20 years of God of War. Remembering the first part of the legendary series

On March 2, 2005, the original God of War was released on PlayStation 2. Thanks to the setting of ancient Greek myths, excellent gameplay and the bestial cruelty of the main character, it quickly won the hearts of players. A couple of years later, we saw a direct sequel, and then a threequel and several prequels. In 2018, the developers turned God of War into a full-fledged RPG and sent Kratos to Scandinavia. Today, we suggest remembering where it all began.

In the mid-2000s, the sixth generation of consoles was approaching the final stage of its life cycle. As a rule, it is during this period that the most interesting projects are released. In 2005, the list of PlayStation 2 exclusives was replenished with Devil May Cry 3, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo 4, Yakuza, Kingdom Hearts 2, Guitar Hero and Tekken 5. And if we touch on the multiplatform, we can also note Resident Evil 4, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones and Fahrenheit. Against this background, a slasher about ancient Greek mythology could have gotten lost and gone unnoticed by a wide audience. However, the game immediately attracted attention.

Santa Monica Studio began working on God of War in 2002, shortly after the release of the Kinetica racing game, the team's previous project. The game was originally called Dark Odyssey, but its main concept was formed immediately — a combination of a dynamic slasher in the spirit of Devil May Cry with puzzles like in ICO and a setting of ancient Greek myths. It is also worth noting the QTE or quick keystroke system, which was introduced everywhere in the mid-2000s. It is noteworthy that one of the sources of inspiration is the film "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark". In addition, the developers wanted the player to feel like a truly brutal hero.

Representatives of the Santa Monica studio claim that Sony gave the team complete freedom of action. Thanks to this, it was possible to implement very bold ideas that distinguish God of War from other projects of those years.

The main character of the game named Kratos during another battle was on the verge of death. He asked the god of war for help and swore to serve him faithfully. Ares agreed and helped the Spartan win the battle. For a long time, Kratos fulfilled the terms of the agreement. But the son of Zeus set up his warrior and forced him to kill his own wife and daughter. In this way, he hoped that Kratos would reject everything human in him and become a perfect fighter. But as a result, our hero turned away from the god of war.

The main plot of the game revolves around the protagonist's attempts to find a way to end Ares' life. This is not easy to do, because the Olympian gods are immortal. However, other celestials began to help Kratos, primarily Athena. In general, the game works competently with the universe of ancient Greek myths. At the same time, the scriptwriters do not limit themselves to conventional frameworks, but boldly add their own storylines that were not in the legends of Hellas.

But for many players, the plot in God of War is not so important. The main thing is a cheerful, dynamic gameplay.

By the standards of hardcore slashers, the gameplay of God of War is quite simple. The game has several types of weapons, basic combos and the ability to use magic. At a certain point, a rage mode opens, which gives temporary invulnerability and increased damage. And wounded opponents can be finished off with brutal fatalities — for this, it is enough to come closer and perform a simple QTE. Also worth noting is the simple pumping, thanks to which damage increases and new attacks are unlocked.

Furious action with the destruction of harpies, minotaurs and cyclops is combined here with a 3D platformer, where you need to overcome an obstacle course. Against this background, the traps from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within seem like child's play. Sometimes the player has to solve puzzles. Moreover, for success, not only intelligence is important, but also reaction speed.

It is important to note that the individual components of the game are skillfully combined with each other. Due to the alternation of different gameplay mechanics, you do not have time to get tired of endless battles or get bored while climbing ledges.

A total of 4.6 million copies of the first God of War were sold. This is an excellent result, especially considering that we have a Sony exclusive. The game gracefully combined spectacle and ease of mastering the basic mechanics. In order to effectively destroy enemies, you did not need to hone your sword fighting skills to perfection, as in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, which was released a month earlier. It was enough to alternate strong and weak blows, as well as dodge enemy attacks and press QTE in time.

Also worth noting is the setting of ancient Greek myths. Back then, in 2005, it was a rarity in the gaming industry. But Athena, Zeus, Hades, and Ares are familiar to most gamers thanks to history lessons, books, and TV shows like Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

God of War was the beginning of a new series. In 2007, a sequel was released, and in 2010, a third part was released, where Kratos slaughtered everyone who lived on Olympus. There were also prequels and medquels. In all of these games, the gameplay was roughly the same as in the original.

In 2018, we saw a new God of War, without numbers or additional words in the title. Its action moved to Scandinavia, where Kratos and his son Atreus encountered local gods. The project can be considered a full-fledged role-playing game with equipment selection, skill upgrades, an open world and additional tasks. However, the combat remained as spectacular and dynamic as before. Four years later, a direct sequel was released with the subtitle Ragnarok. It closed the topic of the Scandinavian gods. There are rumors that the action of the next part will unfold in Ancient Egypt.

In the opinion of the author of these lines, the first God of War is noticeably outdated. And it's not about the graphics, but about individual gameplay episodes that seem absurdly difficult. These include walking on thin beams, climbing up spiked towers, and some traps that require perfect accuracy. Already in the second part of the series, such elements were eliminated.

In addition, the game lacks variety and bright, memorable moments. Yes, the first entry into the realm of the dead and the final battle with Ares are etched in the memory. However, most of the time we wander through the same locations and clear them of hordes of monsters.

The first God of War was good for its time. But now it needs not even a remaster, but a full-fledged remake, in which the developers will get rid of some of the questionable ideas of the original game and focus on the main thing — spectacular battles with bosses. The magnificent third part was made according to this principle.

There are rumors that Sony will soon re-release the original trilogy on PlayStation 5 and PC.

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Do you like the first God of War? Or did you not play it at the time? Share your opinions in the comments!