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Game Review: God of War 4

Being a Causal geeky gamer, I never got into the God of War games. Feeling like it was about combat and screaming then story, it also had more complex controls then a simple lazy day fighting game. I herd some of what happen in the past games but mostly decide to try the God of War 4 blind, as I had got the game as a gift.

Story

The game start in Nordic lands, in other words a different set of gods and lands then what Kratos was in doing the past games. Having some Knowledge of Nordic gods would help in foreshadowing but really isn’t required to enjoy the story. Kratos had a wife and a son in these new lands. Us picking up the story shortly after the death of the wife. It is clear his son, Atreus spent most of his time with his mother. Living in the wilderness Kratos had spent a lot of time hunting and away from the house as said from Atreus.

The dying wish of his wife to Kratos and Atreus was for them to spread her ashes at the highest peek across the realms. While this turn out to be a lot more complex of a journey then ether of them expected at the end that’s what the entire story is about. Atreus has no clue of Kratos past or his own nature being the child of his. This play into the story a number of times. And while there was many twists in the plot along the way all of them had a small bit of foreshadowing that will dawn on you if you decide to replay the game. But this very much is a story of a Father and Son.

I turn out playing this game mostly for the story and quite a story it was. Doing your quest you can find shrines and extra things that help give backstory to the world that you can go into the menu to learn more about if you wanted to dig deeper. I also like the touch where stories are told as your using the boat to get around. You know, for being a father Kratos is bad at telling stories, something his son was more then willing to point out.

I found the side quests to be threaded in pretty well as well. While still side quests at times things came up that felt like it was part of the overall story. Feeling more inline with the main plot then Naruto fillers.

Game Mechanics

Combat is a big part of the God of War games and this one does not change that. Starting the game with an Axe that as an icy element to it you you will find that using the axe on some enemies don’t work out well while others it’s more effective with. Using the trigger buttons for many attacks, often pressing one on both sides to do things like range attack or special attack. While basic movement is with the left stick and looking around with the right as standard you need the other buttons often to Dodge, pick up health, call your weapon back, and getting your son to do an action such as attacking himself.

After I started playing this I had a week where I didn’t get a good chance to pick it up and was quite stuck when I came back. I normally like more turn based and casual games then this so this didn’t surprise me. After giving it a few good tries I was able to make it past the point I was stuck at but truth be told I wasn’t hooked on the combat. Soon I switch it to easy mode and truth be told it really lacked the challenge it had then but I was able to play though and enjoy the story then.

As you advance though the game you gain more and more different skills, attacks, and equipment. For those who like to build combos and the combat in games like this likely would find no end to what you can do. Late game they even introduce Optional fights that is harder then the game’s ending fights.

Overall

Watching the interactions between Father and Son I felt is what really made this game good. In fact this game seem to be built for a new age of gaming. Many games can have mindless action, but what make you remember most game like these are epic fights and great story, and this one does both very well.

For PlayStation PS4: Here

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