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“God Of War” First Impressions |TiBS Does Video Games

Here We Go

“God of War” was first announced at the E3 Sony Conference in 2016 and since then I’ve been looking forward to it!  I haven’t played any of the previous God of War titles, so I wasn’t excited because of that, I was excited because of how fantastic it looked.  This was two years prior to its release and the preview was absolutely gorgeous; that should say something!  The game released and I had an interest in buying it, but it wasn’t until I watched the guys in Neebs Gaming play it that I was sold.  I picked it up and so far have only put about an hour, maybe hour and a half into it, and from that little bit I’m already in love.  Here are my first impressions of the game.

God of War

Look at how gorgeous this is and I took this picture with my phone!

Camera Style

The first thing I noticed about this game when I was watching Neebs’ play through was the camera angle and the fact that it never cuts away.  The cut scenes flow into the gameplay effortlessly.  I know the camera angle has been a big discussion about this game.  The skeptic in me felt that it wasn’t going to work with game play.  I don’t know why; something about it just made me nervous.  Boy was I wrong!

The camera makes it feel natural and it adds an interesting sense of intimacy to the game.  You really feel like you’re a part of Kratos and Atreus’ story, it’s really cool.  The whole time you’re playing the camera feels easy to control.  Every step of the way I’ve been happy with the camera and haven’t had any angry rage quit moments caused by the whacko camera movements.  That’s an amazing feat from a game!  I know we’ve all had that struggle of trying to battle an enemy and the camera decides to go somewhere else, what the hell is that!  So far, in all of the fights I’ve been in, I’ve never experienced the rogue camera!  It’s very easy to control and I enjoy the hell out of the fact that the “cut scenes” flow so smoothly into the gameplay.

Graphics

This game is gorgeous, I cannot stress this enough.  I often find myself walking through the woods behind Atreus and stopping every few minutes to just take in the view.  I am a sucker for incredible graphics (who isn’t though?) so when I play video games that is always something I try to take in.  Every so often the game stops and appreciates the view for you, and I also love that!  Atreus seeing the mountain up close for the first time is a good example of that.  The camera pans towards Kratos and then to the beautiful expansive view of the mountain.  It’s breathtaking and I’m sad I didn’t screenshot that moment to share in this review.

God of War

Another gorgeous scene, with really cool fog. Courtesy of my phone

Characters

The characters emotions shine through.  The faces are articulated so well that it almost feels like you’re watching an actor on the screen.  (QUICK SPOILER) The emotion on Atreus’ face when he kills the man is so impressive.  It felt so real and the pain in his face was so apparent.  Another great thing about this game is Atreus’ relationship with his father.  He is trying so hard to impress him and make him proud.  “God of War” has been dubbed “Dad of the Year Simulator” or my personal favorite “Dad of Boy” because of their iconic relationship.

Kratos, on the other hand, isn’t having any of it.  He is hardened and he’s trying to show his son how to be that way too!  Though, there are a few moments in there where he really does want to console him.  Then he remembers that he can’t show Atreus how he feels.  Or at least where I am in the game now, I don’t know if that changes or not.  Kratos also tells some terrible stories (which you discover while you’re in the boat)!  I really wonder what the dynamic of their relationship was like before Atreus’ mother passed away.  Oh, and the voice actors are great!  I grew up as a huge Stargate fan so hearing Christopher Judge made me super giddy!

God of War

Not my photo, but also gorgeous

Overall Gameplay

One thing about “God of War” is that the controls are a bit different for me.  The default action button is Square, not X, so I tried it out for a bit and decided to switch it to what I’m used to.  Heavy and light attacks are easy enough to remember, but a thing I’m having trouble with is blocking and parrying.  You are given the option to parry enemies attacks, but sometimes I’ll hit L1 and nothing happens.  It’s hard to explain, and maybe I’m just not doing it right, but it seems like I’ll hit it L1 when it feels like I need to and I still take damage.  I’m working on understanding it better, so maybe by my full review I’ll report back with something different!

I am definitely getting my ass kicked.  I died like 6 times during the fight with the Stranger… it sucked.  The fighting mechanics are wonderful though.  They’re smooth, comfortable once you get used to them, and you feel so freaking powerful with that ax!  I’ve barely gotten to the upgrade part of the game, but I’m slowly learning them and giving Atreus more abilities and power.  I think that’s another fun thing about the game is learning how to use Atreus to your advantage.  It takes a bit of getting used to, I often forget that I have his arrows!  I’m excited to play more and unlock more of his abilities.

“God of War” Thoughts

“God of War” is fantastic and I really am digging it so far.  I find myself itching to play it and I haven’t had a game like that in quite some time.  It’s fun to play, the story is very interesting, and it’s amazing to look at.  I plan to do a full report when I finish the game.  Maybe I’ll do an update about halfway through, who knows!  I’m excited to report Three If By Space is going to start tackling more games!  So stay tuned for more game reviews and news too!

 

Be sure to check back for gaming news this upcoming weekend for E3 too!

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