GOD OF WAR (2018) - REVIEW ( "Give me challenge" run )

     Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

Well, all these days, they kept tagging every exclusive as a "Masterpiece" and as far as I have played, this is the first title that truly deserves the tagline "Masterpiece". While other titles are slowly coming to pc, I decided to jump into this one. There are things in this game that truly made it stand tall in modern-day gaming.

The game is extremely well optimized for pc and credits to "Jetpack interactive" for doing it. It's a big write-up, I hope at least someone reads it.

    Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

PROs:

1.) CAMERA WORK & THE DECISION TO NOT HAVE A CUT IN BETWEEN

It's easily one of the best decisions they took while making this game and paved the way for more immersion than I imagined. Every cut scene-to-gameplay transition & gameplay to cut scene transition flowed smoothly throughout from start to end. The biggest plus point of having a flow like this is that the tension never drops for a second. Hands down, the best thing in the game.

2.) COMBAT

Combat was so juicy, I would say.

Leviathan axe had this punchy feel to it. Every throw and recall had a punch to it. Light runic and heavy runic attacks also felt very satisfying to use mid-combat, was clearly not a gimmick.

When it comes to Blades of Chaos, the combat began to shift slowly from methodical to "go berserk" mode and I loved it.

All Executions, finishing moves, and scripted combat scenes were well choreographed. Chills came right at the place where it needs to and every blow can be felt.

3.) MUSIC

Imma a big sucker for good music in video games and I already had the OSTs of this game in my playlist. When that music combined with the visuals while playing, they mutually elevated each other. The OST of this game is so powerful and strong enough to make a grown man weep. Top-tier work.

    Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

4.) PACING, LEVEL DESIGN & WORLD DESIGN

Pacing is the part where many games suck. Like, usually when a game has a brutal kickass moment, it throws that particular moment at your face in the beginning, slows off during the second act, and finally wakes up again during the third act.

On the other hand, this game knows its strength and weakness properly. The "goosebumps" moments are equally scattered throughout the game, something spectacular happens at regular intervals and because of this, the pacing is rock solid right from start to end.

World design was one of the things which really surprised me as I wasn't expecting this much exploration from a semi-open-world game. The gameplay loop of "areas getting uncovered as the water level falls" really served the purpose to explore and visit back places. Meaningful Rewards were also given for the exploration and I always appreciate it.

The level design was quite neat. Filled with the "traversal via solving the puzzle" philosophy. Had some nice & simple ideas baked into it? No complaints when it comes to level design. There was no padding in the mission design and that's a great thing.

      Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

5.) STORY, VOICE ACTING & VISUALS

Haven't played the old trilogy. But I did as much "information fetching" as possible before starting this game. Saw videos, documentaries, and so on. You name it. I had an idea before entering the game and right from the beginning, I was hooked to the story and remained hooked till the end. Strong writing for characters, every character was multi-dimensional, subtle lore feeding here and there, all these made the story so great. Towards the end, the game peaked. Chef kiss. Lots of reveals which are surprising and add sense to some of the dialogues mid-game. Sets up the stage for "RAGNAROK" nicely.

Voice actors for every character did a great job of giving us the right feels. . I loved Kratos's, Freya's, Baldur's, and Mimir's.

"S" tier voice acting

Visuals, for a 2018 game, looked surreal. From Midgard's - Icelandic greens and falls to Jotunnheim's majestic vistas, it all looked stunning. The atmosphere was well set too. The world serpent being always there alive, the corpse of Thamur lying down, it all adds this majestic and grand appeal to the game.

    Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

6.) SET PIECES

The game has many, and they all are finely choreographed. When I felt that Baldur's fight cannot be beaten, the encounter with the dragon near the mountain summit peaked more than it. When I thought the dragon set piece cannot be peaked, the blade of chaos moment peaked it, when I thought the blade of chaos moment cannot be peaked, the final showdown with Baldur again peaked it. Main boss fights were neatly done. Fights with Valkyries and I have completed 6 of them. Few more to go and I hope they remain "exciting".

      Screenshot: Paperbagpruto

CONS:

I really don't think this is a con, but when excellent work is shown off from every other department, the re-skinned bosses majorly trolls or whatever that creature is, could have been avoided. It was still fun to kill them in all the brutal ways possible, but it really felt like a "Bite of Cardamom in a Delicious Biryani".

CONCLUSION :

Apart from that one thing, this game truly deserves the tagline "MASTERPIECE" compared to the other exclusives I have played and completed. A Certified Banger of a Title. Kudos to Cory's vision for the reboot and to SANTA MONICA for putting out an epic game. 💗