Summary
Gods demand sacrifice from all of us
The Good
The new millennium was marked, among other things, by a splendid constellation of games that belonged to a genre called "action adventure" by some people; I prefer to call it "3D platformer". The genre was struggling to gain recognition during the late nineties, when it was still plagued by awkward controls and lack of creativity. Now, some of the top games of our time belong to it; just think of
ICO or
Psychonauts. I'm sure everyone has at least one personal favorite among those wonderful new-age platform games.
God of War is yet another entry into the library of such games. But this game is much more than just an excellent platformer. It is one of the darkest, most violent and disturbing games I can recall, and its content and meaning exceed even its immaculately crafted gameplay in significance.
For me, "God of War" is first and foremost a great, emotional
story, then a really fitting tribute to Greek mythology, and only then a superb platform game. I know most people don't even care for its content; they are satisfied by its entertaining and flawless gameplay, or even just by its violence. I'm sure you'll read many reviews that praise the game for its gameplay, but in my opinion the reviewers don't pay enough attention to the sinister psychological story of the game, its masterful presentation of the Greek myth, and the message it gives to the player. It is entirely possible to enjoy this game just for the story and content, even disregarding its merits as a platform game.
One of the game's most outstanding features is its protagonist. Kratos is one of those few video game protagonists that are truly "alive". He is a character of immense appeal, and the genius of the game's creators was that they managed to make him so appealing even though he performs the most unappealing actions. I can't spoil Kratos' story in this review, but if you haven't finished the game and are just considering him a blood-thirsty beast, let me assure you that he is so much more than that. I don't mean that he suddenly turns into an angel. It is safe to say that he
is a blood-thirsty beast, a status he confirms many times over the course of the game; but his tragic past, that is revealed piece by piece in the game, is what makes him a deep, controversial, and attractive character.
Kratos is a tragic hero. The sympathy we feel towards Kratos, despite his cruelty, is derived from the understanding that he is not only a merciless murderer, but also a victim. The suffering Kratos causes to others are just a reflection of the unimaginable torment he has to live with. We tend to forgive someone when we know that this someone is being punished for his deeds. The tragedy of Kratos is that he cannot change himself, cannot change his ways. The way he was raised, the way he lived his life, everything he knew is coming back at him, and yet he is unable to change. Kratos is not a sophisticated villain with evil plans; he is more like a beast, a being without a feeling of right and wrong, almost like a carnivorous animal who kills simply because it knows nothing else. But here comes the genius stroke that turns this being into a human, into a tragic hero: this beastly, brutal, deeply egocentric creature is capable of
one unselfish emotion, so understandable to any of us. The tale of Kratos is a tragic tale of a human who is on a quest for redemption without really understanding what redemption is; a human whose dark soul is illuminated by a single ray of light. Kratos has a lot of feelings, and we can't help understanding him, despite all the evil he has done, and continues to do. No matter what he does, he remains deeply
human. And that is why Kratos is one of the most amazing video game characters ever created, and a perfect incarnation of the Greek tragic hero. At the same time, Kratos is a powerful character that retains his significance even when viewed outside of the context of Greek myths. For example, he is similar to some of the heroes created by Christian authors, and the theme of sin and punishment, selling one's soul, and other motives have strong Christian connotations.
This protagonist wouldn't have been the same without the other characters and the entire scene on which the story takes place. The entire world of "God of War" is an exact replica of Kratos. The gods, who are the only other important characters in the game, are in many ways more cruel than Kratos himself. Another reason for our sympathy to Kratos is our understanding that the world in which he lives is worthy of the treatment Kratos gives it. Since everything in this world is planned by the gods, and everything that happens is part of their will, there is little wonder why Kratos became what he is. The gods are blood-thirsty, treacherous and absolutely merciless. It's important to note the following detail: during their conversations with Kratos, the moral side of his quest is never mentioned. When commenting upon Kratos' success, all the gods talk about is how powerful he has become or how well he serves them. Not even once do they refer to his redemption, for which he undertook the entire quest. This brings me to the next point, which is the game's absolute faithfulness to its setting, its homogeneous artistic vision and cultural integrity.
Many people associate Greek myths with the wonderful works of art they have inspired. But the aesthetic pleasure derived from those works is a facade for the ethical abyss that is the Greek mythology. The entire Greek myth is
absolutely immoral, and this immorality is not something accidental - it is inseparable from it. It is enough to compare Greek myths to Indian or Jewish ones to understand the difference. The Bible always takes a moral stand to nearly every story it tells. One can argue about the validity of its morals, but there's no question about their
existence: good or bad, the morals are there. Similarly, the Indian epic, with all its depiction of wars and killing, is full of deep ethical questions.
Mahabharata might look similar to
Iliad, but the two epics have entirely different meanings. The Iliad has no interest in right and wrong. It depicts a great panorama of human emotions, but it is absolutely indifferent to their ethical value. It depicts treason, arrogance, cruelty, but it never condemns them. Mahabharata, on the other hand, judges all of its heroes. Bhima, who drinks Dushasana's blood on the battle field, is still a morally conscious hero; the authors are aware of his negative sides. The Greek heroes are, on the other hand, purely chaotic, and are never morally judged for their actions.
But Iliad is still very "light-weight" compared to some other Greek myths. Most of them tell about extremely cruel deeds, where murder, rape and mutilation are just regular examples. When you read a story about a woman who cooks her children and serves them to her husband, who had raped her sister and cut out her tongue to prevent her from telling others about that, you are not just reading a description of terribly cruel actions; those actions are not really condemned in the myth: the heroes are never punished, they just turn into birds. I'm not saying that the ancient Greeks were an immoral nation, while ancient Indians were kind; I'm only comparing the mythologies of both cultures. My point is that "God of War" fits
perfectly into the Greek myth; it has no morals, and yet it is full of imagination and emotions. People who become slaves of their dark passions, brutality and cruelty everywhere, evil and treacherous gods, power and pride as the driving forces of the heroes - everything in "God of War" is true to the spirit of Greek mythology, and I applaud its creators for not sparing dark colors and presenting Greek mythology the way it really is - fascinating, artistic, yet lacking any sense of right and wrong.
This means that all the extreme gore and violence of the game is
not gratuitous. In fact, I can say that the game is
about violence. This is where we see the true genius of the game. "God of War" is an outstandingly homogeneous work of art. There is nothing in it that feels out of place. Story, presentation, and gameplay all come in an extremely tight package. When you play "God of War", you don't think "wow, great plot", or "great graphics", or "great gameplay"; you think "great game". You realize that
everything in the game makes sense, every aspect is inseparable from each other. If you rip out a minotaur's throat, accompanied by menacing orchestral music, you do that in a bloody Greek temple, and you do that as Kratos. That is why "God of War" has such an impact on the player. You are immersed into its universe, that looks, sounds, feels and plays the way only it can; it lives in accordance with its own laws, and it lets you in to experience its darkness and horror.
The way the rather simple story is told in the game is quite captivating. Actually, the story that happens in the present time (the time we control Kratos) is absolutely minimal, and is in fact just a conclusion to the story, most of which happened in the past. Throughout the game, Kratos will experience flashbacks, and those flashbacks tell us his true story. Believe it or not, but the story of "God of War" is very emotional and even very touching, in a strange way. Several scenes near the end of the game nearly brought tears to my eyes.
"God of War" begins in the most extraordinary way. When you load the game, you see an immense portrait of Kratos superimposed over the menu options. When you select New Game, Kratos simply begins to move. He walks over to a cliff, and throws himself off it. The game begins with the suicide of its main character. This gives you an idea of how dramatic and uncompromising "God of War" is. "God of War" loves effects, it loves shocking. There are many scenes that will be probably forever engraved in the souls of the players. Oh, and there's of course the part where Kratos has sex with two girls. I wondered why he didn't choose to stay in that cabin instead of going out to slay minotaurs and undead warriors.
The graphical design in "God of War" is so artistic that it is possible to fall in love with the game just because of those wonderfully sinister locations and terrifying creatures. It is also incredibly cinematic, even though it doesn't have that many cut-scenes. It offers breath-taking views, gigantic structures and living beings. Just think of the titan Kronos walking through the desert, carrying the Temple of Pandora on his back. The cinematic feeling is strengthened by the fantastic music.
Much has been written about the gameplay of "God of War"; since I wanted to concentrate on the less obvious sides of the game in this review, I'll just mention it in a brief paragraph. "God of War" offers superb platforming gameplay with entertaining, furious combat, and delightful environmental puzzles which are quite intuitive and are a pleasure to solve. I want to point out once again how this gameplay fits into the overall theme of the game. Not just the extremely gory combat, but also little details, such as the need to hold down or tap a button to open chests and gates, the pushing of heavy pillars and statues, the many destructible objects; everything is very physical, you can literally feel the sweat, the muscles, the effort of the body. The puzzles all involve physical activities: pushing, grabbing, jumping, smashing, shooting; even though most of the puzzles are very elegant, they are not too cerebral. "God of War" is a story about a ruthless man and cruel gods. There is no place for morals here, just for the body's desire to smash and to crush, to extinguish its own pain by the pain of others. And when you play through this story, you feel how everything Kratos does on the screen reflects his torment and despair.
The Bad
I have two complaints about the game. The first is a simple issue: for an inexplicable reason, there is no camera control whatsoever in "God of War". I can't understand how an otherwise immaculate game could be plagued by such an irritating flaw. There is absolutely no excuse for not having free camera control in a 3D action game, both for aesthetic and gameplay-related reasons.
The second complaint is much more "metaphysical", if you allow me to apply this word to a video game. I love the darkness and the immorality of "God of War", because they are inseparable from its story. In fact, they are - when viewed in the right context - what make this game a work of art, and not just an excellent platformer. But it is important to understand that the means "God of War" employs to become deep and artistic are quite dubious. In this way, the game's attitude is actually very similar to that of its protagonist. What we have here is a game that willingly caters to the dumbest of us. "God of War" simply
screams "Look, there is so much gore, so much brutality, human sacrifices, killing of innocents" - and the dumb player rejoices: "god of war is like teh best cuz u can like burn ppl lulz111". How many people will actually notice that the game has a wealth of content, and that all its brutality is an integral part of its main creative idea? How many people will admire its deep understanding of the Greek myths? Most will love it simply because it is so violent, gory, and immoral.
So even though I'm sure the creators of the game had some deep ideas in mind, even though I do consider "God of War" a game with content and meaning, and not just a hyperactive violent beat-'em-up, I realize that the content and the meaning will be lost on many players, and that "God of War" will gain fame for its most primitive side. And it is also obvious that the designers tried their best to cater to the "lowly" player, the kind of player who is hungry for polygonal gore and nothing else. "God of War" is bombastic, it relies on effects and shock value, and it is, for better or for worse, a typical child of its time. When people say that video games (or just today's video games) are bloody, primitive products for teenagers, "God of War" will probably not make them change their opinion (as would, for example,
ICO or
Psychonauts). That "God of War" is also something
beyond that is unfortunately not very obvious, and sometimes I was even asking myself: wasn't it all just my imagination? Wasn't I just trying to justify my liking of the game by inventing pseudo-metaphysical mumbo-jumbo and hanging it on a perfectly meaningless, brainless, gory brawler?
In the end, I answered "no". There is decidedly more to "God of War" than meets the eye. But you need a special kind of approach to get to the heart of this game. Without that, chances are that the game will seem heartless to you. But since it is so damn good on technical level, uses tricks and effects to its advantage, and appeals to our dark instincts, you'll probably still like it. It is hard
not to like "God of War". But it is carefully balancing on that thin rope that separates art from "guilty pleasure".
That's why I can't help resenting the game. "God of War" represents much of what I loathe in video game culture. Even though I highly value it for its message, there is a part of me that hates it, hates its manipulative nature, the pact it makes with everything that is despicable in a gamer, and its inevitable influence on other games.
The Bottom Line
During my entire gaming career, I've rarely encountered a game that stirred so many emotions in me, both positive and negative. "God of War" is a n extremely provocative and disturbing game, almost to the point of being "anti-art", just as its protagonist is a true "anti-hero". But the raw, shameless, primordial shock value of "God of War" is also what makes it an outstanding game. "God of War" is a work of art because it poses an immense psychological challenge to the player, and because it explores - and reveals - the darkest sides of Greek myths and of human beings in general. "God of War" is remarkable for its duplicity: exploiting the gamer's worst instincts, using the most shallow material, it manages at the same time to be a very thought-provoking and very emotional experience. Perfectly fitting in tone with the ruthlessly immoral Greek mythology, "God of War" is a modern-age Greek myth, a horryfing insight into the human psyche in the form of a highly entertaining and artistically captivating game.
