience once.

Book Recommendation

Where do I start this mythology? I suggest you take a look at Michael Köhlmeier‘s books, created from radio broadcasts.

References

https://ancientsmithy.com/

https://www.amazon.com/