God of War Series Review - Kratos' Tale of Triumph and Madness (Topic)

For all players tired of standard heroes and luscious world-saving scenarios, the God of War series is the ultimate gift. The protagonist of the series, Kratos, is called one of the most bloodthirsty and merciless characters in video games, and quite justifiably. He didn’t hesitate to rip off heads with his bare hands, crush skulls with stones and just do things on the screen that it’s strange how opponents of violence in video games didn’t sue Sony yet.

Nevertheless, all the games about the god of war have earned a lot of high praise from critics and sold impressive circulations. In our review of the God of War series, we'll explore what made gamers love the series about the Spartan general, and why Kratos' exploits are not only interesting for the extreme level of violence.

God of War

Kratos' epic journey to Olympus began with the release of the first part in 2005. By this time, Devil May Cry had already been released on PS2, but the Americans from Santa Monica offered players an alternative to Japanese slashers.

Kratos is a completely tragic hero, whose rage destroyed his whole life and dreams of a calm future, which may be why Kratos finally settled down in the new part. But we got distracted. In the game, the god of war acting at that time took advantage of Kratos and made him, in a fit of rage, accidentally tore his entire family to pieces. Unfortunately, there were no psychotherapists in ancient Greece, so the Spartan decided to serve the Greek gods to clear his mind of oppressive memories.

The game ends with Kratos defeating Ares in an epic battle and taking his place of honor on Olympus. The plot is as simple as two pennies, but at that time the game was striking with excessive cruelty, impressive fights with bosses and successfully combined adrenaline action with platforming, and numerous puzzles. For which the god of war found himself a place in the pantheon of the best console projects.

God of War 2

Corey Balrog was entrusted with the sequel, who did not change the usual concept, but suggested an ideal sequel, and also added a little Santa Barbara-style touch to the script.

As you, for example, this: Kratos, after being reckoned with the Greek pantheon, refused to cooperate with other gods, but decided to help his native Spartan people in the conquest of the city of Rhodes. During the battle of the game, he loses his divine power due to the cunning tricks of Zeus, then for 20 hours of playing time he deals with the characters of Greek mythology in order to finally appear to the god of thunder and find out that he turns out to be the son of Zeus!

It's nice to know that the bloodthirsty developers from Santa Monica are not alien to simple human weaknesses, like watching Brazilian TV shows ... And if it's no joke, then gamers got just a brilliant game that won rave reviews from the press and numerous awards.

God of War Betrayal

In the past decade, Java applications were extremely popular on mobile phones, so the developers decided not to lose their piece of the pie and released the first version of the God of War for handheld platforms. Despite the technical limitation of portable gadgets, the new part of the Spartan's adventures was created according to all the canons of the series.

The game offered 5 hours of gameplay, where there was a place for platforming, solving simple logic problems and colorful 2D battles. The slasher had no competitors in its niche, so the game's great success was predictable.

God of War Chains of Olympus

Already in 2008, the Spartan triumphantly returned to portable devices. This time, Kratos continued his epic path of retribution on the PSP. The game console from Sony was technically much more powerful than mobile phones, which is why the new part of the series was practically not inferior to its older brothers on PS2.

The plot takes place in the interval between the first and second parts and invites Kratos to fight with such famous characters as Charon and Persephone. Despite the fact that the game was not developed by the fathers of the series, Chains of Olympus did not disappoint fans and once again won numerous awards in the category "Best Handheld Game".

God of War 3

The release of the new part on the PlayStation 3 in 2010 was expected with bated breath, it was scary to even imagine what kind of epic the developers can create using the latest graphics technologies.

God of War 3 looks great even now, and eight years ago it had no competitors at all. The level of production, the quality of the graphics, in the end the scale of the gigantic titans - the developers from Santa Monica once again proved that games can be more impressive than any Hollywood blockbuster.

How exactly the developers ended the adventures of Kratos in ancient Greece - we will not tell, because God of War 3 is still relevant, besides, a remaster of the game was released on PS4.

God of War Ghost of Sparta

After the events in the final of the trilogy, it became obvious that there was no need to expect a continuation in the near future, so the developers focused on the development of prequels to the trilogy. One of them was Ghost of Sparta.

The gameplay as a whole has not changed since the first part, but supplemented the usual mechanics with the addition of a throwing spear and a shield. In this regard, the combat is even similar to God of War 2018, in which the Spartan can also block the enemy's blows with a shield and throw an ax at them with sniper accuracy.

God of War Ascension

Players have already witnessed the epilogue of the Spartan story, so in 2013, the developers turned to the very origins of the series. Ascension takes place back in the days when Kratos didn't rebel against the Greek Olympus.

Despite the peak graphics for PS3 capabilities, the game clearly showed that the usual concept of the series is no longer working. Platforms, puzzles and spectacular battles were no longer impressive, which led to low press ratings (within the framework of the series) and disappointing sales.

The God of War series is naturally popular among players and the press, representing the standard of Western slasher - brutal, spectacular, but at the same time damn exciting. I am doubly glad that Sony, sensing the need for change, did not lose face and even brought the series to a new level, which you can read about in our review of the new God of War.

The Topic of Article: God of War Series Review - Kratos' Tale of Triumph and Madness.
Author: Jake Pinkman