God of War (2018)

The God of War’s Redemption

When your average adult thinks of video games, I think it's fair to say that they associate them with children or teenagers and think of games such as Mario Kart, Minecraft, or something along those lines. The classic God of War games are certainly not for children and neither is its predecessor.

The first 3 games follow Kratos’s past, and how he was tricked by the gods into killing his own wife and child. When he learned it was indeed Ares, the god of war who had tricked him into his heinous actions he cast his full blame onto the gods of Olympus and vowed for revenge. The games follow as he tears his way through the Greek pantheon with unbelievable brutality until finally, all of his enemies had been annihilated.

Knowledge of Kratos’s former life and his vicious murder of the gods is recomended if not essential for one to truly understand the beauty of the sequel. God of War(2018) is set in a new norse land and follows Kratos and his young son named Atreus. The two travel across midgard with a purpose, to spread the ashes of Atreus’s recently deceased mother. But before they even start their journey they are met with opposition and aggression from none other than Odin himself.

Kratos believes that Odin wishes to get rid of him thinking that he is a threat after his bloodthirsty massacre of the Greek gods. But he is not the same man he once was, Kratos is ashamed of his past, so much so that he refuses to tell his own son. He hides his past from Atreus and remains as emotionally distant as possible out of fear he will be rejected or shunned by his only son, his past trauma always present in his mind. This creates a tense and awkward atmosphere between the two that can be felt by the player straight away.

God of War’s story is not it's only point of interest, the game has interesting and unique bosses that will challenge a players skills and even patience at times. There are also a multitude of strange and unique puzzles that require a fair amount of brain power, but most importantly the combat is some of the most comfortable and fluid that we have ever seen. With old weapons and new, the player will be put to the challenge as they face the ferocity of the nine realms.

With a unique mix of redemption and coming of age combined with an adaptation of norse culture, it is easy to see why God of War was chosen for game of the year in 2018 and why most reviews leave a whopping 10/10.