God of War’s initially linear world opens up a bit after the first few hours, and it encourages exploration through its many rewards and collectibles for completing optional puzzles and fights. But you can occasionally stumble into the path of a much more difficult opponent, clearly denoted by the purple color of their health bar, and they can often take you down in one or two hits. Running into these situations occasionally felt like intruding on someone or something else’s territory, and I needed to be prepared. If I felt hungry for a challenge, God of War never let me down.
There’s plenty of freedom, although the map never becomes truly “open world” in the way that games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Horizon Zero Dawn are; instead, it’s an interconnected series of diverse locations, many of which are gated behind certain story moments and collectible milestones until the very end. God of War’s contained nature shepherds you through certain locations with its quest chain, which occasionally leans on the cliche of a solution Kratos thought would work turning out to be missing one key component you then need to then go scour the land for.
The Beauty’s in the Details
I have audibly said “wow” and sighed at the beauty of God of War. The texture of grassy hills in the distance feel real, light dances dazzlingly off of shinier surfaces, and every gnarled monster I have fought conveys such a sense of decay as to instill terror in me. Even the sky looks nearly photo-realistic. And while the beautiful landscapes captivated me, the small details on Kratos and Atreus stunned me. The fur and leather of their outfits move so naturally, and are so finely detailed that they look nearly genuine. I would find myself trying on new pieces of armor just to admire how Kratos’ outfits behaved.
God of War’s initially linear world opens up a bit after the first few hours, and it encourages exploration through its many rewards and collectibles for completing optional puzzles and fights. But you can occasionally stumble into the path of a much more difficult opponent, clearly denoted by the purple color of their health bar, and they can often take you down in one or two hits. Running into these situations occasionally felt like intruding on someone or something else’s territory, and I needed to be prepared. If I felt hungry for a challenge, God of War never let me down.
There’s plenty of freedom, although the map never becomes truly “open world” in the way that games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Horizon Zero Dawn are; instead, it’s an interconnected series of diverse locations, many of which are gated behind certain story moments and collectible milestones until the very end. God of War’s contained nature shepherds you through certain locations with its quest chain, which occasionally leans on the cliche of a solution Kratos thought would work turning out to be missing one key component you then need to then go scour the land for.
The Beauty’s in the Details
I have audibly said “wow” and sighed at the beauty of God of War. The texture of grassy hills in the distance feel real, light dances dazzlingly off of shinier surfaces, and every gnarled monster I have fought conveys such a sense of decay as to instill terror in me. Even the sky looks nearly photo-realistic. And while the beautiful landscapes captivated me, the small details on Kratos and Atreus stunned me. The fur and leather of their outfits move so naturally, and are so finely detailed that they look nearly genuine. I would find myself trying on new pieces of armor just to admire how Kratos’ outfits behaved.
