PREVIEW – I could barely recognize the new Kratos at Sony’s presentation. Yes, he looks roughly the same, but there’s something different about him. He’s not the badass anti-hero anymore, who is extra violent, massacring everyone and always yelling at the gods. He’s got a son now; he is speaking softly to him and teaching him how to hunt. Yes, the cursed, family-killer Kratos, has a new, young son now.

 

Kratos is perhaps one of the most recognizable game characters of all time. He’s also the key figure of Sony PlayStation, being with us since the very first God of War, some 11 years ago. He’s the epitome of the bad ass hack’n’slash character caring for nothing and no one, only his eternal vengeance, and anger vs. the Gods.

Ares, the original God of War, tricked made him slaughter his family, he got his vengeance in the first game, but he always been betrayed somehow by the, so – always angry – he consistently fought against different gods of the Greek mythology, slaughtering them mercilessly, if the occasion presented itself. He wasn’t a nice guy either, killing innocent Greek citizens along the way or letting them die.

But this Kratos is different.

“Everything everywhere changes.”

Writes Corey Balrog, one of the original and present creators of God of War in his long blog post. “Change is an essential part of life. In creative development change is often the explosive spark that transforms good enough into truly memorable,” he adds.
Yes, indeed Kratos needed to be changed, and he is very much different without a doubt. In the long gameplay presentation at E3, the

In the long gameplay presentation at E3, the Kratos we seen is a soft spoken, calm, older Spartan warrior, with a different voice. Yes, indeed Terence T.C Carson is no longer doing the voice of Kratos, in his place we have Christopher Judge, another Afro-American actor, with Cherokee ancestry, who played smaller roles in several blockbuster movies.

But the most important thing about the new Kratos, how he cares for his new – living – son, while hunting for a dear in scene, which reminded everyone The Last of Us – if not for the monster and troll killing sequences.

Kratos is constant

So the gameplay is being re-imagined, but the storyline is being continued within Norse Mythology. Will this also mean, that Kratos will die and be retired later in the game? No, the designers of God of War are very precise regarding this issue: “We play as Kratos for the whole game.” The game is also set “many years after God of War III”. If you remember the very end of God of War III Remastered, you might be not surprised, why Kratos has a big scar on his belly. But still, here he is: living in the new, hostile world in an ancient North world, having a new family and most of all: a new son.

Also, in the script of the game, Kratos has a whole new set of emotional ranges – compared to the old Kratos, who was a bit “one dimensional” in the past games. “He is struggling the accept this new role, to not be the same old Kratos,” says Christopher Judge, who was very impressed with the new script, when he read it first before the voice acting work.

“There’s so many places to go emotionally. Acting wise it’s truly the role of a lifetime,” he added. Indeed, there’s one short scene, where Kratos is teaching his son how to kill a dear: while a moment ago he just slaughtered a big troll with ease, he’s uneasy to pat his son’s back after he helped him to finish killing the dear. Still, make no mistake: he’s still the Kratos we know, just at a different time of his life.

The Last of God of War?

Yes, the gameplay somehow reminded us about Sony’s former bestseller horror action-adventure TPS, but we have only seen a small part of the game. What’s certain – according to the developers – that “it’s a much more intimate and player-controlled experience”.

It’s also certain that the accessibility should be the same as the previous game, but the gameplay is entirely different. Does this mean, that God of War will go on the path of other well-known franchises? No, “it’s a big title, but it’s not an open world” – affirm the developers.

However, some aged gameplay elements won’t be back like the Quicktime events which won’t be included in the same way they were in the previous games. Instead, new gameplay elements will be present – not yet discussed. One of them is linked to the big axe, that Kratos is using. It has some very particular history behind it, but Corey Balrog was not ready yet to discuss details about it.

Kratos will “constantly” teach his son (“Charley” according to GameSpot, who were just trolled by Christopher Judge) who will help him later on in the game. There will be an actual “son” button on the controller.

What’s more, about this new God of War? Not much, besides the fact that there’s “more to come” on more characters that will be included in the game. Release date? According to the developers, the game will be released “soon,” but not this year so that it will be probably out early next year.

As soon as we have more information on God of War, we’ll share on PS4Pro, so stay tuned!

-BadSector-

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Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer: SIE Santa Monica Studio

Genre:  Action-adventure

Publication: TBA