God of War 2018 (Review)

God of War 2018 is one of the most notable franchises for Sony. When they announced the game back in 2016, with the focus on completely new narrative, a lot of people questioned this direction. However, there is no need to worry because the game delivers on every front. It gives old players what they craved and it also builds a new foundation for the new players.

The game itself is absolutely stunning in every way. It plays great, runs extremely well, the visuals are amazing, and most importantly, the combat never gets dull. Despite change in the combat, the game is still remarkable, and could go down as one of the best games ever made.

If have you have played the previous games, then you are in for a treat once again. If you are new, then there’s no need to worry because this title brings a whole new story that has very little to do with what happened before.

Gameplay

I know a lot of you were concerned about the new gameplay style, but there’s absolutely nothing for you to fret upon. The new direction God of War has taken is great. Previous combat was becoming stale and repetitive. This new style is awesome and doesn’t get repetitive in any way.

You start off with the basic skills, but as you progress in the game, you unlock different ways of using the weapon. Brutality hasn’t gone away either, in fact there is ton of it in the game. It’s not forced either, it is completely up to you as how brutal do you want it to be. You can kill enemies with your bare hands, which is as brutal as it can get or you can use the new Leviathan Axe, which is an awesome new addition to the series.

So in terms of gameplay, you have nothing to worry about. If you liked the previous entries, you are in a treat with God of War 2018 one as well. For those of you who weren’t a big fan should definitely look into this one as the combat this time around has a lot of depth and keeps you engaged the entire time. It’s no longer a button masher as it was before, instead it is fun and keeps you on your toes.

Story

As much as the original God of War trilogy is loved, the story was pretty basic. However, that’s not the case this time around. In fact, the main crux of the game is now the story and the relationship between Kratos and his son. Norse mythology is always interesting, but the inclusion of Kratos made it even more special.

The characters that have been added play a huge role in the progression of the main storyline. The side quests are present in the game as well and instead of being mundane, they add to the father and son dynamic. It borrows story telling mechanics from several games, and perfects it within the game. As the story wasn’t a focus of the previous entries, it is good to see Santa Monica actually taking it into consideration.

Graphics

Sony raised the bar for visuals with Horizon Zero Dawn and we didn’t think it would get any better. Fortunately, we were wrong as God of War is a hell of looker. It is easily one of the best looking games on the PlayStation 4, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

The detail that has been put into environment, enemies, and characters is amazing. The console has been pushed to its limit. But despite that, the game doesn’t suffer from frame rate issues or anything like that.

Just run it on performance mode and enjoy your high frame rates. If you have 4K TV however, then you should go for the best visuals mode. However, that will come at the cost of low frame rates which is never a good sacrifice.

Usually, we say go for the best visuals, but in this case, we say go for better performance. It is an action game and the best way to play it is on high frame rates. God of War 2018 is a graphical marvel, and is a must play for everyone who owns a PS4.