God of War

 PlayStation 4
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 23476 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21,316 out of 23476
  2. Mixed: 804 out of 23476
  3. Negative: 1,356 out of 23476
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  1. jpacor
    Apr 28, 2018
    5
    As a huge fan of the God of War series and The Last of Us, I was really excited for God of War, and seeing the many perfect score reviews come in made me drop everything to get it at launch. I knew this game would be different, and seemed really cool. Well, I was disappointed... a lot.

    The premise seems interesting, where Kratos ventures to a mountain with his son, Atreus. They clearly    As a huge fan of the God of War series and The Last of Us, I was really excited for God of War, and seeing the many perfect score reviews come in made me drop everything to get it at launch. I knew this game would be different, and seemed really cool. Well, I was disappointed... a lot.

    The premise seems interesting, where Kratos ventures to a mountain with his son, Atreus. They clearly take a page out of The Last of Us' book, but this is much worse. Neither of the two are as likable as Joel or Ellie, and their relationship does not develop as well either. I don't want to sound like I'm comparing too much to another game, but since they clearly used the other game as an inspiration, it's hard not to. It is cool how the game is all in one take, instead of having separate cutscenes, and their are some interesting side characters, but overall the story is not that great or even close to as epic as the older GoW games.

    I thought that the graphics were great, with several beautiful environments and moments, and the voice acting and sound design was excellent as well.

    Now then, the gameplay. I didn't like it, at all. The combat is clunky and dull, where you have very limited weapons and fight repetitive enemy types numerous times. You mainly use one weapon, an axe, but it gets really really old to slash enemies with it, throw it, and do the same finishing moves over and over again. The boss fights aren't that great or exciting, either. I honestly felt like the combat was like the Witcher or Dark Souls, but more boring and repetitive, reminding me of an early PS3 game.There are some complex puzzles, new for a series, that are relatively fun.

    I am just so disappointed by this game, and do not understand the hype, at all. I know people will say those who don't like it is because it isn't like the older games, but it isn't that. I understand that combat isn't supposed to be the only focus anymore, and the game is supposed t include more of the story and have more nuanced, less brutal/graphic violence. But the combat isn't all that exciting, and with a subpar story and characters, there really isn't much here to be excited about. Other reboots or gameplay changes in series, such as Zelda BoTW, Tomb Raider, and MGS 5 have been great, so I was hopeful for this title. But instead, the changes made here are not successful and have created a very vanilla game. I will say that this is the most overrated game on the PS4.    … Expand
  2. RedGlock
    May 19, 2018
    6
    Buen videojuego pero demasiado lento y repetitivo en ciertos momentos, cinematicas demasiado largas en ciertas ocasiones
  3. dannygards
    May 23, 2018
    6
    Generally speaking this is the type of game I want - single player, good narrative, action adventure type game. I want to support games like this so bought it day 1, but having now finished it I can only say I am extremely underwhelmed.

    The story was decent enough but I did not connect with it, or the characters in anyway. Graphics are solid but nothing spectacular given that it's a    Generally speaking this is the type of game I want - single player, good narrative, action adventure type game. I want to support games like this so bought it day 1, but having now finished it I can only say I am extremely underwhelmed.

    The story was decent enough but I did not connect with it, or the characters in anyway. Graphics are solid but nothing spectacular given that it's a linear game.

    The level design is painfully repetitive - climb a bit, throw your axe at something, enter an open area, big surprise your ambushed by 5 or 6 bad guys! Then rinse and repeat with bosses thrown in every 2nd or 3rd cycle.

    Combat is my biggest problem. I've played plenty of games with very average combat mechanics (Mass effect, Last of Us) but they've been serviceable. With God of War each encounter was so tedious I am surprised I finished the game.

    The controls are sluggish, the camera and lock on system are messy. Even when dropping down to the default difficulty the enemies are total sponges. Even the most basic enemies take 5-6 hits to finish off so there is no feeling of power or impact in your strikes. In the end each encounter just felt like a joyless grind. It may be that playing Soulsbourne games have ruined other melee games for me however that said, I recently played AC Origins and found the combat there to be decent - far superior to GOW.

    So that's my honest opinion - I am clearly in the minority, but I just can't believe that critics/users scoring this a perfect 10 didn't run into any of the issues I have highlighted.    … Expand
  4. zasham
    Apr 22, 2018
    6
    Not that special and way too over hyped. Also the trend to name a sequel as the first is the most stupid thing in this century.
    Anyway if you never played a GoW it's a good start, but i don't think you will feel comfortable with the first ones since it's still quite different.
  5. Judeah
    Apr 28, 2018
    5
    People too oblivious and just blindly go gaga for this game, crappy dodge mechanic, ridiculous grind in order to progress, or just get roflstomped on enemy bosses. Took a good game and decided to add crap mechanics to at depth gameplay. Stuff that was not needed in the game.
  6. EpycWyn
    May 8, 2018
    5
    God of War 4 made a fine show of well-made combat mechanics, groundbreaking video game animation and graphics, impressive audio, a superb plot, and a cast of excellent characters. However, it has disappointingly average bosses. God of War has annoying and inconsistent enemies and enemy levels. Off-screen cheap deaths are abundant. Mindless looking-around puzzles plague the majority of GodGod of War 4 made a fine show of well-made combat mechanics, groundbreaking video game animation and graphics, impressive audio, a superb plot, and a cast of excellent characters. However, it has disappointingly average bosses. God of War has annoying and inconsistent enemies and enemy levels. Off-screen cheap deaths are abundant. Mindless looking-around puzzles plague the majority of God of War 4’s puzzles. It’s exceedingly time-wasting and repetitive with its overly bulky loot system. The menu system is a piss-poor mess of convolution. The camera is uncomfortably zoomed-in far too much. There are numerous instances of confusing over-automation of character and world actions. The game has intolerably sluggish pacing as a whole. The ending is pathetic and not rewarding to the player. There is a jarring non-existence of a smooth transition from the third God of War to the fourth. God of War suffers from an overuse of derivative unnecessary RPG elements from Skyrim/Breath of the Wild. With all this information in mind, I have no choice as an honest reviewer who thoroughly beat the first three original glorious installments of God of War, but to award this game a generous 5 out of 10.… Expand
  7. captainkane
    May 10, 2018
    6
    The reviews are overwhelmingly positive. GoW's moments of greatest arguably make it the best game in the franchise. Santa Monica Studio proved it could teach an old dog new tricks, but they laid a shaky foundation. The current iteration borrows heavily from Dark Soul’s, Last of Us, and Diablo but with disappointing implementation. GoW contains glaring problems fans are overlooking, such asThe reviews are overwhelmingly positive. GoW's moments of greatest arguably make it the best game in the franchise. Santa Monica Studio proved it could teach an old dog new tricks, but they laid a shaky foundation. The current iteration borrows heavily from Dark Soul’s, Last of Us, and Diablo but with disappointing implementation. GoW contains glaring problems fans are overlooking, such as uneven pacing, underwhelming story, and frustrating combat.

    The shift to Norse mythology isn’t surprising. Marvel’s cinematic universe has no doubt influenced the developers. Marvel’s biggest stars include Thor, Ragnorak, and other Norse beings and events. GoW’s story could’ve been more interesting, but it’s really a drawn out history lesson that presents superfluous information. The Norse world isn’t revealed thru events, but dialogue between Kratos’ son and a severed head. Other bits of mythology or inscribed on shrines that players must locate. Unless players pay close attention to EVERYTHING that’s spoken and find every shrine, key story elements are lost. Fans would be better served with a robust campaign that includes more enemies and deities, better boss fights, additional activities, and a new game+.

    Ironically, GoW penalizes players for exploring Midguard, yet everyone pushes Kratos’ to explore. If players explore early, they will encounter numerous obstacles which block their paths. Being under leveled is Kratos’ biggest obstacle, however, and he remains that way for most of the game. I completed the campaign on the harder difficulties and enemies are absurdly powerful. High levels enemies are everywhere, and they kill in 1 hit. They also spam AOE and ranged attacks and regenerate health. Even after grabbing awesome gear, GoW finds new ways to be unfair. So either players explore the same areas multiple times, clearing out additional enemies and obstacles each time, or they can simply wait until Kratos hits level 5 or higher. By then the story is over. And once the story is over, what’s the point in hunting down additional loot?

    Players won’t know where they can and can’t go until it’s too late and they’re killed by powerful enemies in areas accessible immediately after the tutorial. There are often no avenues for escape. It’s better to die with dignity, than pointlessly slog it out against a rigged system. High level enemies possess the same move sets as weaker ones, they just hit harder and soak up damage. A level 2 Kratos against level 5 baddies is no contest. Artificial difficulty at its best which reminds me of The Division. The same few enemies are recycled throughout the campaign. The same goes for bosses. Kratos fights the same baddies over and over. It gets dull quick.

    Midgaurd is a central hub that branches to surrounding areas. Exploration mostly entails rowing boats or climbing walls. All areas are linear and Kratos must follow clearly defined paths. If a wall doesn’t have yellow paint on it, Kratos can’t climb it. He can’t scale a 6ft rock, yet he flips an entire building with his bare hands. Makes sense, right? I had similar grips about Horizon: Zero Dawn. The developers want players coming back to the same areas repeatedly. Like the enemies, puzzles and obstacles are endlessly recycled. There’s a scant handful of uninteresting side quests which exist solely for completionists. Several areas are merely replayable trials that pad things out. And 2 other realms aren’t accessible until God of War 5 or future DLC.

    Kratos’ levels up by equipping better gear that enhances specific stats. It’s similar to Diablo III, so Kratos can alter his stats before/during each encounter. Kratos’ son is an invaluable combat asset and a welcome addition, so max him out early on. Combat-wise, the developers opted for a more deliberate style that tries to mimic Dark Souls. But on harder difficulties, the combat just doesn’t hold up. Parrying an attack or activating a runic strike is risky because Kratos can be killed by enemies he doesn’t see during the wind up animations. The over-the-shoulder perspective sucks when a dozen baddies are spamming ranged AOE attacks. So deaths are often cheap because players literally didn’t see them coming. I opted for strength, defense, and vitality and dumped runic abilities until the end. One of the best talismans available boosts shield parrying time. That alone saves the shield from being near useless. The stun mechanic is interesting, but at higher difficulties, even trash mobs need tons of punishment to stun. Play on the easier difficulties and save yourselves the frustration.

    GoW is more DLC than a full-blown game. Although it looks great and performs solidly, the anemic campaign, heavily recycled enemies/activities, and push towards postgame activities is a major turn off. As DLC, this would’ve been an 8 or 9, but as a standalone title there isn't much value. It’s highly overrated.    … Expand
  8. SilverStone
    May 6, 2018
    6
    Buy this game with the understanding that it's a 6/10 or 7/10. There is nothing that makes this game 10/10, at all.

    If you play this game expecting it to be 10/10, you will constantly be asking yourself "How is this game 10/10? This is broken, this doesn't work, this is redundant, this is repetitive, etc." You will find way too much to critique about this game if you have played any    Buy this game with the understanding that it's a 6/10 or 7/10. There is nothing that makes this game 10/10, at all.

    If you play this game expecting it to be 10/10, you will constantly be asking yourself "How is this game 10/10? This is broken, this doesn't work, this is redundant, this is repetitive, etc." You will find way too much to critique about this game if you have played any other game at all.

    In short,
    What is broken and poorly polished:
    -Controls.
    -Combat balance
    -Camera (in combat)
    -Hitreg
    -Stats. => RPG element destroyed.
    -Loot
    -Story
    -Boss fights.

    Things that ARE 10/10
    -Environment-> this one is 8/10, but it's still good. Nothing you will take screenshots of, but very pleasing.
    -Dialogue
    -Visuals
    -Dialogues can be interrupted and are then resumed by NPCs when it's safe.
    -The first boss fight(3/4 of it is scripted, though). But it's **** awesome. It's the ONLY boss fight that is good too.
    -NO Microtransactions

    Only the cosmetic part of the game being good, this can't be a 10/10. NEVER.

    It's an ok game, but that's it. It does not go beyond that. Also, this game copies every other game that is out there: Hellblade, Uncharted, The last of us, dark souls, Zelda, Batman Arkham, etc. And does it very poorly.

    _________________________________________________________________________
    Longer version:

    -Controls
    Classic control map prevents you from using some of the skills (button combinations). It's physically impossible, you will need a 6th finger. NOT THE DEFAULT MAP - THE CLASSIC MAP. It's optional, but still.

    -Combat balance
    if the enemies are too strong, you simply run away/shield and use your BOI to fight. A support character is supposed to be a support character, not a killing machine because YOU are too weak in a game. I'm a god ffs, let me kick a$$ when I level up to max. Oh, yea. Being max lvl with max stats does virtually nothing. You will still use the BOI way too much. I wonder who is stronger.

    -Camera (in combat). You see only 1/4 of the battlefield and 1/2 of it is taken up by Kratos's awesome tattooed head. They give you indicators to see attacks from behind => you end up fighting indicators instead of enemies 90% of the time. "Lock on" works 30% of the time. Bugged or something.

    -Stats. You do more damage in numbers and you have more defense in numbers but you don't feel it. For example, some enemies don't stagger, when you hit them with a strong attack. It doesn't matter if you have 0 strength or 150. You're still going to hit like a little b**ch and the big guy won't care.

    -Hitreg
    SOMETIMES, ok? Just sometimes it can happen that you hit an enemy and nothing gets registered. An unpleasant bug, but still, be aware of it. Sucks when it's an ultimate abity though.. ugh.

    -Loot
    ->Best equipment is found on Arenas. Everything else is 100% useless. However, all points of interest try to seduce you with loot. Knowing that the loot is useless, you find no reason exploring.

    -Story -> You know how it's going to end. Even from trailers. It's hard NOT to guess it. + Some of the relevant characters die with 0 consequence, some have an impact on the world for no reason. NO CLOSURE.
    Some realms that are in the game are closed behind a message "Locked by Odin", a.k.a. "buy our next game". Disrespectful to consumers 100% +Too much unnecessary fighting to fill time. Just waves of repetitive monsters to make the game longer. Sometimes with no context. Just waves of monsters. Fun? Meh...not really.

    -Boss Fights:
    Some bosses have two random follow up attacks that are not blockable/dodgeable/avoidable, you just have to take it and randomly die. You can find it on the forums and people simply say "just switch to the easy difficulty for this boss fight". It's not fair to the players as no skill or wit gets involved. You're basically playing dice. Have a good one, and let the hype never fool you :)    … Expand
  9. endtransmission
    Apr 28, 2018
    6
    Very overrated. I'm not sure the current generation of video game fans actually know what a good game is any more. Graphics are good in places though.
  10. ZUKHA
    May 4, 2018
    6
    Jefes parecen repetitivos
    Faltan mas Jefes
    Las animaciones de ejecución pueden resultar repetitivas
    Camara erratica y molesta
    Una exploración que puede tornarse repetitiva.
    Caída de frame y glitchs ocasionales
  11. smithb115
    Apr 26, 2018
    7
    I'll make this review short. I'm having fun playing this game (graphics, voice acting, weapon and armor upgrades are all nice as well as some of the combat mechanics) but I really don't understand why Santa Monica felt they needed to change anything else from the previous games. I don't think Kratos particularly needed a family to gain some sense of his humanity back. It just felt likeI'll make this review short. I'm having fun playing this game (graphics, voice acting, weapon and armor upgrades are all nice as well as some of the combat mechanics) but I really don't understand why Santa Monica felt they needed to change anything else from the previous games. I don't think Kratos particularly needed a family to gain some sense of his humanity back. It just felt like the obvious story arch for him that doesn't really make sense for his character or mental state. The character development is predictable. The game makes you feel confined (some points in the game Kratos is running but moving like he's almost walking??) It just doesn't have the fluidity of the other games which makes it feel less responsive to me. I think they could have incorporated everything that makes this game feel refreshing into their model of the previous games and it would have been just fine. The overall atmosphere of the game is great and there are lots of things to really enjoy here. I support the loyalty Santa Monica has to its customers and their model of making great AAA games without any additional BS, but just can't quite give this one the same scores as GoW 2 and 3.… Expand
  12. Flachs
    Apr 27, 2018
    5
    I'm a big fan of what Sony does for us, making single player experiences count. However this game feels lackluster with it's reuse of the same enemy models over and over again, I've even seen the same boss model reused over and over again. Graphics wise it looks quite good but the sad fact is that it doesn't play as well as it looks. Frame rate feels like it's all over the place, whichI'm a big fan of what Sony does for us, making single player experiences count. However this game feels lackluster with it's reuse of the same enemy models over and over again, I've even seen the same boss model reused over and over again. Graphics wise it looks quite good but the sad fact is that it doesn't play as well as it looks. Frame rate feels like it's all over the place, which interrupts the flow of the gameplay. played on a ps4 pro on a 4k tv.… Expand
  13. elric19
    Apr 24, 2018
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ok so lets get things started by saying that this game was long awaited, i mean the last GOW came out 2010....so obviously the expectations were high, so were the previous ratings (which were bought by sony (what a surprise)). (played on challenge difficulty)

    Lets start with the good part:
    The graphics and the dynamic gameplay are amazing, the switch from cutscene to fight and the fact that you dont have a god damn loading screen is just smooth and very encouraging to continue playing. Even to the day of release i havent noticed any bugs! Not a single bug, imagine this...

    The story and the background are well thought but as soon as i thought "ok things get serious now" the game just ends. After the fight with the first god (which was even on the 2nd highest difficulty far too easy) and that people kept telling you that things get serious now, the game ****** ends!! My dissappointment is immeasureable. I came like many other guys with the expectation to slaughter through the norse gods but you were granted just 1 real god fight (the other one is not worth mentioning,

    Next thing i dont like is the variety of enemies, which is sad aswell. Aside from like what, 7 types of enemies? 80% of bosses are ogres and trolls (at least in different colors), sadly the color variety checks in on every other enemy too, you got green draugr, red draugr, blue draugr,... Yaawwwn. That was boring as hell. Sadly, the fights are weird aswell, regular enemies are mostly harder than the bosses...?
    So after completing the entire game with every sidequest (collectibles aside) i only had a play time of roughly 25 hours...story and sidequests, let that sink in for a moment.
    Even though the character development and the amtosphere is incredibly catchy this game just didnt convince me. Overall this is a good game, but its not a good god of war game. Probably there will be a sequel to this (regarding the cliffhanger at the end, and public statements) but after 8 years im not really into waiting another 5 or 6 for another game that ended midway through the story.

    Even if you disregard the fact that this is not a real god of war i wouldnt give more than 7 points (with gratitude), simply because the playing time is a joke, and you only get 2 different weapons (cant believe that aswell).

    Keep giving unjustified and unexplained free 10 point ratings, this game cant compete with god of war 3!    … Expand
  14. theTRUTHson
    May 14, 2018
    6
    I love Metacritic but sometimes I hate it as well. You see all the 10's this game has on this page? They lie.
    So why should you trust me, instead of so many other people that give it a 10? Well, for three reasons.
    1 . I have beat the game 2. I am not a fan boy 3. I do not have any financial interest as far as this review goes. And also I have played video games for many many years.    I love Metacritic but sometimes I hate it as well. You see all the 10's this game has on this page? They lie.
    So why should you trust me, instead of so many other people that give it a 10? Well, for three reasons.

    1 . I have beat the game
    2. I am not a fan boy
    3. I do not have any financial interest as far as this review goes.
    And also I have played video games for many many years.

    I can assure you it's not a 10/10 and if you believe it is you will be disappointed. Is it a bad game then? No, of course not. Before you buy this you should ask yourself this: Do I like a lot of cut scenes, walking a lot in video games and a lot of dialogue? If the answer is no, then you probably will not like GoW. If the answer is yes, absolutely play the game, you will love it.

    Something that I think most people will agree on is that the camera is bad. I'm sure some will try to deny this and say they had no problem but those will be lies as well. The Field of View is terribly low, for technical reasons I presume.

    I gave this game a 6 because it is a movie-game and because I preferred the old GoWs . For you it might be higher than that. Technically wise it is absolutely incredible. But I know one thing for certain. This is not a 10/10 video game.    … Expand
  15. MissVintique
    May 1, 2018
    5
    My first impression of GoW, wasn't the best at all.. I know that what I am about to say, will get alot of White knights pissed off. But GoW is definitely not the best game all times or anywhere near a masterpiece in my opinion. Besides the endless feeling of rage and defeat. Putting the game on Story mode, does not feel like I put it on story mode. I am myself not a hardcore gamer thatMy first impression of GoW, wasn't the best at all.. I know that what I am about to say, will get alot of White knights pissed off. But GoW is definitely not the best game all times or anywhere near a masterpiece in my opinion. Besides the endless feeling of rage and defeat. Putting the game on Story mode, does not feel like I put it on story mode. I am myself not a hardcore gamer that want the satisfaction of trying to beat a monster after it killed me atleast over 20+ times before I can finally FINALLY kill it. (Still on story) Yes I will get people to say now, git gud.. But I simply just want to enjoy the story.. nothing else.

    Besides all the trolls being a reskin, and same combat pattern almost every single time I fight them, Same goes for the valkyrie and draugrs and pretty much all the other monsters.. and locations.. And hearing the kid scream his head off like 100% of the time and not to forget all the puzzles being a little bit too similar from each other aswell. I don't feel any enjoyment playing this game so far.

    The whole difficulty settings are off... there is no reward difference depending on the difficulty level you are in. It's just pure bragging rights that you can beat the game on Give me god of war. Which is not something to be proud of. Good on you you finished, the most difficult setting, within the first 3 days! Will anyone remember you?? Nope!

    The manual save, and not being able to delete a manual save is a flaw. And they should have added that to this game.

    Hints for puzzles would be a nice addition for story mode.

    Basically, I would give this game a 5/10 and the five is mainly for the graphics and the little bit of story so far.    … Expand
  16. timewobblers
    Apr 27, 2018
    5
    Mediocre. Family friendly. Average.
    I understand the intention - The perfect "selling-game" formula has been made and now almost every AAA project is done according to it. I'll break it up:
    1. Setting. While playing new GOW I've had a STRONG deja vu feeling all the way through. It reminded me of everything: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Shadow of Mordor, Horizon: Zero Dawn.... Everything,    Mediocre. Family friendly. Average.
    I understand the intention - The perfect "selling-game" formula has been made and now almost every AAA project is done according to it. I'll break it up:
    1. Setting.
    While playing new GOW I've had a STRONG deja vu feeling all the way through. It reminded me of everything:
    Dragon Age: Inquisition, Shadow of Mordor, Horizon: Zero Dawn.... Everything, except for the God of War itself.
    I'm not a conservative type of a person but for the love of God, sometimes you just don't have to change anything.
    The good ol' God of War had its face. Sure it wasn't the most beautiful face out there, it didn't have a crazy twisted plot or something but still - it was unique. You couldn't confuse any God of War game and its gameplay with any other game. The Kratos was Charming even though he was EXTREMELY aggressive and somewhat insane - you still could understand him. As for me - in GOW 3 I was experiencing pure hatred for gods just because they were so... Ungodlike.
    Even compared to Kratos. This doesn't happen here, which leads us to point #2:

    2. Enemies.
    Remember Minotaurus from any other GOW game out there? Medusa? Maybe Harpies? Sure you do.
    How about the... Ummm... I dont know... Maybe blue guy or... Red Golem? Maybe blue Golem? Exactly, because
    every. single. enemy here is FACELESS. By that I mean those were just copy-pasted and that's it.
    Sometimes I couldn't even tell if those are different, because there are at least 2 green balls on a stick one of which spits acid at you and the second one heals enemies. But what are those? What is every enemy in this game?
    I understand the concept, again - sure, these are more like zombies that no one feels sorry for, thus the game may be considered "not as violent" compared to a rip-that-guy's-head-off or cut-that-god's-legs-off kind of a situation but was it really necessary? Fighting is neither fun nor memorable anymore. Which leads us to point #3:

    3. Fighting.
    Fighting? More like "Movie watching", am I right? Anyone?..
    Okay, there's nothing worse in this game than this. Not the script, not the setting or enemies or father-son relationships leading nowhere.
    Fighting is the weakest part of an equation.
    You wanted to make it "dark-soulsy", right? YOU HAVE FAILED, MISERABLY.
    Whenever you fight a regular enemy - you can't tell any difference between two.
    Whenever you fight a regular boss - you are not allowed to participate.
    The default fighting sequence is "throw an axe - combat roll - SON PLEASE SHOOT - throw an axe - repeat".
    The default boss-fight sequence is... It's pretty much the same, to be honest, apart from the tiny little difference that every single GOW fan wants to see here.
    Quick time events.
    You love them?
    You know them?
    You want some more of them?
    Now forget it. All you do within the boss-fighing sequence is "son-axe-roll" situation but the most EPIC and CINEMATIC sequences
    ARE NOT EVEN SOMETHING YOU ARE ALLOWED TO BE A PART OF.
    And if you have played any other GOW part and asked yourself "Oh god, is it possible to kill the fun in this game?" - the answer is "YES".
    Yes, you can. Just make people watch some movie instead.

    As a bottom line - It's not a God of War anymore, even though the Kratos is there, as it might seem. But it's not Kratos, this is a bad Kratos cosplay.

    Thank you for killing Kratos, he's been through a lot and deserves some rest.
    Just stop torturing his dead body, please.    … Expand
  17. MichaelA91
    May 11, 2018
    5
    An average sequel bait game.

    Combat system is good for the first 1/4th of the game but enemy variety contains a ton of re-skinned enemies and you get bored of it by the end. Possibly the best part of the game. The story is annoying because of all the wasted potential. At no point does it explain how we got from the ending of the last game to the start of this one, it introduces a lot    An average sequel bait game.

    Combat system is good for the first 1/4th of the game but enemy variety contains a ton of re-skinned enemies and you get bored of it by the end. Possibly the best part of the game.

    The story is annoying because of all the wasted potential. At no point does it explain how we got from the ending of the last game to the start of this one, it introduces a lot of potentially interesting characters and keeps all of the interesting ones off screen because it wants to do a sequel so it just decides it won't have any proper resolution to most of the conflicts presented or show you the parts of the world it presents as the most interesting.

    The voice acting is surprisingly good for some of the characters, I expected to dislike the kid but it turns out he was one of my favorites, the main "villain" is excellent too. The male lead and the female lead however are inconsistent and below average, although the first God of War game had worse voice acting than this (although there it was on some side characters) I also loved the Dwarven brothers, I think they genuinely had the best humor in a God of War game.

    The visuals are good, with great transitions between fights and cut-scenes and really beautifully designed backgrounds. Enemy designs are visually much more boring than in the original God of War series, but the views make up for it, it may be the most beautiful game on the PS4.

    This could have been a much better game, but it NEVER feels like a complete experience, the combat system is introduced and then minimally expanded upon, the story presents dozens of awesome sub-plots then proceeds to resolve exactly 3; The final boss is a good story moment but not engaging to actually perform mechanically; The visuals are technically amazing but don't have enough of an internal consistency between them, everything looks beautiful but it doesn't look like it belongs in the same video-game.

    It's definitely NOT a terrible game, but it was definitely NOT the game we were promised, it's NOT a complete experience and it sacrifices SO MUCH to plan out sequels that it fails to resolve most things and leaves most systems feeling intentionally incomplete just so they can be expanded upon in further games. If you don't care at all about the story you can probably add 2 points and make it a solid 7/10. If you REALLY liked the old God of War games then this game is definitely not made for you,    … Expand
  18. quake2th
    Apr 29, 2018
    5
    way over-hyped and over-marketed game by Sony, not on the level of No Man's Sky, but close enough...

    if the title was not "God Of War" but "Generic Game", this would have flopped really bad, the gameplay is as linear as it could be, there's no real exploration going on, you just move from point A to point B, you kill a huge amount of enemies over and over and over and over again, then    way over-hyped and over-marketed game by Sony, not on the level of No Man's Sky, but close enough...

    if the title was not "God Of War" but "Generic Game", this would have flopped really bad, the gameplay is as linear as it could be, there's no real exploration going on, you just move from point A to point B, you kill a huge amount of enemies over and over and over and over again, then there's a series of qte that God Of War is known for (but given that it's their gimmick, this is fine with me), and then you move to the next section, that's it pretty much...

    the combat is atrocious, they tried really hard to copy Dark Souls style combat, but everything went bad, you just mash buttons hoping for the best, there's no real strategy involved...

    difficult level is a joke really, easy/normal are for kids, if you play in hard, there's no change to enemy behavior or anything else they promised, but they just send you 10 times the number of enemies and they have 10 times the health...they choose the cheapest way possible to increase difficulty, leading to pointless frustration, because unlike Dark Souls, here is just a matter of luck and being fast enough in mashing buttons

    your weapon does no damage at all (even after upgrades, they're mostly useless btw), so each enemy takes from 10 to 100 hits, EACH of them, bosses takes several hundreds of hits, so it takes forever to kill them, because you can only hit them 2-3 times, then they do their unstoppable 1-hit kill aoe, kinda like a mmorpg, so you're forced to retreat, wait for the next cycle, rinse and repeat, it's so boring and frustrating that you loose all interest for it

    in theory you're supposed to aim and throw your axe at weak points, well good luck doing it with pixel-perfect precision on a controller...I can do this with mouse+keyboard, not with a controller and the precision required to hit the weak points is insane, it's simply impossible to do it right with a controller

    the rune chests are terrible, you're supposed to always hit 3 bells, again with insane precision that cannot be possibly achieved on a controller, and you have no time to do them, but you're forced to do them otherwise you have too low health and rage, still pointless frustration for the player, which translates into cheap gameplay time extension

    pros:
    Graphics - it look good, really good, no point in denying that, especially on a PS4 Pro, with a 4k HDR tv, it's really beautiful
    Sound - it's ok
    Companion - he does not get in the way, they just copy-pasted The Last Of Us, which is a good thing
    Kratos - he's still good, not the unstoppable god-killing machine that he was in the past, but he's supposed to be older now
    Realms design - they look very different from each other, with a recurring theme, so at least they put some effort into it

    cons:
    Sony marketing campaign - it's really too much for this game, spend your money on hiring good game designers
    Enemy design - they all feel the same and fight in the same way
    Combat - one of the worst I've ever experienced on a PS4 game, feels like bad executed mix of Dark Souls, Nioh and Horizon: Zero Dawn, very, very bad and frustrating
    Story - yeah I was not expecting a good story from a game where the protagonist just rips open heads and bangs chicks with quick-time events, but they could have at least tried...
    Difficulty level - very cheap way to do this, if you want to copy Dark Souls or Nioh, at least do it right...
    Weapon(s) - useless, they do no damage
    Upgrades - confusing and useless, like everything else
    Skills - takes far too much to level up anything, so you end up not caring at all (and all the skills are useless, like crafting and weapon upgrades)
    Crafting - confusing and useless much like upgrades, it looks like this was thrown in at the last minute because "every game has crafting today"
    Gameplay - what gameplay? There's no gameplay at all, just mash buttons and hope for the best...it's just a one long linear movie

    very bad game overall, and I'm not even complaining about the shift in the gameplay from previous God Of War games, I have no problems with that, if the end result is good, but this is simply bad    … Expand
  19. SilexEco
    Feb 3, 2022
    7
    They ruined the game with the updates.
    Terrible illumination
    Frame-rate at 15 constantly.
    Pixelated everywhere.
    Sometimes looks like a PS2 game.

    Update 03/02/2022: They fixed the game and now in PC looks amazing!!
  20. Ishayu
    May 12, 2018
    6
    The game looks absolutely stunning and sounds awesome to boot. The combat is weighty and satisfying, and the story is extremely well told and very heartfelt. Based on what I've seen from lower difficulty levels, this game is a must buy.

    This review, however, is a warning to all of those who wish to play God of War at the highest difficulty setting: Don't. Even if you think you can beat    The game looks absolutely stunning and sounds awesome to boot. The combat is weighty and satisfying, and the story is extremely well told and very heartfelt. Based on what I've seen from lower difficulty levels, this game is a must buy.

    This review, however, is a warning to all of those who wish to play God of War at the highest difficulty setting: Don't. Even if you think you can beat it, don't. Even if you can beat it, don't.

    The game is full of random 1-shots, deaths to things you've already dodged, erratic behaviour where enemies float around the battlefield for no apparent reason, walls that don't work, and the camera "assist" loves to make it completely impossible to pull off a lot of trick shots that would make the game more playable.

    Boss encounters typically have 3 moves in their moveset, and that moveset subtly evolves over the course of the bossfight in distinct phases. The checkpoint system is very liberally used, and the gameplay is hilariously punishing, and the result is that bossfights basically boil down to attempting the same 20% of a boss 50+ times until the boss randomly doesn't do "the thing", and then you win.

    It is very, very obvious that the combat designers have absolutely no clue what they're doing at all, and this mars what should have been an otherwise great game.

    However, the game is still pretty and the combat still looks good, so I'll give it a 6. If you play to play it on a lower difficulty setting, the 9 and 10's that have been rightfully given are more appropriate.    … Expand
  21. Brownbelt2018
    Apr 21, 2018
    5
    Don't believe the hype! I really wanted to like this game, but after an hour or so it became quite boring. When I play a game, I want to play the game, not listen to a story. Half of the first hour of this game is just that; boring cutscenes..I suspect that half of the game is cutscenes. This game is a 5 at very best. Just another hack and slash button masher for casuals. PleaseDon't believe the hype! I really wanted to like this game, but after an hour or so it became quite boring. When I play a game, I want to play the game, not listen to a story. Half of the first hour of this game is just that; boring cutscenes..I suspect that half of the game is cutscenes. This game is a 5 at very best. Just another hack and slash button masher for casuals. Please FromSoftware can you hurry up with Bloodborne 2!… Expand
  22. Insane-Lord_
    Apr 20, 2018
    5
    Cara o game não possui nenhuma mecanica inovadora que já não foi usada em outros games o jogo e hype puro simplesmente repetitivo ao extremo
  23. DannyChryst
    Apr 23, 2018
    6
    God of War 3 is still the best game in the series. As a long time fan of these games, having owned the originals on the PS2, then the HD collections on the PS3, plus the epic GoW 3 remaster for the PS4, I have to say that this new incarnation is somewhat disappointing. It feels like more of a Dark Souls rip-off than an actual God of War game, with elements of Uncharted and the new TombGod of War 3 is still the best game in the series. As a long time fan of these games, having owned the originals on the PS2, then the HD collections on the PS3, plus the epic GoW 3 remaster for the PS4, I have to say that this new incarnation is somewhat disappointing. It feels like more of a Dark Souls rip-off than an actual God of War game, with elements of Uncharted and the new Tomb Raider sprinkled on for good measure. It's not that this is the worst thing Sony could've done with this franchise, it just feels too formulaic and borderline generic at this point. After going through Bloodborne and Nioh in the past year I had my fill of Souls-style gameplay. That entire sub-genre of hack-'n-slash games is starting to become overused and played out. This isn't the direction I wanted God of War to move in.

    The combat feels much slower and clunkier compared to any other GoW game. There's no stamina bar but you have a shield to parry now and every battle feels drawn out and methodical. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it seems to have lost the sheer intensity that made the other games such classics. Another sort of odd design choice is the removal of jumping and aerial attacks, which is something I loved about the older games. You fight every enemy on the ground now. This was kind of a letdown. The combat itself is satisfying enough but it still feels painfully similar to, you guessed it, Dark Souls. You use the right shoulder buttons for light & heavy attacks now ala Dark Souls. L1 blocks like usual, but holding L2 & pressing R2 throws his axe to be implanted in an enemy or object. Pressing Triangle retrieves it. Just like Thor's hammer!!!

    The axe itself is an allright game mechanic but still not as memorable, brutal and captivating as the Blades of Chaos. The Blades of Chaos are supposedly unlocked later in the game but I imagine that even this weapon has been awkwardly dumbed down to fit this new style of gameplay. At times the game feels way too easy. There were boss fights where all I had to do was throw and retrieve my axe. This is laughable compared to the difficulty of the older games.

    Speaking of bosses, so far I've only seen 3 different kinds of bosses and 2 were completely recycled later in the game. This just seems like laziness from the developers, whereas the old games would continuously present a variety of bosses to fight. Even the QTE's have been dumbed down in this game, where you usually just mash circle instead of all the different joystick and button combinations of the old games. The blood and brutality has also been scaled back. You no longer see Kratos drenched in buckets of blood or dismembering his foes, and most enemies simply get shattered into ashes or ice crystals. They also removed the nudity and sexual content to make the game more "family friendly". The one woman you expect Kratos to hook up with is nothing but a tease. Plus there's one character who cusses like a sailor and I'm not sure if I ever heard a curse word at all in the original GoW games. Very strange.

    Kratos somehow has a son now, who becomes more of an annoying sidekick than anything. He constantly shouts "behind you!" even though you have a targeting reticule indicating the direction enemies are attacking from. Pressing Square will have him shoot arrows to distract your enemies so you can sneak up and strike them. A somewhat useful feature, but I honestly feel that Atreus could've been scrapped from the game entirely.

    The purpose of Atreus is of course to show the father/son relationship with Kratos. Kratos now seems completely mellowed out as if he's been smoking pounds of weed ever since he fought Zeus at the end of GoW 3. I sort of miss the blind rage that fueled Kratos to brutalize his opponents, so this change was hard for me to take.

    The "open world" is sort of a faux open world, where you mostly just find diverging pathways leading to chests and other collectibles. You constantly loot fallen enemies like most action RPGs, plus there's a crafting system along with skill trees. This all just seems like too much to throw into a GoW game. The old games kept it simple: power up your weapons to get more moves. This new GoW is only making this more complicated to have a false sense of depth in the gameplay.

    The graphics are outstanding, possibly some of the best I've ever seen. Sound quality and music is superb as well. Absolutely no complaints there.

    Overall I feel this game is good and worth playing, but it's just not exactly what I wanted from a God of War game. They were trying way too hard to appeal to fans of the Dark Souls style games and now it feels like God of War has lost its own identity. I honestly hope they release all the classic GoW games for the PS4 because I really wanted that edge-of-your-seat, arresting combat that made those games so great. What we got instead was yet again a rip-off of other games as these companies once again go for mass-market appeal over originality    … Expand
  24. McRaoul
    Apr 25, 2018
    7
    I just finnished the game and im changing my review. I expected alot more. The enemies are repetetive and the camera is pure cancer. The only memorable bossfight is the dragon which isnt even that hard to beat. The story is ok, but it fell short. Just when you think the game is going to take off the game ends, like, WTF? IS THIS IT? The game has some really memorable moments but if youreI just finnished the game and im changing my review. I expected alot more. The enemies are repetetive and the camera is pure cancer. The only memorable bossfight is the dragon which isnt even that hard to beat. The story is ok, but it fell short. Just when you think the game is going to take off the game ends, like, WTF? IS THIS IT? The game has some really memorable moments but if youre expecting Big fights with large monster bosses like the previous god of war games you will be dissapointed. The 10 out of 10 reviews are obviously paid by sony because there is no way all these critics are this blind. Its a decent game but not a 10/10… Expand
  25. Galwayer
    May 2, 2018
    6
    Well, writing this with mixed feelings.
    Clear pros:
    - new GoW is visually impressive even at basic PS4; It's ultimately the most beautiful game at nextGen right now; - plot is quite OK, maybe it's not the strongest side of the game, but definitely not the weakest one. You do feel for Kratos and his son; - realms are nice and exploring every one of them is huge delight. Things which    Well, writing this with mixed feelings.
    Clear pros:
    - new GoW is visually impressive even at basic PS4; It's ultimately the most beautiful game at nextGen right now;
    - plot is quite OK, maybe it's not the strongest side of the game, but definitely not the weakest one. You do feel for Kratos and his son;
    - realms are nice and exploring every one of them is huge delight.
    Things which are ok, but far from perfect:
    - crafting system is basic and not very handy;
    - foes are designed in economy mode, like having just one finishing animation per enemy - looks unexpected for a project with such impressive production;
    - generally game brings no new ideas, you just have decent compilation of existing ones, some are polished, some are not. Simply speaking, it is nice ripe apple, but not the apple tree which will push the genre and inspire new projects/approaches.
    Things which disappointed me:
    - low number of villain types, killing the same kind of troll 10 times is a joke;
    - difficulty level does not influence villains behavior, which is a pity. Health and numbers boost is the only difference;
    - combat is VERY repetitive and tiring;
    - puzzles are... well... they are there but unimpressive and not very evident sometimes.
    So I think the best way to enjoy the game is to set easy/normal difficulty level and run through the story. If you want to enjoy combat - welcome back to e.g. Bloodborne (what I actually did).    … Expand
  26. casdas
    Apr 20, 2018
    5
    I will not say this is a bad game at all, but this is not a GoW game at all. Where is the thundering sound track?, Where are the stunning landscapes?, Where are the mighty Titans?, Why is there a child?, Where is the square, square, triangle formula? Where is Kratos? He used to be a tough guy blinded by his vengeance desires. Now is a melancholic dude that keeps saying "I do don´t know".I will not say this is a bad game at all, but this is not a GoW game at all. Where is the thundering sound track?, Where are the stunning landscapes?, Where are the mighty Titans?, Why is there a child?, Where is the square, square, triangle formula? Where is Kratos? He used to be a tough guy blinded by his vengeance desires. Now is a melancholic dude that keeps saying "I do don´t know". Well I know, this is not a GoW game!… Expand
  27. amed_fonseca
    Apr 29, 2018
    6
    El juego estaba muy bien hasta el último parche que arruino la iluminación y genero pixeleo y framerate inestable esperemos que lo corrijan pronto por que la experiencia es muy mala después del último parche.
  28. enigma1990
    Apr 30, 2018
    7
    This is my honest opinion. I had high expectations from the game but it was mediocre at best. The main quest had a good story. It was emotional and made you care about the characters. But once you finish the main quest there's not much to do. I mean there are a few fetch quests, boss battles, and rescue missions but other than that there's not much. The gameplay was solid and the combatThis is my honest opinion. I had high expectations from the game but it was mediocre at best. The main quest had a good story. It was emotional and made you care about the characters. But once you finish the main quest there's not much to do. I mean there are a few fetch quests, boss battles, and rescue missions but other than that there's not much. The gameplay was solid and the combat system was satisfying. The game did punish you and it had the classic GOW formula where you get to point A but you can't unlock point A without item Z. The other thing I didn't like was the back tracking. I found it cumbersome. I understand they were trying something innovative with the no-cut camera and that was fine because there weren't any load screens. But I just found the back tracking annoying. Other than that if you've got 20-25 hours to kill it's a great game.… Expand
  29. akinunver
    Apr 27, 2018
    6
    Finished the game now. Not a bad game at all, but definitely over-hyped and not very deserving of the top scores it got. Fine, a story can be linear and your actions could have practically zero influence on the outcome, but at least linear games have to give you exploration and open side quests option. The linearity of the game is just so frustrating that you are even physically bound inFinished the game now. Not a bad game at all, but definitely over-hyped and not very deserving of the top scores it got. Fine, a story can be linear and your actions could have practically zero influence on the outcome, but at least linear games have to give you exploration and open side quests option. The linearity of the game is just so frustrating that you are even physically bound in your actions: you can park your boat to THIS particular space, you can climb specifically from THIS particular side of the wall, you can fight precisely in THIS limited space and nowhere else, these all pile up into a very anti-climactic experience.

    The story is good, voice acting and graphics are also good, but combat dynamics are very stale, hugely disappointing and repetitive boss fights (oh why don't you like the same EXACT monster in four different elemental states given to you as if new bosses?), upgrades are very static and relationships between characters are under-done, maybe with the exception of Kratos-Atreus. It is as if nobody else lives in the vast world this adventure takes place other than the 5-6 main characters.

    Overall, it took me about 2 days to finish this in medium difficulty and was just so underwhelmed by the whole experience that I didn't even bother to do post-game ending exploration. Linear stories can be done well (see: last of us), but this game isn't one of them - definitely too short and really anti-climactic ending. (wait, the game is finished?)    … Expand
  30. Vpupkinv
    Apr 21, 2018
    6
    This reincarnation of the series is mediocrity at its finest. The game reuses the same mechanics and plot delivery as Uncharted games and Last of Us, shows the same fake open world as Uncharted 4, and completely rips off Souls-like battle system, that does work fine during the battle one-on-one, but is an absolute garbage when there are more the 1 enemy against you. I completely don'tThis reincarnation of the series is mediocrity at its finest. The game reuses the same mechanics and plot delivery as Uncharted games and Last of Us, shows the same fake open world as Uncharted 4, and completely rips off Souls-like battle system, that does work fine during the battle one-on-one, but is an absolute garbage when there are more the 1 enemy against you. I completely don't understand how the game, that delivers ZERO new experience to players, with features and mechanics we've already seen in every other franchise, is scored 10 out of 10 by every magazine. I was raging about TLOZ:BOW getting 10 out 10, but this games beats it. This game is a finest example of a hype, built up by internet incompetence and good job of Sony's PR department.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PS4 Game of 2018
1
#1 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
1
#1 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 118 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 118 out of 118
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 118
  3. Negative: 0 out of 118
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Sep 13, 2018
    100
    The return of the furious Spartan warrior was made well. God of War is already a great contender for game of the year and you shouldn't miss it. [Issue#285]
  2. CD-Action
    Jul 6, 2018
    100
    Cory Barlog and his team achieved what many thought impossible – despite having changed almost everything Santa Monica managed to preserve that elusive spark that makes God of War game feel like a God of War game. They created one of the defining titles of the current generation and a technical marvel whose stunning beauty in motion words cannot describe. And there’s one more thing. Barlog’s touching reaction to his masterpiece’s scores shows that even in the world of huge budgets, micropayments, loot boxes and sales forecasts there still is a place for artists who pour their hearts into their work. We need someone to remind us of that once in a while. [06/2018, p.38]
  3. GameGrin
    Jun 7, 2018
    95
    Where most games excel in one single area, God of War manages to deliver on every front, providing players with one of the best experiences we’ve seen so far this generation.
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