God Of War is an action-adventure game developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio, published by Sony and released on April 20, 2018 for PlayStation 4.
History
Once upon a time there was a daddy, a mum and a little boy who lived happily in a cute little house on the prairie ... One day the mom died, and the dad decided to smash skulls with his fists and axes and to learn to do the same to his son!
More seriously, the story puts us in charge of Kratos who, after having slaughtered the Gods of Olympus, the Titans and transmitted hope to the surviving humans, left for the North to draw a line on his past and start a new one. life. He eventually settled in the Nordic kingdom and started a new family. Several years later, his wife died and he and his son set out in search of the highest peak of the 9 kingdoms in order to scatter his ashes there, to honor his last will. Sadly, as they prepare to begin their journey, a mysterious overpowered stranger takes on Kratos for no reason.
The story begins thus, we will accompany Kratos and his son, Atreus, in their quest to honor the last will of Faye, Kratos' wife and mother of Atreus. But also, allowing Kratos and Atreus to get to know and discover each other, Kratos having often been absent throughout Atreus' childhood (spending most of his time hunting) and the latter having been practically raised only by his mother.
The story is quite bluffing. Its evolution works very well, in a fluid way, you are never lost and there is no "script hole". But where the bulk of the work has gone is in the evolution of the characters. The story revolves mainly around the relationship between Kratos and Atreus. On the one hand, we have the ghost of Sparta, haunted by all his years of suffering and fighting, and his son, Atreus, knowing nothing of his father's past, having been raised by his mother who has just left him and having only his father as the only family. The two will have to get to know each other and "tame". The evolution of the relationship fits wonderfully with that of the story. Beyond the history of the game (which is after all classic), it is the atmosphere and the relationship between the two protagonists that amazed me.
The game places us this time in the Nordic mythology, and we can say that a lot of work has been done on this subject in order to be as faithful as possible. Forget the nice Aesir living in Asgard, defenders and protector of the 9 realms, which we see in Marvel (Odin, Thor & co). Here we are in Nordic mythology, the real one, the one that bathes in genocides, betrayals, wars, assassinations, divine punishments, torture and so on. The deities and the history attached to them are very close to the real mythology (with some small modifications obviously, to stick to the history of the game.)
I want to clarify that God Of War is NOT a series reboot. This is the sequel to the third opus, taking place several years later. In addition, this opus is the first episode of a brand new trilogy and serves to lay the foundations for a bigger plot. So do not expect to break dozens of gods in the chain as is the case with the third opus.
Game and gameplay
Before we begin, since there are important gameplay elements that unlock as you move through the story, there are risks of spoilers regarding these unlockables. But rest assured, there won't be any spoils regarding the story itself!
If you've played previous God Of War, you'll quickly notice that the latter has quite a bit changed gameplay side. Indeed, the 3 previous opus were beat them all while this fourth opus is an action-adventure with a fairly present RPG component.
The first thing we notice is that now we have a shoulder camera where we used to have a bird's eye view from above. It makes us feel more like we're right in the middle of the action, and Kratos' power is felt a lot more than in previous games. The "impact effects" of our blows (especially with the fists and the shield) help a lot to feel this power.
Moreover, we will have the choice in the way we fight between several weapons, and it will be necessary to juggle according to the situation and the enemies. Some of them will, for example, be insensitive to Leviathan (Kratos' ax) which does ice damage, but will be very sensitive to Chaos Blades which do fire damage. Likewise, some enemies can be very resistant and it will be preferable to fight them with bare hands / shields in order to stun them and perform very powerful chains.
Next to Kratos 'arsenal and power, we have Atreus' agility and ranged attacks, because yes, he doesn't sit around doing nothing or hiding in a corner crying like NPCs do. lambda accompanying us in other games (we were all traumatized by Ashley in Resident Evil 4 ...). Not only will Atreus fight on his own, but he will warn us of possible dangers during the fight (for example, if we are about to be attacked from the back), but it will also be possible to give him orders, such as than to shoot at a precise enemy, to use such or such type of arrows, and to unleash special attacks. Atreus will be a crucial asset and may even tip the scales during combat.
The fights can seem a little "soft" at the beginning of the adventure. But quickly get nervous and technical. There is a system of blocking thanks to the shield, one can even return the projectiles and counter-attack if one blocks at the right time, and a system of evasion.
The fight is good, but to fight gods, you have to equip yourself well and improve. It is possible to manage your equipment, namely the torso, the belt and the forearms. There is also a system of runes, which allows to add statistics, effects, abilities and skills, for both Kratos and Atreus. Equipment can be found as well as crafted and upgraded.
In addition to the equipment, we also have a skill tree, which allows to unlock new attacks, abilities, chains and effects for our attacks (as well as in Atreus). These can even become even more powerful if we reach a certain level in our statistics.
Now that we've seen the gameplay, let's move on to the game itself. The game is a semi-open world that you can explore at will. Moreover, it will often happen that we encounter blockages and we will have to come back later once we have the ability-skill-weapon-object necessary to unlock the passage.
The game is full of things to do, places to explore and even offers scripted side quests quite interesting for the most part and very related to the scenario and the history of the game. Wandering and exploring will allow you to savor many conversations between Kratos and Atreus, but also to learn a lot about the world and its history. It even makes it possible to better understand and apprehend the main scenario.
From the side lifetime, the main story is about 50% of the game, everything else is secondary. Moreover, if you are looking for big challenges, it is on the side of the secondary content that you will have to turn, the main quest will make you fight powerful enemies, but the most powerful and formidable will be optional (hello valkyries!)
Graphics, sounds and optimizations
As usual, let's start with graphics. I play on a “normal” PS4 Slim (not a PS4 Pro) and the game is sublime. Whether it is the sets, enemies, equipment, characters and lighting effects, everything is incredibly beautiful and detailed. The effects greatly help the atmosphere of the game and we are even entitled to magnificent and sublime panoramas.
On the side of soundtrack, there too the work carried out is magnificent. The soundtrack fits the universe and the atmosphere beautifully. The music gives real chills. As far as the effects and sound effects are concerned, here too it is flawless, whether it is the sound of the chains of the blades of chaos, the sound of your ax on a shield or the cracking of bones when you strike. fist in the jaw of an undead.
And to finish, optimization. As said above, I play on a PS4 which is not pro, and yet the game is just perfect. After forty hours of play, I did not have the slightest drop in IPS or slowdown, even when there are a lot of enemies and visual effects (explosions, dismemberment, etc. of all kinds) . The only small problem that I noticed is the “PS4 airline” effect. Indeed, the console literally spits its lungs out at times and the fans spin so hard that I almost thought I saw my console take off from the cabinet.
Conclusion
To put it simply: do you like action-adventures? Buy God Of War. Here. The game is really great, whether you are looking for a game with a good storyline, a game in which you can let off steam or a game with a big difficulty (the "God Of War" difficulty, available from the start, will make you break through. many controllers), jump on it. It is clearly one of the essential games of the console.
As for the lifespan, allow about 20 hours to do the scenario in a straight line, and about 35-40 hours to complete the game 100%. You can count on more hours depending on the difficulty you have chosen.
The game is available from 69,99 on the PSN Store.
