God of War (2018 video game)

God of War
Cover art featuring Kratos and his son Atreus
Developer(s)Santa Monica Studio[a]
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Cory Barlog
Producer(s)
  • Yumi Yang
  • Elizabeth Dahm Wang
  • Sean Llewellyn
  • Chad Cox
  • Eric Fong
Designer(s)Derek Daniels
Programmer(s)Florian Strauss
Writer(s)
  • Matt Sophos
  • Richard Zangrande Gaubert
  • Cory Barlog
Composer(s)Bear McCreary
SeriesGod of War
Platform(s)
Release
  • PlayStation 4
  • April 20, 2018
  • Windows
  • January 14, 2022
Genre(s)Action-adventure, hack and slash
Mode(s)Single-player

God of War[b] is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game was released for the PlayStation 4 in April 2018, with a Windows port released in January 2022. It is the eighth installment in the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and the sequel to 2010's God of War III.

Unlike previous games, which were loosely based on Greek mythology, this installment is loosely inspired by Norse mythology, with the majority of it set in ancient Scandinavia in the realm of Midgard. For the first time in the series, there are two protagonists: Kratos, the former Greek God of War who remains the only playable character, and his young son, Atreus. Following the death of Kratos's second wife and Atreus's mother, Faye, the two embark on a journey to fulfill her request that her ashes be spread at the highest peak of the nine realms. Kratos keeps his troubled past a secret from Atreus, who is unaware of his divine nature. Along their journey, they come into conflict with monsters and gods of the Norse world.

Described by creative director Cory Barlog as a reimagining of the franchise, a major gameplay change is that Kratos makes prominent use of a magical battle axe instead of his signature double-chained blades. God of War also uses an over-the-shoulder free camera, with the game in one shot, as opposed to the fixed cinematic camera of the previous entries. The game also includes role-playing game elements, and Kratos's son Atreus provides assistance in combat. The majority of the original game's development team worked on God of War and designed it to be accessible and grounded. A separate short text-based game, A Call from the Wilds, was released in February 2018 through Facebook Messenger and follows Atreus on his first adventure. Three days before God of War's release, a smartphone companion app called Mímir's Vision was made available, providing additional information about the game's Norse setting.

God of War received universal acclaim from critics for its story, world design, art direction, music, graphics, combat system, and characters, in particular the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. It was named Game of the Year by numerous media outlets and award shows, and has been cited as among the greatest video games ever made. The game also performed well commercially, selling over 5 million units within a month of its release and 23 million units sold by November 2022, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games and the best-selling game in the series. A novelization was released in August 2018, followed by a prequel comic series published from November 2018 to June 2021, while a live-action television series is in development for Amazon Prime Video. A sequel, God of War Ragnarök, was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in November 2022.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference GodofWar4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Loveridge, Sam; Mahboubian-Jones, Justin (March 24, 2017). "God of War 4 PS4 trailers, release date, price, gameplay and everything we know so far". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. ^ Wagner, Jayce (June 13, 2017). "In The New 'God of War 4' Trailer, Kratos Is Old, Grizzled, And As Brutal As Ever". Digital Trends. Designtechnica Corp. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference single-player-only was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference nomultiplayer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference annoying was invoked but never defined (see the help page).