Overview & Story

God of War II: Initial Release( 2007 PS2) Remastered (2009 PS3)

God of War: Release (2018 PS4)

The God of War franchise has made eight games over a thirteen-year span all featuring Kratos as the main character. As a prequel to God of War (2018), a text-based game featuring Kratos’s son Atreus was released via Facebook messenger in 2018 before the release of God of War (2018).  The two games which will be compared here are God of War II which was initially released in 2007 for the PS2 and God of War released in 2018 for the PS4. For this comparison, God of War II was played for over fifteen hours on the normal difficulty, and God of War was played for roughly five hours on the balanced experience difficulty. From the gameplay to the graphics, these two games are very different from each other.

In God of War II, Kratos is stripped of his godly powers and is killed by Zeus at the battle of Rhodes in Greece. Upon being dragged to the underworld by Hades, a Titan by the name of Gaia saves him and gives Kratos a message. In order for Kratos to be resurrected and have revenge against Zeus, he must find the Sisters of Fate.

God of War is based many years after God of War II and III. Kratos is no longer young as he was portrayed in God of War II, and he has walked into the realm of Norse Mythology while residing somewhere in northern Europe. The game makes a transition from Greek Mythology to Norse Mythology. In the game, Faye, the mother of Atreus and wife of Kratos dies due to unknown circumstance early on. Faye’s final wishes were to have her ashes spread from the highest mountain in all the nine realms. Kratos and his son Atreus must overcome their journey to the highest mountain as Ragnarök is expected.

Graphics & Camera

With a ten-year leap, advances in technology and gaming allow for more realistic and mesmerizing experiences through graphics. There is a large gap when comparing these two titles. The remastered version of God of War II released in 2009 was played for this comparison. Although the original PS2 and remastered PS3 versions of God of War II are not being compared here, an image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnbDqdVDfIA can give us a sense of the upscaled graphics. Not only have the graphics of God of War become much better compared to the PS3 version, but the point of view and camera angle have changed as well. God of War II has a fixed camera throughout the entirety of the game. Therefore, the camera is fixed while Kratos walks around, and the camera changes if Kratos walks into a different building or scene occasionally following from afar. On the other hand, God of War introduces the third person view with a tracking system where the camera follows Kratos from behind. By simply changing the camera system, the feel of the game changed making the experience feel more open to adventure.

Gameplay & Controls

Some critical components of gameplay that will be discussed include the available weapons, upgrades, controls, and difficulty. In God of War II, Kratos starts out with Athena’s Blades (similar to Blades of Chaos), and upon defeating different enemies and befriending foes he amasses an arsenal of weapons and abilities that help him reach the Sister’s of Fate. Upgrades of weapons and abilities is done by collecting red orbs through means of defeating enemies and discovering chests. These orbs can be spent strategically by allowing the weapon or ability to absorb the orbs. Strategically meaning on weapons and abilities the user is most comfortable with and which are used most effectively against enemies. The health bar may be filled by collecting green orbs, and total health may be increased by discovering hidden gorgon eyes in chests. Similarly, the magic bar is used for abilities and may be filled by collecting blue orbs. The magic bar may be increased by finding feathers in hidden chests. On the other hand, in God of War, Kratos starts out with the Leviathan Axe. This axe is enchanted with the power of ice and may freeze opponents by throwing the axe. Once the axe is thrown, it may be recalled similar to Thor and his hammer. Throwing and calling the axe, is enjoyable. This feature gives a melee weapon the ability to be used as a ranged weapon as well. Later on, Kratos will also use the iconic Blades of Chaos with the power of fire to defeat ice enemies more easily. Upgrades are done by collecting different upgrading items such as frozen flames for the axe, chaos flames for the blades of chaos, and talon bow for Atreus’s bow upgrades. These items can be acquired by defeating enemies throughout the game. Similar to red orbs, Hacksilver may be found in chests and can be used for other in-game upgrades such as armor. Experience points have been introduced and are rewarded upon finishing objectives. These xp points are then spent on ability upgrades. The health bar may be filled by stomping on green rock-like items found on the ground. The health bar can be increased by finding special chests with Idunn Apples. Both games use the rage ability and a rage meter which can be filled by fighting enemies. This ability enhances Kratos’s speed and power until the meter drains.

The controls have changed drastically, for example, the only buttons that are the same are L1 being to block or parry, the left analog stick used to move, and both the analog sticks are pushed in to activate rage. Otherwise, God of War II included more weapons and abilities to choose from so it utilized more buttons. The jump and grab buttons used in God of War II were changed to just the interact button in God of War. Other controller differences may be seen in the image above.  According to the amount of time played, God of War II was the more difficult game. Over the course of fifteen hours, the “you are dead” screen came up over one hundred fifty times. God of War II keeps the player in the just frustrated enough section of the boredom to frustration graph. This keeps the player interested and coming back for more as frustration leads to the desire to finish the game. During boss fights, the learning curve is very shallow at times and frustration is at a peak. Conversely, over the span of five hours playing God of War dying was not as common and defeating a boss was much easier. God of War keeps a better balance of flow with oscillation between boredom and frustration.

Conclusions:

The personality and character of Kratos do not change from tile to title. Kratos does what Kratos does and that is kill everyone and thing that threatens or stops him from reaching his end goal whatever that may be. Both of these games are considered action adventure, but with the camera change in God of War, it is somewhat easier to explore without seeing everything around. This camera change also makes the game feel more focused on specific areas making it feel more like an adventure game. God of War II was definitely more frustrating to play compared to God of War. God of War II incorporated more weapons and abilities that increased the complexity of controls, resulting in weapons and abilities unused. Both of these titles were very good and would be recommended to anyone who enjoys a challenge.