How do you rate a game that’s technically great, but doesn’t offer you much other than a great visual experience and an occasional enjoyable story beat? It was in my greatest interest to sit down to finalize my thoughts on God of War as a game and as a PC experience. Because that’s the reality God of War Not only was it popular when it came out on PS4, it was heralded as one of the best games in years. In the end, the part of people who played the game and didn’t feel what they felt led to an enjoyable experience.
God of War is a lore-heavy game with a seemingly endless supply of pickups, quests, and side dialogue centered around Norse mythology and the relationship between a father, Kratos, and his young son Atreus . I played a very small portion of it on the PS4 and, while it was a bit clunky, it was one of the smoothest games I played on my console at the time. With the game being released on PC, the question became, “Can I really play it?” I’ve set up a perfectly built PC, but it’s not the most advanced, futuristic one one can have. When the specs were first announced, I was surprised to find that for a gaming PC, it seemed playable. Well, this is how it turned out.
Like most PC ports, God of War offers a variety of settings that allow you to customize and tailor the game to whatever you have. Honestly, as someone with a simpler setup, I can keep a lot of the settings at their defaults without sacrificing game quality. Aside from the annoying division of the various subtitle settings into two different categories, I’m happy with what’s on offer.
Really, I don’t have much to say about the PC port. I changed some graphics settings, like light and dark to suit my taste, turned on vsync so the game runs smoothly on my lower screen and I’m good to go. God of War runs great on PS4, and if you have a simple computer, it’s great on PC too.
Moving around the world as Kratos is an exciting and varied experience. The environment is really nice. Even when I lowered my settings, the details were never really affected. As the camera follows Kratos’ shoulder, you get a full view of one of the game’s greatest strengths. Additionally, God of War’s more mundane moments of discovery or enemy encounters are filled with sweet observations from Atreus as he teaches Kratos the lessons and stories his mother had told him before when she died. Those are the moments I really enjoy. The space where Kratos and Atreus can exist beyond fighting and killing.
Unfortunately, the slightly old camera remains and battles don’t always go smoothly because of it. The transition from circling the world to fighting a mob or large troll-like creature is a bit jarring. The movements end up being strangely stiff and fast. Also, these are my very personal in-game pet thieves, but God of War lacks a real jump (something I’ve always been looking for). Boss battles can end up being repetitive or even worse, feeling like they’re not important and are only in the game to prolong a story and not to test your actual skills.
However, the first hour or two of the game is very enjoyable. Kratos pounded his fist on his chest to open it happily. I’m a brute force addict, and that’s all you get with him. Surprisingly, as I played more games, I realized that I cared less about how it was organized on my PC and more curious about the reception. PS4 version of God of War which most are familiar with is four years old, and the relevance of the story at the time is up for debate. However, now I feel the age of the story about it more than ever.
While Kratos struggles with finally fathering his child, Atreus struggles with the loss of the loving mother we only hear about a taciturn father who expects the impossible from him. ta. I know God of War Dad’s game. I suppose I simply didn’t expect the taste of father that Kratos offers, especially when you get to know Atreus’ mother, who is incredibly strong but still loving.
Sure, you could say Kratos shows his love for his son in many ways. Like when he fought almost to the brink of death to protect him or show him how to survive in the world. In the end, all the gruff corrections and harsh verbal lessons lost some of the luster of those moments. Seeing Kratos reach out his hand to comfort his baby, only to pull him back and teach him how to be a fighter, instead pushed me away from the emotion of the scene. Those moments between Kratos and Atreus without aggression almost feel unmet. Kratos must be strong. He cannot allow himself to reveal his weaknesses in moments that will cost him and his son’s life. However, the moments between the two of them remained cold and unsatisfying. Circumstances make a man. That doesn’t mean I have to like the person he is.
I wish Kratos felt more deserving of his son’s love and respect. I wish the moments when he tries to be a good father only to withdraw weren’t so common. Overall, God of War feels like a game made with a specific audience in mind and I don’t care about its parameters. Though, God of War The PC port works well, the gameplay is still similar, and it can be accessed by people with different types of devices. Just for that reason, it might be worth a try.
God of War available on PS4 and PS5. It will be released on PC via Steam on January 14, 2022.
