God of War

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God of War
God of war logo.png
God of War logo
Studio United StatesUnited States SCE Santa Monica Studio
Publisher Sony Computer Entertainment ,
Capcom (in Japan)
Senior Developer David Jaffe ( Director and Lead Designer ) ,
Shannon Studstill (Producer) ,
Tim Moss ( Lead Programmer ) ,
Marianne Krawczyk (Author)
composer Gerard Marino, Mike Reagan, Ron Fish, Winifred Phillips, Winnie Waldron, Cris Velasco, Marcello De Francisci
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 North AmericaNorth AmericaMarch 22, 2005 July 8, 2005 November 17, 2005 May 10, 2006
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
JapanJapan
GermanyGermany
platform PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Vita
Game engine Kinetica
genre Action-Adventure , Hack and Slay
Subject Fantasy , Greek mythology
Game mode Single player
control Gamepad
medium DVD-ROM , Blu-ray Disc , NVG Card , download
language German , English , French , Italian , Spanish
Age rating
USK from 18
PEGI recommended for ages 18+
information One scene was changed in the PEGI and USK versions

God of War ( English for God of War, God of War ; GoW for short ) is a video game from the action-adventure genre . It was developed by the Californian SCE Santa Monica Studio under the direction of game designer David Jaffe for the PlayStation 2 game console (PS2 for short) and was first published by Sony Computer Entertainment in North America in March 2005. In Europe, the game was launched in most countries in July of that year. After initially not receiving any age rating from the entertainment software self-regulation (USK), the introduction date in Germany was delayed until it could finally be published there in May 2006.

The player controls the protagonist Kratos, a former Spartan military leader, through a fantasy world based on Greek mythology . The Spartan, who serves as a warrior for the Olympic gods , receives an order from Athena to kill the war god Ares , with whom he took a blood oath ten years earlier and who then got Kratos to murder his own family.

The trade press received God of War consistently positively to very positively and praised the ancient scenario, the graphics and the gameplay with a balanced mix of action, skill and puzzle elements. The game won several awards and was featured on numerous leaderboards. It was also economical with over 4.6 million copies sold for Sony a great success and was the starting point of the now several games for the PlayStation console family, a mobile game as well as novels and comics comprehensive God-of-War - franchises . In April 2010 it was released in Europe together with its direct successor God of War II as the God of War Collection with revised HD graphics for the PlayStation 3 . A port for the handheld console PlayStation Vita came on the market in May 2014.

action

The God of War scenario is a fantastic version of ancient Greece, in which gods, titans and mythical creatures from Greek mythology appear as characters. The plot is not linear with advance and flashbacks told: It opens with a scene, the protagonist Kratos plunges in a cliff into the sea to commit suicide. The actual main plot begins three weeks earlier and is in turn interrupted several times by cutscenes to Kratos' prehistory, which describe events that were about ten years ago.

prehistory

Kratos, a captain of the Spartan army , is a successful warrior who, with his men, spreads fear and terror among the enemies of Sparta. Despite warnings from his wife Lysandra, Kratos' desire for ever new conquests remains unbroken. The day comes, however, when the Spartan faces an inevitable defeat against barbarian hordes from the east. In this hopeless situation, he calls on the god of war Ares for assistance and in return he prescribes his soul and life. The god of war then equips Kratos with two powerful blades, which tie him to Ares at the same time and thus give the alliance external expression. With these chaos blades , Kratos can kill the leader of the barbarians and successfully continue his campaign in the name of Ares.

Ares and Athene - interpreted by Jacques-Louis David

After a massacre of the inhabitants of a village devoted to the goddess Athena , the increasingly cruel and bloodthirsty acting Kratos realizes that among the victims in the temple of Athena - Ares' opponent in Olympus - his wife Lysandra and his little daughter Calliope are. The onset of pain over the loss makes him come to his senses; at the same time, the oracle of the desecrated temple places a curse on him: his body should remain covered for all time with the ashes of Lysandra and Calliope and thus make his atrocities visible to everyone. The now feared as the spirit of Sparta in the whole country Kratos sees in Ares the real culprit for the events and, accompanied by terrible nightmares and visions, seeks revenge on the god of war. In the following ten years, Kratos places himself as a warrior in the service of other gods, in the hope that they will free him from his visions.

Main storyline

After Kratos has killed the Hydra on the instructions of the sea god Poseidon , he receives one last assignment from Athena. She promises the Spartan that the gods will forgive his deeds and erase his past if he kills Ares, who rages with his henchmen in Athenes city, Athens . Kratos fights his way through the half-destroyed city and finally meets a mysterious gravedigger in front of the Temple of the Oracle who is digging a single grave. The old man encourages the Spartan to kill Ares and tells him that he is digging the grave for him, Kratos; however, he should be careful not to die before it was done.

Pandora's Box, after a painting by Frederick Stuart Church

Kratos saves the Oracle of Athens from Ares' servants and learns from him that the only way to defeat Ares is through Pandora's box . Athena reveals to Kratos that the rifle is in a temple chained to the back of the Titan Kronos , Zeus' punishment for Kronos in the Titanomachy . Kratos crosses the desert, penetrates into Pandora's temple and overcomes the numerous traps and adversaries there. At the top of the huge temple he finally finds the box, a heavy golden chest. When he wants to take it to Athens, Ares kills the Spartan from there and has the rifle brought to him.

Kratos rushes down into Hades and fights his way through the fiery underworld. With the help of the mysterious gravedigger, who once again assures him that Kratos will not only receive divine support from Athena, the Spartan can escape Hades through the now completed grave. He goes to Ares, is able to snatch Pandora's box from him and opens it, giving himself godlike strength. In a long final battle, he succeeds in defeating and killing the god of war. Athena announces to Kratos that the gods are grateful to him and forgive him for his actions, but that they cannot free him from his nightmares. Disappointed by the gods, Kratos throws himself from a high cliff into the sea to kill himself. Athena, however, does not allow the Spartan to kill himself and elevates him to Olympus as a reward for his services. There he takes Ares' place as god of war.

Gameplay

General

The game mechanics of God of War contain different elements. To reach the individual game sections, the player must on the one hand compete in action-packed battles against computer-controlled opponents and defeat them, but on the other hand also solve puzzles by interacting with objects such as switches or blocks. These action and adventure elements are often connected by passages in which the character in the style of jump-'n'-run games has to be moved through the section with as little damage as possible by skillfully jumping, climbing and balancing. The player controls them with the left analog stick of the gamepad and lets them jump by pressing a button. The camera follows the character in the third-person perspective , so it represents it in its three-dimensional environment. The position of the camera and its viewing angle cannot be directly influenced by the player, but rather show the action, depending on the situation, mostly from a medium distance. in individual sequences from a long shot or from a particularly close-up perspective. If the game character suffers virtual death, for example because it is defeated by the opponents or falls into an abyss, it is reset to a checkpoint before the fight or the jump passage. The player can save his game status at the so-called memory points .

weapons

Cosplayer disguised as Kratos with the Chaos Blades

Kratos' main weapon are the so-called Chaos Blades , two serrated blades with chains attached, which are wrapped around his wrists and forearms, which can be used both in close combat like a pair of swords and by spinning around up to a certain range as ranged weapons. Later in the game, the character has a large sword, the Artemis Blade , as an alternative weapon. Kratos is also gradually being equipped with some magical abilities, with which he can, for example, petrify enemies for a short time or attack distant enemies by hurling lightning bolts, provided that enough magic points are available.

struggle

The game character masters a light, fast and a heavy but slower strike as basic attacks. These can be combined into different attack chains (so-called combos ). Opposing attacks can be blocked or avoided by making quick evasive movements with the right analog stick of the gamepad. If the opponents are sufficiently weakened, a display appears which signals to the player that they can now be finally destroyed by pressing a button. In the case of bosses and larger normal opponents such as minotaurs , gorgons or cyclops , a quick-time event is initiated in which the player must press the keys displayed on the screen in good time while the character automatically carries out the associated combat actions (see Finishing Moves ). Smaller enemies such as undead or harpies , on the other hand, can be grabbed with a button and then either stabbed with the blades, torn apart or hurled at other enemies.

Another tactic element is the so-called anger of the gods . Defeating enemies will slowly fill an indicator on the screen. When this is fully charged, a button press can briefly trigger a state in which normal attacks are much more effective and additional combos are possible. The god's anger display is emptied and has to be recharged through battles before the next use.

Depending on the type of enemy and the type of destruction, the player receives so-called orbs , glowing balls that exist in three different colors: green and blue for filling up life energy or magic points, and red for gaining experience with which weapons and spells can be upgraded .

Other elements: exploration, puzzles and skill

Chests with different contents are scattered around the game world. Before and after combat sections, chests with green or blue orbs are used to replenish life energy and magic points. Chests with red orbs or with so-called gorgon eyes and phoenix feathers are mostly hidden, i.e. can only be discovered by carefully exploring the surroundings : these are collectibles that increase the maximum health and magic points. The player can also get red orbs by smashing boxes or vases in the area.

At numerous points in the game puzzles have to be solved in order to reach the next section. These are often puzzle-like tasks in which, for example, stone blocks or gears have to be put together or mechanical machines have to be operated correctly. Kratos can push large objects across the floor or kick them across the room with one kick. Some puzzles are action-based as they have to be completed within a given period of time or are even directly integrated into a fight. For example, the character has to petrify an opponent on a certain floor slab during a fight and thereby trigger a switch that opens a door.

The game also contains a pronounced platforming component: Kratos has mastered the double jump movement that is more common in this genre ; so he can jump a second time while he is in the air during a jump. The play figure can swing on hanging ropes over abysses, shimmy along horizontal ropes or climb walls overgrown with tendrils. Often Kratos also has to balance over narrow beams in order to overcome an abyss. At a certain point in the storyline, the character has the ability to dive underwater. She cannot use weapons, but she can do a strong swim stroke with which she can dive forward quickly for a short time and tear down brittle walls in the process.

development

overview

Development of God of War by SCE Santa Monica Studio began in 2002 under the working title Dark Odyssey and lasted about three years. The leading roles of director and lead designer were held by the American video game designer David Jaffe , who was previously best known for the racing game - shoot 'em-up game series Twisted Metal . As a producer of God of War acted Shannon Studstill , the 1999 SCE Santa Monica Studio as part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios had co-founded and in 2006 by the gaming magazine Edge has been included in a list of 100 most influential women in the computer game industry. The development team consisted of around 45 people.

Design choices

After defeating Medusa , her torn Gorgon head can be used as a secondary weapon to petrify opponents; Painting by Caravaggio

“I think I like to do things in games that I don't want to do or can't do in real life. A lot of people criticize, saying 'oh that's just violence for violence's sake or shock value'. I like shock value. I like violence for violence's sake if it's done in a creative and interesting way. That's not part of my everyday world. "

“I think I like doing things in games that I don't want to or can't do in real life. A lot of people criticize that and say, 'oh, that's just violence for the sake of violence or because of the shock effect'. I like shock effects. I like violence for violence's sake when it's done in a creative and interesting way. It's not part of my everyday world. "

- David Jaffe, February 20, 2004

God of War was presented to the public for the first time in February 2004 as part of the so-called SCEA Santa Monica Gamers' Day, with the scenario from Greek mythology being introduced as well as the combat system and some platforming elements . As the starting point for the design process, Jaffe cited the Onimusha action-adventure series by Capcom , in which the player has to alternate between combat and puzzle sections against the backdrop of a fantasy world based on Japanese history and mythology. A source of inspiration for the background from Greek mythology in God of War was the films by Ray Harryhausen , such as Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans , which Jaffe loved as a child. However, his goal was not to offer a weakened version of the ancient legends, as is often the case in films, but to bring them to life in their actual violence and brutality. In addition, Greek mythology is an important source for the game mechanics, such as petrifying opponents with the head of Medusa or hurling Zeus' lightning bolts. In interpreting Greek mythology, however, the development team consciously took great freedom; The focus should be on the fun and “coolness” of the selected elements and not the historical and mythological accuracy.

As inspiration for the way of telling a story and for the puzzle elements, Jaffe cited one of his favorite games, the 2001 action adventure Ico . In God of War there are both self-contained puzzles in individual rooms and those which include several game sections and are introduced to the player early on, but can only be solved much later. A development goal was to make each puzzle as unique as possible and not to set a task that is just a slight variation of a previously solved puzzle.

technology

The engine that was developed from scratch by SCE Santa Monica Studio for their previous Kinetica project was used as the game engine . In Kinetica (2001) is a published only in North America for the PS2 futuristic racing game. According to lead programmer Tim Moss, the engine used in it already offered good support for the animation and effects for the planned God of War , but still had to be adapted to the requirements of a third-person game. In retrospect, producer Studstill explained that the engine had taken some time to develop, but that it was well invested because the team wanted to get the PS2 "legs up and running" beyond the first game, Kinetica .

According to Moss, another important decision from a technical point of view was to consistently use Maya software for 3D modeling . The main goal of the programming team of around seven people was to provide the designers with tools with which they could implement new elements and special cases independently, and thus shift the main burden of the development process to the design area. The version management system Alienbrain was used to coordinate the files . The full-screen method , which is used in the original version in the NTSC television standard for image construction, could not be implemented in the European PAL version for technical reasons.

Music and synchronization

The music for the game was composed by Gerard Marino, Mike Reagan, Ron Fish, Winifred Phillips, Winnie Waldron, Cris Velasco and Marcello De Francisci. For the multi-award-winning video game composer Phillips, the work on God of War marked the beginning of her career. The complete soundtrack was released on March 1, 2005 exclusively in Sony's own Connect Music Store . It comprises 31 pieces with a total running time of 58:55.

The main character Kratos is spoken in the English original by the American singer, actor and voice actor Terrence C. Carson , the British actress and speaker Carole Ruggier took on the roles of Athena and Aphrodite . American actress and Oscar winner Linda Hunt acted as narrator . The German voice of Kratos is Ingo Albrecht, known for example as the voice actor for Dwayne Johnson .

publication

Outside of Germany

At the beginning of January 2005 a demo version of God of War appeared in North America with the introductory section up to the fight against the first boss, the Hydra. The game itself was released there on March 22 of the same year by Sony Computer Entertainment. In most European countries, but not in Germany, the group launched God of War in July 2005. This version, localized to the PAL television standard, contains the English, German, French, Italian and Spanish dubbing. In the PAL version, which received the PEGI youth protection rating “recommended for ages 18+”, a single game scene was changed. This is a puzzle section in which a door secured by a fire trap is the only way to exit a room. In the original version the solution is to sacrifice a human soldier trapped in a cage, in the European version the prisoner was replaced by an undead. In addition, a memory point immediately before this sequence was removed and text passages relating to the scene were adapted to the changes. In Japan, God of War was released on November 17, 2005 by the local video game company Capcom .

Controversy about the publication in Germany

For the planned publication of God of War in Germany, the entertainment software self-regulation (USK) refused to label it with an age rating in accordance with Section 14 , Paragraph 3 of the Youth Protection Act . Games that are not labeled by the USK can be published and sold in Germany just like games that are not approved for young people (USK label "18+"), but they are then often added to the list of media harmful to young people by the Federal Testing Office for Media Harmful to Young People (BPjM) ("Indexing"). Sony Computer Entertainment then initially refrained from launching God of War in Germany, as the publication of a title without an age rating did not fit the company's philosophy.

Logo of the BPjM

In the subsequent examination of the game by the BPjM, however, the committee of twelve "after intensive discussion" rejected an indexing in a decision of January 5, 2006. The justification given by the authorities was that, on the one hand, the use of force in the interactive game sections was almost exclusively directed against beings from Greek mythology and the undead. Above all, on the other hand, in addition to the violent elements , God of War has other parts that represent essential components of the game, namely "sometimes very demanding" climbing, balancing and jumping tasks as well as many puzzles that force the player to think and think.

After the decision of the BPjM, the game was again submitted to the USK for classification in February 2006. It was now labeled "from 18" and was finally released by Sony Computer Entertainment on May 10, 2006 in Germany. At this point in time, the game was already available as a so-called platinum version at half price in most of the neighboring countries, such as Austria and Switzerland.

Ports and compilations

On November 17, 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment released God of War in North America together with its successor God of War II on a Blu-ray Disc under the title God of War Collection for the PlayStation 3 . The collection was launched in Europe at the end of April 2010. The Texas development studio Bluepoint Games remastered both games in high-resolution graphics ( 720p resolution with a frame rate of 60 frames per second and double antialiasing ) in just three months. Since October 2010 the God of War Collection has also been available as a paid download from the PlayStation Store . In August 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment released God of War as part of a compilation of the first five parts of the God of War series on two Blu-ray Discs under the title God of War Saga in North America for PlayStation 3.

A port of the God of War Collection for the PlayStation Vita handheld console was released by Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide in May 2014. The Californian developer studio Sanzaru Games was responsible for the implementation , which was mainly responsible for the development of the part Sly Cooper: Hunt through the era of the platforming and stealth game series Sly Cooper and for porting its predecessors to PS3 and PS Vita had become known. For the graphic representation of the two games of the God of War Collection whose original video resolution is 720 × 408 pixels to 960 x 544 pixels of the PS Vita screen upscaled . The handheld console's touchscreen is used to change the character's magic abilities ; the touchpad on the back of the device replaces two buttons on the PS2 gamepad that are missing on the PS Vita.

Sales figures

After the first half of 2005, God of War was ranked sixth in the list of best-selling computer games. According to Sony Computer Entertainment, the first-released PS2 version of the game had sold more than 4.6 million copies worldwide by the end of May 2012, of which about 1.6 million were in Europe and about 140,000 in Japan. In addition, more than 2.4 million (Europe: approx. 510,000) units of the PS3 version had been sold as part of the God of War Collection up to this point . The sales of all parts of the God of War series together amounted to over 21.6 million. The website VG Chartz estimates the number of copies of the PS Vita version sold by August 2015 at 180,000. In Germany, where God of War appeared much later than abroad, the game only entered the computer game sales charts at number 10. The German computer game magazine 4Players suspected in a report that many who wanted the game had already bought it beforehand.

reception

Reviews

Original version

Meta-ratings
Database Rating
GameRankings 93.58%
Metacritic 94/100
reviews
publication Rating
1UP A +
4players 91%
Edge 8/10
Eurogamer (UK) 9/10
Famitsu 35/40
GameCritics 8.0 / 10
GamePro 92/100
GamesRadar 5/5
GameSpot 9.3 / 10
GameSpy 5/5
GameZone 9.4 / 10
IGN 9.8 / 10
PSX Extreme 9.1 / 10

God of War received positive to very positive reviews from critics: Metacritic , a website for media reviews, scored 94 out of 100 points for the game. At GameRankings , another aggregator service, it achieved an average rating of 93.58%, making it the PS2 game with the eighth highest meta-rating on this website.

In his review of the game, Matt Leone from the online magazine 1UP praised the fact that both the action and adventure elements are outstanding, a quality that is rarely found in the action-adventure genre. The representation of the fights is fluid and gives the player a "great feeling of strength and power" from the start; the animations of the finishing moves are amazing. Only the evasion of enemy attacks, which can only take place in four directions, appears rigid and not very user-friendly. With regard to the adventure part, Leone praised the plot, which is told impressively, as well as the puzzles. These are either action-oriented themselves or require puzzle- typical thinking and offer a nice change.

Paul Kautz from 4Players magazine came to a similarly positive assessment. He especially praised the presentation of God of War with a “bombastic, pompous” soundtrack and “imaginatively designed, wonderfully detailed” graphics. The camera often shows what is happening from a dramatic perspective, but sometimes you want to be able to change the setting yourself. The staging of the fights is characterized by a “brutal elegance”, which the reviewer compared with a unique “mixture of ballet and chainsaw massacre”. The puzzle sections are cleverly designed, but some time-sensitive tasks could also have the potential to frustrate the player. Kautz also noted the pricing policy of the publisher Sony negatively, which is bringing God of War onto the market in Germany as a full-price game, although it is already available abroad at a budget price.

In the online magazine GameSpot , Alex Navarro particularly praised the varied combat system, the numerous challenging but not impossible puzzles and the game's orchestral soundtrack, although he also addressed a few minor negative points. One can criticize the fact that entering attack combinations is too lenient and requires little attention: You can perform impressive combos by simply pressing the attack buttons. In addition, Navarro found some sexual innuendos - in particular a sex mini-game presented in a rather comical way - to be unsuitable for the otherwise consistently dark, morbid and "adult" atmosphere of the game. From a technical point of view, he particularly praised the fluid animations, but noted that the frame rate could drop in special game situations , which caused the image to jerk slightly.

In a review of God of War in the New York Times , the reviewer Charles Herold described the game with its "impressive level design, exciting fights, tricky puzzles and powerful, symphonic game music" as almost perfect. Occasionally, however, there are missteps, such as a simply annoying march through a sandstorm that obstructs the view. In his review, Herold went into the various elements of violence in the game: When Kratos hurls monstrous creatures to the ground, impales undead warriors with their own weapons, or grabs harpies and rips their wings, there is something “wonderfully muscular” about them and them Finishing moves are "ingeniously brutal". But there are also sections, for example, in which the player can kill people for a health bonus. A scene in which a soldier begging for his life has to be sacrificed (see section # Outside Germany ) is quite disturbing.

Ports

In a review of the PlayStation 3 port of the game, IGN's Chris Roper was impressed with the HD graphics and noted that the controls felt smoother thanks to the higher frame rate. The otherwise completely unchanged game content has aged well over the years and is still just as much fun as when it was first published. Roper criticized the graphic quality of the cutscenes: While the pre-rendered scenes are only shown in standard definition, but still look good, the quality of the sequences shown in game graphics is quite poor - especially in comparison to the HD display of the interactive game elements. The PS3 version of the God of War Collection received 91 out of 100 points for Metacritic and 90.78% for GameRankings.

PlayStation Vita handheld console

The port of the God of War Collection for the PlayStation Vita, released in May 2014, received only average reviews. Meghan Sullivan from IGN was disappointed with the graphics that had been downgraded for the handheld console and looked bland and slightly blurred. In addition, the proportions are unfavorably distorted by the different screen format. The reviewer described the voice output as dull (“like using a walkie-talkie ”) and the controls, especially the use of the touchpad , as awkward. A test of this version in Computer Bild Spiele came to a similar result : The two games themselves were still exciting and entertaining in 2014, but the implementation for the PS Vita was technically unsuccessful and had a "fiddly" control. The PS Vita version of the God of War Collection received 73 out of 100 points for Metacritic and 75.00% for GameRankings.

Awards and leaderboards

God of War was named Game of the Year at the 2006 Interactive Achievement Awards (DICE Awards). In addition to the associated awards for Console Game of the Year and Action Adventure of the Year, it also received an award in three “Outstanding Achievement” categories ( animation , original musical composition and sound design ). It also won the Outstanding Character Performance - Male award for the main character Kratos .

At the 2005 Spike Video Game Awards , God of War won the Action Game of the Year award. In addition, David Jaffe was recognized for his game in the Designer of the Year category. God of War was nominated here as a game of the year, but eventually could the action adventure Resident Evil 4 from Capcom price gain for themselves.

At the Film and Television Prize Saturn Award , God of War 2006 was recognized as the best video game publication in the field of fantasy.

God of War is at the top of various leaderboards. For example, it ranked IGN as the fourth best PS2 game, behind Grand Theft Auto III , Shadow of the Colossus and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence . In a similar list of top 25 PS2 games of the former online magazine GameSpy has God of War even second place behind Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas .

Influence on the action adventure genre

The gameplay of God of War was not only continued without major changes in the following parts of the series, it also strongly influenced the entire action adventure genre. Numerous other games subsequently used elements of God of War , with the spectrum ranging from inspiration for details to almost unchanged copies of the game principle. For the latter, the somewhat derogatory term " God-of-War - clones " was often used in the specialist press . Examples of more successful and critically acclaimed games that have been compared to God of War are Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (2010), Darksiders (2010) or Dante's Inferno (2010). Typical less successful “clones” are for example Conan (2007) or The Legend of Beowulf - The Game (2007). All the games mentioned so far are similar to God of War not only in terms of game mechanics, but also in a fantastic, mythological scenario and a gloomy, adult mood. However, action adventures, which are mainly aimed at a younger target group, also adopted game mechanics and elements from God of War , such as The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (2008) from the well-known Spyro series or the PlayStation-4 -Launched title Knack (2013).

Ten years after the publication of God of War , however, according to Kat Bailey of the online magazine USgamer, it was also clear that the great influence on the genre was a problem for the series, which had hardly developed any further during this time. In the meantime, there are titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum or Uncharted 2 , which now overshadow the competition as clearly as God of War did back then. A publication like God of War: Ascension , on the other hand, is only accepted by the specialist press "with a shrug".

Scientific and social reception

Aspects of God of War have been used several times as demonstration examples in scientific work in the field of game studies or were part of the social discourse on computer games. Robert Cassar analyzes the game against the background of the thesis that in modern video games, in contrast to the playful elements, which have evolved significantly, the narrative component still takes a subordinate role. However, God of War is an example of the efforts developers make to build a bridge between storytelling and playful elements, for example through quick time events or camera pans. The game also proves that video games can also deal with more realistic and adult topics without the enjoyment of gaming having to suffer. Hypertextual and non-linear narrative methods like in God of War are an interesting, but certainly not the only possible solution to address the aspect of the narrativity of this medium.

In his dissertation on the subject of youth media protection in violent computer games, Patrick Portz analyzes the practice of the BPjM on the basis of the decision on God of War as one of the few cases of non-indexing of tested games. The reason that the game contains other essential elements in addition to the violent elements is plausible overall, but inconsistent, because that applies to a majority of the indexed games, such as some parts of the survival horror series Resident Evil or the Western -Game GUN , to an even greater extent. The reasoning that the violence in God of War is directed almost exclusively against human-dissimilar beings contradicts the view of the BPjM, according to which beings are human-like who also react humanly. In this context, the distinction between fantasy figures and human-like beings, who are only fantasy figures per se , is not very plausible through the BPjM.

Logo of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games

Canadian-American media critic and video blogger Anita Sarkeesian uses God of War and his successors in her project Tropes vs. Women in Video Games , which deals with women-related stereotypes in video games from a feminist point of view , as a demonstration example among many for the topic of “women as a reward”. The first part established a tradition of a mini-game in the series that rewards the player with experience points if he has successfully sex with one or more women. Video games such as Grand Theft Auto V , The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or God of War , which portray women as sexualized donors of experience points for players apparently assumed to be male and heterosexual, would not only use the sex scenes themselves as a reward by using masculinity the player confirm. The superficial consumption of female sexuality would reduce women to points in a mathematical equation that is directly linked to an increase in male power.

In an article about God of War and the character Kratos, the author Martin Nerurkar agrees that the franchise can be described as exploitative , for example because of the violent, bloody images used for marketing or the "strangely immature" sex mini-games . With the visual emphasis on acts of violence, for example by zooming in or slow-motion effects, and depicting women as weak sex objects, it makes use of well-known stereotypes of the action genre. On the other hand, however, as in films, television series and books, it must also be permissible in games that the protagonist is a violent, sadistic and misogynous character like Kratos. The very fact that the player controls the character himself does not make them a role model or glorify their actions. On the contrary, there must also be stories with main characters that the player despises or that disgusts him. In addition, God of War provides enough context through the plot and the ancient scenario that allows the player to recognize that Kratos, although he performs "heroic" deeds, is not a "hero".

successor

God of War II

God of War II logo

In March 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment released God of War II, a direct successor to God of War for the PS2. In Europe, the title was released uncut at the beginning of May of the same year. The gameplay is essentially the same as its predecessor, but the game contains more bosses and a larger number of difficult puzzles. The plot continues at the end of God of War . As the new god of war, Kratos is tormented by the terrible nightmares of his deeds and rages - shunned and hated by the other gods - with his Spartan army even more cruelly than Ares did before. At the beginning of the plot, however, Zeus manages to use a trick to take Kratos' divine power, kill him and thus banish him to Hades.

Like its predecessor, God of War II received very positive reviews from the critics, with improvements in the gameplay and graphics as well as the design of the puzzles being praised. At Metacritic the game scores 93 out of 100 points. It has received several awards and prizes, including two British Academy Video Games Awards .

Overview of the game series

The open ending of God of War II refers to another sequel that was released as God of War III in March 2010 for the PlayStation 3. Moving images were shown for the first time at the E3 2009 game fair , along with a playable demo version. In July 2015, a version of this game was released for PlayStation 4 under the title God of War III Remastered .

There are also two God of War parts for the PlayStation Portable handheld console , God of War: Chains of Olympus (2008) and God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010), in which the story of Kratos' suffering is examined more intensively and various open questions from the main series are answered. They were developed by the Californian Ready at Dawn Studios and differ only slightly from the main trilogy in terms of their narrative style, subject matter and gameplay. A port of the two games for PlayStation 3 appeared in September 2011 as God of War Collection Volume II and was also offered as a compilation together with the main trilogy under the title God of War: Complete Collection .

In April 2012, SCE Santa Monica Studio announced a new installment in the main series for the PS3. The game was released under the title God of War: Ascension in March 2013. However, it's not a sequel, but rather a prequel that takes place six months after the death of Kratos' family. As the first part of the series, Ascension contains a multiplayer mode .

At E3 2016, Sony presented another part of the game series in June 2016. This was released on April 20, 2018 under the title God of War exclusively for PlayStation 4.

Media based on the game

Novel about the game

In September 2009, a novel version of the game was announced, which was also released in May 2010 under the title God of War by Del Rey Books . The authors were the American fantasy and science fiction writers Matthew Stover , who is best known for his Star Wars novels, and Robert E. Vardeman . The German translation was published under the title God of War: The official novel for the game in August 2010 by Panini-Verlag .

Planned film version

In July 2005, shortly after the first release of God of War , a planned filming of the game by Universal Studios was announced. Film producer Charles Roven said his team has been enthusiastic about this project since they first played the game and sees great narrative potential in it. In March 2007, Jaffe confirmed that screenwriter David Self ( Das Geisterschloss , Road to Perdition ) had completed a script and that the project was now looking for a director. In September 2008, Brett Ratner ( Rush Hour , X-Men: The Last Resistance ) announced that he would direct the film and was waiting for the green light to start shooting. A few months later, however, Ratner stated that he was no longer working on the planned God of War film and had turned to another project, the action comedy Temporary Gangster .

After that, it was quiet for a few years about a possible film adaptation until it was announced in July 2012 that the American screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan , who are known for the horror film series Saw, are working on a screen adaptation of God of War . After the script was completed, the planned film version disappeared from the headlines. Marianne Krawczyk, writer for the God of War games, confirmed in September 2013 that the team had not heard anything about the film since last year. In her opinion, the biggest problem with a film adaptation is the casting of the lead role Kratos.

literature

  • Robert Cassar: God of War: A Narrative Analysis . In: Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture . Vol. 7, No. 1 , 2013, p. 81-99 ( online [accessed September 30, 2015]).
  • Tony Mott: 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die . Hachette UK, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84403-715-5 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

Web links

Commons : God of War  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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This article was added to the list of excellent articles in this version on November 15, 2015 .