Two years ago, Sony at E3 conference gave us the slip when suddenly showed off a trailer from entirely new part of God of War series (further GOW). The certain number was out of the question, and the developers themselves claimed it was going to be a brand new restart. Northern environment, old known Kratos, the new weapon in shape of axe called Leviathan, third-person view and firstly companion of Kratos - his son Atreus. It was certain at that time (mainly to the fans), it was going to be an unforgettable game experience. How, this biggest title overfilled by the news, ended up? The answer you can find in followed lines.

At the outset, I have to admit to one important thing - I belong among the enthusiasts this god-fearing series. Still, I will try to bring the most objective review. In the text below, I will avoid whichever of spoilers, but in the case of the newest previewed part.

Kratos has experienced such a long journey from the second generation of PlayStation. After six parts in the series, it seemed like Kratos was losing breath. After the last title with the subtitle Ascension, the responses were not very enthusiastic for the first time, and it was certain that either Kratos would have to go differently, or it would be better to put the mark on the back burner. Santa Monica studio managed to remake Kratos, so the developers have created something far different, nevertheless with the old heart of the series.

New GOW takes place many years after the third part in series which ended with god slaughtering of Greek mythology. Kratos got old, became wiser and set on the journey to the North to look for peace and quiet, most likely to forget about his rough past. And he managed to a certain extent - he met a new wife and had a son, Atreus. They had been hiding long years in the woods and had lived quietly until his wife died. Her final words were a wish for Kratos to carry her ash upon the highest mountain of the world and disperse it. At this moment, you hop on the story. I won't spoil more about the storyline, but I can mention the highly-developed evolution of Atreus and Kratos in their role of a son and a father and some of the very important characters who you meet on a long journey.

I can say the new part of the series is the largest one. In the sense of the word, it is not clearly open-world, but there are lots of options except the storyline you can fulfil or challenges for you get rich rewards. In fact, you learn more about the story, and the gametime swell up to many hours. Gametime also depends on the set difficulty. There are four available difficulties - Story, Balanced enjoyment, Challange and God of War. First three difficulties may be changed during the game, the fourth difficulty is optional to be set on the beginning not allowing you to change it during the game. If you choose the toughest difficulty, you might have the feel you want to throw your controller through the window such like during the Dark Souls series.

The game is being played out in one shot - there is not a single cut (except the death). The transition between gameplay and cutscenes take place right into the engine of the game and are flawless and natural. A camcorder has been put on Kratos' back, so it is not static like in previous parts. The enemies are easy to be seen, and if they appear behind your back, there are many helping indicators showing you attack directions. Above the enemies' head are health bar and its level indicating how tough fight it can be. If you hunger for a challenge, mentioned indicators, HUD and subtitles can be turned off in settings.

Let's spend some time with the enemies still. They are original, different and on each, you have to work with different tactics (works for bosses too). Cause damage with a weak and strong attack or use combinations. On top of that, a new axe works as Thor's hammer from Marvel comic books, while throwing, it ever comes back. It's a great weapon at long distance, and it is very funny to mix its attack, stunning or freezing strength with fist attacks. In addition, every well-done attack loads so-called Spartan rage which can be launched with a button and you become an unbeatable rampant huge pile of muscles dealing high damage. Enemies can be stunned after many attacks in a row, and you can take the option to cause brutal attack with high health impact, crush small enemies, savage them to death or chop them up. Puzzles have been also implemented into the game (as in the previous parts). It makes the game more varied and does not let you get bored.

RPG elements have been added as well. Two currencies are usable: silver and the experience points. The weapon can be levelled-up with only one special resource, and it unlocks new combos. It is necessary to unlock them with a certain amount of experience points, it also applies for new attacks via fists. In the game world (either from fallen enemies or the boxes spread out across the game world) you collect many kinds of resources to create or to improve three parts of the armour and also the runes unlocking special light or hard attack. The armour you do not enhance only for yourself, but also for your son, Atreus, who gains useful skills and abilities to every fight.

Atreus isn't even a stooge running around you. He is an important story and gameplay character. From the point of view of the story, Atreus changes and you can feel the story events' impact on his nature and behaviour. From the point of view of the gameplay, he is the handful helper in battles (via one button you take control over his attacks) or during the travelling around the world. He writes down the notes about the monsters to his notebook (tips, how to fight with any kind - during the journey he adds other and other tips), about the life in North, about gods or legends. He also speaks languages of local regions in which Kratos himself would be lost without him.

Technically, the game is at the highest level what we can even imagine on the 5 years old PlayStation 4. The game was reviewed on the classic model. I also had an occasion to see it running on PS4 Pro in higher resolution, but the classic model doesn't have to be ashamed. Textures, particular effects, shades, face animations by each character belong among the best things you could have ever seen in the game. Only a few imperfections might be the effects of water level, which can be seen during the sailing on the rowboat. It's just a particular imperfection which we can forgive too.

The game is larded with not even one superlative, so I was hard finding any negative shortcomings. Someone might miss a little bit of amount of epic in contrary to the third part in series. Some people argue about repetitive of enemies and slow take-off of the first half of the plot. In my honest opinion, the game does not have any shortcoming. In the matter of fact, with a calm heart, I can say that new GOW will be left in your brain for a long time despite a few imperfections which people always discover. From my side, I cannot give 100 % rate due to TLOU game which has absolutely emotionally destroyed me., so I have to be fair.

6. 5. 2018 23:06