The Game of the Year action masterpiece comes back to life four years later! Review of "God of War" for PC!

The PC version of the action game "God of War" was released on Saturday, January 15, 2022. The original PS4 version of the game was named Game of the Year in 2018 and has sold about 19 million copies to date. We had the opportunity to play the PC version of this masterpiece ahead of time, and this article will provide a review of it.

Father and son head for the top of the world to fulfill their mother's dying wish

In his home world of Greek mythology, Kratos once made a deal with Ares, the god of war, and became a demigod with great power. However, when he loses his family to Ares' schemes, he comes to hate not only Ares himself, but also the gods themselves, and has killed all the Greek gods in his anger. After a long time has passed since the story of the past work, Kratos has drifted back to the world of Norse mythology and built a new life with his wife, Faye, and his son, Atreus.

The story begins when Faye dies of illness. In accordance with their late mother's will, Kratos and Atreus set out on a journey to scatter her ashes from the top of the highest mountain in the nine worlds.

Kratos, however, is struggling with his fatherly duties, having left his son in the care of his wife. Atreus, on the other hand, has only fond memories of his mother and does not know much about his father. The relationship between the two men is carefully portrayed in the course of the journey under the theme of "father and son.

In the early stages of the story, the two do not speak to each other. Kratos says "Read" and "Come," which are not sentences but words. Furthermore, Kratos' clumsy fatherly behavior can be seen throughout the story: he hesitates to put his hand on Atreus' shoulder when he tries to praise him, and on the other hand, when Atreus tries to lash out in anger, he corrects him in a stern tone.

Throughout the film, Kratos is particularly sensitive to anger and revenge. There is a sense of remorse for the terrible vengeance he took in Greek mythology. He clumsily tries to teach Atreus to think and act with his head because he does not want him to follow in his footsteps, but the son, who knows little about his father, is not convinced. Kratos, who is so avoidant of the past, does not say much, and Atreus, who has been trying to compromise with him, becomes sulky, and the two sides end up crossing paths.

The two clash because of their different ways of thinking, but through various battles and encounters, they gradually grow up together. The story can be enjoyed not only as a game, but also as a movie. Most of the descriptions are related to the main storyline, so the tempo of the story is not compromised, and the live-action graphics are also significant in that they allow for the production of detailed facial expressions and movements. Games that use photorealistic graphics may now include elements of movies as well.

Thrilling battles that use overwhelming power to knock down enemies

Kratos in this game mainly uses a melee weapon called "Leviathan. The Leviathan's attack range is generally narrow, but its power is high, allowing the player to take out small foes one after another. As you unlock more skills, you will be able to add combo techniques, and little by little, you will be able to perform a variety of techniques. Some skills allow the player to throw Leviathan like a boomerang, so eventually the player will be able to use Leviathan not only at close range, but also at long range.

Experience gained from defeating enemies can be used to unlock various skills.

Melee weapons can be equipped with a special skill called "Rune Attack. There are "Normal" and "Heavy" Rune Attacks, each with different types of attack techniques. All of the techniques can be combined with normal attacks, so they can be used in the middle of combos and as the end of an attack. However, once a rune attack is used, it takes some time before it is activated again, so you need to think carefully about how to use it.

While the "Guardian's Shield" is in place, it can protect against enemy attacks. If you defend against an opponent's attack at the right moment, "parry" will occur, allowing you to counterattack immediately.

Kratos' main weapon is not only the Leviathan, but also the "Blaze of Chaos". This weapon is the same weapon used by Kratos in past works, and wields twin swords connected to freely extending and retracting chains. While the Leviathan was suited to defeat frontal enemies with a heavy blow, the Blaze of Chaos is capable of attacking a wide area with a swift movement. This weapon has a different strength from the Leviathan, making it a reliable weapon. However, the timing of its release is a little late, and it can only be used after the middle of the story.

Although they are not suitable for everyone, Leviathan and Blaze of Chaos are also basically easy to handle. It is best to use Leviathan when concentrating on attacking one person and Blaze of Chaos when dealing with hordes of enemies, depending on the situation. The best part is that, although the attack techniques are different, the controls are the same. Once you have learned how to use one of the weapons, you can apply that same sense of control to the other. The main weapon can be switched instantly, so I appreciated the simple and easy-to-understand controls.

I have described Kratos' actions so far, but Atreus also takes part in the battle. His weapon of choice is the bow, and while it does not have the same offensive power as the Leviathan or Blaze of Chaos, it does have special effects depending on the type of arrow, which can weaken or restrain the enemy it hits. The player can direct the timing of the arrow release. Restraints are particularly useful, allowing one-sided attacks on some fast-moving enemies. The combo of approaching an enemy who has been restrained with an arrow and then using the Leviathan's tame attack to strike at once is a pleasant combo, and was very useful until the very end.

I played the game all the way through to the end for this review, and the overall difficulty level of the battles is high. Even on Normal, which was the game I chose, I had a hard time fighting the mid-boss battles. While I was concentrating on a single enemy, I was attacked from another direction, and I often neglected defense and evasion, and before I knew it, my health was depleted to the last possible second.

This was a surprise to me, since the "God of War" series is based on kicking the crap out of a lot of small fry. I don't know if this is a sign that Kratos is getting old and decrepit, or if the more realistic graphics make it harder to perform the flashy actions of past games, but this "God of War" game requires a certain amount of careful maneuvering. If you are not a fan of action, Easy is recommended.

Field exploration with a modicum of puzzle-solving fun

Centered in Mizgalds, the base of the adventure, Kratos and Atreus explore multiple worlds, including Hellheim and Alfheim. Mizgaruz is home to "Jormungandr," which makes the mountains look so small, Hellheim is filled with blizzards, and Muspelheim is filled with volcanoes and magma. The fantasy world is presented in live-action graphics and is fun to just explore.

Jormungandr and the Giants

Although it is easy to misunderstand because of the sheer size of each world, this is not an "open world" game, but rather an orthodox one with multiple paths of varying sizes. However, the variety of these single paths is very large.

If you go out a little from the temple in the center of Mizgals, you will find small land areas and caves scattered around. There are little riddles to solve there, and you can find treasure chests when you clear them. When you leave a cleared dungeon and travel by boat, a new dungeon appears on the screen. Go there, solve the riddle, and find the treasure chest again. Although not part of the main storyline, the game is full of dungeons that offer resources and items, and are cleverly designed to make you want to explore the vast world.

Most of the puzzles themselves can be solved in a few minutes. However, the puzzles are all very elaborate, such as using the Leviathan's special ability, ice, to freeze unstoppable gears and open doors.

The volume of each dungeon is modest, but this allows for a good tempo. This means that you can finish a dungeon quickly and move on to the next one right away. The main means of transportation in this game is by boat, so crossing the sea takes a bit of time, but as I mentioned earlier, it is fun just to look at the scenery because you can find new places. In addition, Mimir, a companion, tells us stories related to Norse mythology. The long journey is not a chore, thanks to the succession of intriguing elements.

The head on the right of Atreus is Mimir. As a "giant of knowledge," he is well versed in all areas.

Since this work is based on Norse mythology itself, the story of Mimir is quite informative. The relationship between the Earth Gods and the Van Gods, why the Valkyries send the souls of their warriors to Valhalla, and what kind of being is Odin, the main god of Norse mythology? The volume of conversations was tremendous, and in this 30 or so hours of play, I heard a different story each time.

During the course of the story, "fast travel," which allows you to instantly go back and forth from place to place, is also released.

The game also offers a number of challenging elements. One part of this is Muspelheim and Niflheim. In Muspelheim, the main focus is on battles with enemies under specific conditions. Not only is it a good way to test your skills, but if you complete the conditions, you will be rewarded with resources to use for weapons and equipment.

In Niflheim, you can challenge dungeons that change their structure each time you try them. The dungeons are filled with a fog that consumes Kratos, and while he is in the fog, his special gauge decreases, and when it reaches zero, his strength decreases instead, and eventually the game is over. Here, you can obtain resources that are exclusive to Niflheim, so you must decide whether to proceed deeper or return to the entrance, consulting the remaining gauge.

The dungeons of Niflheim are particularly addictive. I spent more than 10 hours in this dungeon alone. I enjoyed the conflict between my desire to go deeper and search for treasure chests and the risk of having to start all over again if I died.

What specs are required to play comfortably?

The performance requirements for playing the PC version of "God of War" have already been announced on various distribution sites. The minimum and recommended specs are as follows.

Minimum requirements

CPU: Intel i5-2500k (quad-core 3.3 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (quad 3.1 GHz)

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 960 (4 GB) or AMD R9 290X (4 GB)

Memory: 8GB DDR

Recommended environment

CPU: Intel i5-6600k (quad-core 3.5 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 2400 G (quad-core 3.6 GHz)

GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 (6 GB) or AMD RX 570 (4 GB)

Memory: 8GB DDR

Excerpt from Epic Games website.

The performance of the PC used by the author for this review is as follows.

PC environment

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor 3.59 GHz

GPU: GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER

Memory: 16 GB

The graphics settings in this title have presets, with up to four levels available: "Low," "Original," "High," and "Ultra. The "Customize" setting allows for individual tweaking of textures and shadows.

I played the game on the above system with the resolution set to Full HD (1920 x 1080) and the preset set to "High," and the frame rate averaged 100 to 70. The frame rate averaged between 100 and 70, with no processing slowdowns, and I was able to play the game comfortably.

When the preset was set to "Ultra," the frame rate was 90-70, not much different from the "High" setting. However, my display is not capable of Ultra HD or 4K resolution. If I wanted to set a higher resolution, I would need a more powerful PC.

God of War" was first released on PS4, but it has been almost four years since then, so I was able to play the game with a fresh mind. Not only the story about a father and son, but also the dynamic action and the creation of a field that keeps players on their toes are truly worthy of the Game of the Year award. The sequel, "God of War: Ragnarok," is scheduled to be released this year, so those who have not yet played the game may want to prepare for it, and those who have already played it may want to review it as well.

（If you haven't played the game yet, you may want to prepare for it, and if you have already played it, you may want to review it.)

⇒God of War" for Steam

⇒God of War" for Epic Games

Title information

God of War

Genre: Action adventure

Compatibility: PC (Steam, Epic Games)

Scheduled release date: January 15, 2022 (Saturday)

Price: 4,900 yen (tax included)

CERO review planned

Developer: Santa Monica Studio

Distributor: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.