God of War (2018 video game)

God of War is a third-person action-adventure video game. It features an over-the-shoulder free camera (a departure from the previous installments which featured a fixed cinematic camera, with the exception of 2007's two-dimensional side-scroller Betrayal). Although the previous main installment, Ascension (2013), introduced multiplayer to the series, this installment is single-player-only. Regarding the level structure, creative director Cory Barlog said "it's open, but it is not an open world." Swimming, an ability in previous games, was cut; as well as Gullveig and the revenants, beings warped by seiðr magic, among many others. Valkyries appear as optional secret boss battles throughout the six playable locations. Among the many side quests, players can free the imprisoned dragons Fáfnir, Otr, and Reginn—dwarves who were turned into dragons—in addition to battling one called Hræzlyr, a story-based boss battle. A major change is that Kratos no longer uses his signature double-chained blades, the Blades of Chaos, as his default weapon. Instead, he uses a magical battle axe called the Leviathan Axe, which is infused with ice elemental magic. The axe can be thrown at enemies and magically summoned back to his hand, similar to Thor's hammer Mjölnir. Larger enemies have precision targets which stun the enemy if hit. The weapon can also be thrown at objects in the game world to freeze or move mechanisms, or trigger damaging explosions, until returned to Kratos's hand. The axe has standard light and heavy attacks. Over time, it can be upgraded with runes to allow for light and heavy magical "runic" attacks. This provides players with a variety of options to cater to their own play style. Another new weapon that Kratos utilizes is the collapsible Guardian Shield, which appears as a vambrace on his left forearm when not in use. The shield can be used offensively or defensively, similar to the Golden Fleece in previous games. As in the earlier games, there is a "Rage" ability, this one called Spartan Rage. Like in previous games, the Rage ability has a meter that gradually fills during combat. With this ability, Kratos uses powerful bare-handed attacks, as opposed to weapons, to greatly damage enemies. The game also features role-playing game (RPG) elements. There are crafting resources for the player to find that allow them to create new or upgrade existing armor with better perks. Quick time events have changed from previous games. Although the game is played entirely as Kratos, Over the course of the game, Atreus helps in combat, traversal, exploration, and puzzle-solving. When facing a large number of enemies, he distracts the weaker ones as Kratos fights the stronger ones. If too many enemies gang up on Atreus, he is briefly stunned, but he cannot be knocked out or killed. Atreus also acquires new skills, armor, and runic attacks, as well as special light and shock arrows for his bow. Atreus's runic attacks summon different spectral animals with different abilities. For example, one summons a pack of wolves that attacks enemies, while another summons the squirrel Ratatoskr, who will dig up health and rage orbs. ==Synopsis==

Setting While the first seven games were loosely based on Greek mythology, this installment is loosely inspired by Norse mythology, taking place at least 150 years after God of War III (2010). Access to the other three realms—Asgard, home of the Æsir gods; Vanaheim, home of the Vanir gods; and Svartalfheim, home of the dwarves—has been blocked by Odin, the ruler of Asgard and the Æsir gods. At the center of the realms is the mythical tree Yggdrasil, which connects each realm. Although each realm is a different world, they exist simultaneously in the same space. Travel to and from realms can be done by using the Bifröst from a root of Yggdrasil contained within Týr's Temple at the center of the Lake of the Nine. The temple was created by its namesake, Týr, a peaceful God of War who traveled to other lands and learned about their mythologies; it was told that Odin had him killed as he believed Týr was secretly aiding the Giants and would try to overthrow him. Other characters include Mímir (Alastair Duncan), who claims to be the smartest man alive, and the Huldra Brothers—Brok (Robert Craighead) and Sindri (Adam J. Harrington)—dwarves who appear at various points in the world and assist Kratos and Atreus by forging new gear. Weapons forged by the Huldra Brothers, including Thor's hammer Mjölnir, were used by the Æsir gods. They also forged Kratos's Leviathan Axe, which originally belonged to Faye, who also gifted Kratos her Guardian Shield. The spirit of the Greek goddess Athena (Carole Ruggier) makes a cameo appearance, and Zeus (Corey Burton) appears to Kratos as an illusion in Helheim. Plot Many years after defeating the Olympian gods, Kratos has been living with his wife Faye and their son Atreus in Midgard. Soon after Faye dies, Kratos cremates her body, and is confronted by a stranger with godly powers. The two battle and Kratos seemingly kills the stranger, after which Kratos and Atreus begin their journey to honor Faye's last wish: to scatter her ashes at the highest peak in the nine realms. They encounter the Dwarves Brok and Sindri, the kindly Witch of the Woods, who recognizes Kratos's godhood, and Jörmungandr, the World Serpent. When their path is blocked by impenetrable black mist, the Witch instructs them to travel to Alfheim and secure its magical light to extinguish the mist. Successful, they reach Midgard's peak and overhear a conversation between the stranger—revealed to be Baldur—and his nephews, Modi and Magni, as well as the imprisoned Mímir. Mímir reveals the highest peak is actually in Jötunheim, but the Giants have blocked travel there. Knowing of another passage, Mímir instructs Kratos to behead him and have his head revived by the Witch of the Woods, whom, upon resurrection, he reveals to be the goddess Freya. Kratos's longstanding hatred of gods causes him to distrust her, but both Freya and Mímir warn him he must tell Atreus about his true nature. Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir are attacked by Modi and Magni. After Kratos kills Magni, Modi flees but later ambushes the trio. Kratos fends him off, but Atreus collapses, overcome by illness due to the contradiction of a god believing himself to be mortal. Freya instructs Kratos to retrieve the heart of a troll in Helheim; however, his frost-based Leviathan Axe is useless in the icy realm. Kratos returns home to unearth his old weapons, the fiery Blades of Chaos, and is haunted by Athena's spirit. After retrieving the heart, he has a haunting vision of Zeus. Freya revives Atreus, and Kratos tells him they are gods. Atreus becomes increasingly arrogant and, against Kratos's orders, murders a weakened Modi, who was beaten by Thor for not avenging Magni. At Midgard's peak, Baldur ambushes Kratos and Atreus, resulting in Jötunheim's portal being destroyed. Their battle descends to Týr's Temple, and the group ends up in Helheim. Atreus makes amends with Kratos after being reprimanded. They learn of Freya and Baldur's familial relationship and the spell of invulnerability she cast on him. Returning to Midgard, Mímir realizes another way to reach Jötunheim, but needs his missing eye. After obtaining it, the group are attacked by Baldur once more, but Freya intervenes to protect her son. Baldur is pierced by Atreus's mistletoe arrow, breaking Freya's spell. Though defeated, Kratos spares him on the condition he leave both them and Freya alone; Baldur attempts to strangle Freya, causing Kratos to kill him. A grief-stricken Freya vows revenge on Kratos, and leaves with Baldur's corpse, but not before taunting him about the past he has not yet told his son. Kratos tells Atreus about his own past and how he killed many people including his own father. Atreus laments this cycle of violence, and Kratos tells him they should not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors, including those made by Kratos himself. Kratos and Atreus reach Jötunheim. They find an abandoned temple with a mural depicting their adventures, showing that the Giants, renowned for their gift of prophecy, had foretold their journey. They discover Faye was a Giant who had decided to stay in Midgard, making Atreus half Giant, one-quarter god, and one-quarter mortal. Their fight with Baldur is shown, revealing he sought Faye the whole time under Odin's orders, unaware she was dead and Atreus was referred to as Loki by his mother and the Giants. Kratos chooses to ignore a covered mural depicting what appears to be him dying in Atreus's arms. They fulfill their promise and spread Faye's ashes at the peak. Afterward, Kratos reveals to Atreus that his given name was that of a compassionate Spartan comrade. Returning to Midgard, they retrieve Mímir, who warns them Baldur's death has caused the three-year-long Fimbulwinter to begin nearly a century earlier than prophesized, meaning Ragnarök is soon to follow. Returning home, the pair slumbers, in which Atreus has a vision of Thor arriving at the end of Fimbulwinter to confront them. ==Development==

team behind God of War at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards Development on the next God of War began in 2014. This was confirmed by Santa Monica Studio's creative director Cory Barlog at the inaugural PlayStation Experience on December 6 that year, where Barlog said the game was in very early development and that it would not be a prequel but possibly a reboot. In April 2016, concept art was leaked that showed images of Kratos in the world of Norse mythology, a concept originally considered by series creator David Jaffe after Kratos eliminated the Greek gods. The game's official announcement came at the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) with a gameplay demo that confirmed the setting. The demo showed a fully bearded Kratos teaching his son how to hunt. The pair also battled a troll. The end of the demo showed the title God of War and confirmed it was in development for the PlayStation 4 (PS4). The E3 announcement also confirmed that Barlog had returned to the series as game director for the new installment. Since the original 2005 game, Barlog had been a major contributor in the development of the series, previously most notably as the director of God of War II (2007); this installment was his fifth God of War game. In explaining why Barlog was brought back, Studstill said he knew the series very well, "and bringing in someone that understands that history is the respect the franchise deserves". Barlog responded, "You gotta know the rules to break the rules". In explaining the transition from Greek mythology to Norse mythology, Barlog said: "It's kind of this BC–AD change over kind of thing. We're moving and starting from zero and kind of moving forward on that". In adapting the Norse myths, Barlog said there were many different translations and interpretations, and the writing team read the Prose Edda to learn how the myths were translated and told. Just like they did with Greek mythology in the previous games, they found ways to parallel path things from the Norse myths to fit their story. Before settling on Norse mythology, Egyptian mythology was also considered. Barlog said that half of the team was for it, but because Egypt has "a lot more about civilization – it's less isolated, less barren", he decided on the Norse setting to keep the game focused on Kratos. Barlog explained further: "Having too much around distracts from that central theme of a stranger in a strange land". To explain why Kratos was now in the Norse world, Barlog said that different cultures' belief systems coexisted, but they were "separated by geography", suggesting that Kratos traveled from Greece to Norway (Scandinavia) after the conclusion of God of War III. Clarifying the conclusion of that game, Barlog said that Kratos did not destroy what was believed to be the entire world, but only the portion ruled over by the Greek pantheon. Some gameplay characteristics such as jumping, swimming, and instant-death platforming challenges found in the previous installments were cut because of the camera being closer to Kratos. In changing the gameplay, Studstill said, "I felt like, in order to reinvent, we really needed to turn a lot of things around". With regard to the camera change, Barlog said they wanted a more intimate and player-controlled experience. Barlog had originally pitched the idea for a one-shot camera while he was at Crystal Dynamics working on Tomb Raider (2013), but he was turned down. Sony, however, was much more supportive of Barlog's creative ideas. Furthermore, Barlog and lead level designer Rob Davis were also influenced by the Resident Evil series, particularly Resident Evil 4 (2005)s "combination of poised camera exploration and scavenging" and Resident Evil 7 (2017)s "strong vision" from a team making "bold decisions, and actually hav[ing] the audience follow them". Barlog noted how there was initial disagreement over the camera distance. He wanted it close whereas the combat team wanted it further away, like the ''Assassin's Creed and Batman: Arkham'' games; he eventually convinced the team to go with a close camera. Explaining Kratos's axe, lead gameplay designer Jason McDonald, who had worked on the series since the original game, said the axe was chosen because they wanted a more grounded direction for the game. Initially, they were unsure how to make it unique. After they came up with the concept of throwing the axe and having it return to Kratos, "things started to fall into place". McDonald said that combat with the axe was a little slower than with the Blades of Chaos, "but it's just as fluid and just as brutal as it's ever been". as well as the game's approach to storytelling. In addition, designers Anthony DiMento and Luis Sanchez revealed how God of Wars level design and exploration were influenced by Bloodborne (2015). They wanted to "just have the world breathe a little bit" and expand upon player discovery by including "micro-loops where you're unlocking paths, unlocking shortcuts" that gave purpose. DiMento said that a team dedicated to focusing on the game's exploration was formed. One challenge was creating quests in a world that did not have non-playable characters outside of the core narrative. DiMento said, "I set out to create a quest giver that was light-weight, but also flexible enough to be used in multiple locations, while providing a varied suite of quest activities". This resulted in the "wayward spirits" (ghosts with ties to the world) found throughout the game. Having the spirits tell their stories "made [the world] feel more alive". The developers ended up with a four-tiered system for side quests: the top-tier quests were from the characters Brok and Sindri, the next level from wayward spirits, then treasure maps and artifacts, and the bottom tier were milestones, such as killing all of Odin's ravens. Brok and Sindri's quests were made into dungeons while the others were used for exploration. The developers also had to find the reasons that would motivate Kratos to undertake these quests. For Brok and Sindri, it was to obtain more powerful gear, but for the wayward spirits, it was because of Atreus's naiveté and kind-hearted nature, as well as opportunities for Kratos to teach him life lessons. Unlike the previous games, Santa Monica did not make a demo specifically for public release. Barlog explained that doing so would have delayed the game by a couple of months. He also confirmed the game was built for the standard PlayStation 4 Players with a Pro have the option to favor resolution or favor performance when playing the game. Favoring resolution runs the game in 4K with checkerboard rendering at a target frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps), while the performance option runs the game at 1080p and targets 60fps. In late December 2016, Barlog confirmed the game was playable from start to finish, and later said its story would take 25–35 hours to complete (significantly more than the previous four main installments, which each took an average of 10 hours to complete). A new trailer was shown at E3 2017, featuring new gameplay, cinematics, and characters. In it, Kratos is shown using a shield offensively and defensively. At one point, Kratos finds a Greek vase with himself on it, wielding his infamous double-chained blades. During the trailer, an unnamed woman warns Kratos about the Norse gods, as they knew what he did to the Greek gods, while a pair of wolves are also shown. The trailer ends with Kratos and Atreus encountering the World Serpent. Atreus is able to translate its request to help the pair. It was confirmed that the game would release in early 2018. Until the game's launch, Santa Monica included a section on the God of War website titled "The Lost Pages", detailing some of the lore of God of Wars Nordic world. God of War went gold on March 22. Characterization does the voice and cinematic motion capture for Kratos in the game, replacing longstanding voice actor T.C. Carson, who had voiced Kratos since the original 2005 game and also did the motion capture for him in 2013's Ascension. During early development, there was talk of having a different protagonist for the game. Some of the team said that Kratos was "annoying" and felt Kratos's story had run its course. Barlog said it took a lot of convincing to keep Kratos. Referencing the Nintendo character Mario and the Mario games, Barlog said that like Mario, "Kratos is intrinsically tied" to the God of War series. The canceled live-action Star Wars television series developed by George Lucas during the 2000s was also an influence; back on his days working at LucasArts, Barlog had been allowed to visit Skywalker Ranch and read some scripts written by writers of The Shield and 24 planned for the show, particularly starring Emperor Palpatine in an emotional and sympathetic origin story that depicted his fall into villainy after being wronged by a heartless woman. The bond between Kratos and his son is at the heart of the game. Barlog said, "This game is about Kratos teaching his son how to be a god, and his son teaching Kratos how to be human again". In changing the narrative focus, Studstill said, "I think we inherently knew the franchise needed to evolve in that emotional beat and be something meatier for the older generation of gamers". Carson later explained that he understood the reason for the actor change and that Judge's casting made sense for what Sony was wanting to do. He also said that losing acting jobs is part of the business, but he did feel a lack of respect as he was not contacted by anyone at Sony to be informed of the change. In explaining the actor change, Barlog said that the way the previous games were made, they were able to have someone else do the motion capture instead of the voice actor. Although Carson had done the motion capture for Kratos in Ascension, Barlog said the actor change was made because of the type of camera work they wanted to do. For the new camera work, they needed someone who was closer to Kratos's size to do the motion capture along with a child. Carson was unsuitable for this because he was much shorter than Kratos, who is over tall: "Offsetting [Carson's height] for the size of a child, it turned out it was going to be almost impossible to try and actually shoot them and go in and redo the animations". Judge was chosen because he was and had the build of a professional football player. He was also chosen because of the chemistry with his then-10-year-old co-star Sunny Suljic, whose opinion was also sought in making the decision; out of all the auditions, he liked Judge the most. The two bonded well, and Judge described his time with Suljic as time he had missed with his own children. In stepping into the role of Kratos, Judge took it as an opportunity to add something new to the character. He researched the character and Carson's performance but decided not to imitate it. Since Santa Monica was going in a new direction, he decided to start fresh. Judge was thrown off when he first read the script, saying it "was a real script," and not just "a way to get into battles," which is why he decided to take the role. Former WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard also performed some of the motion capture for Kratos. During E3 2016, GameSpot mistakenly reported that Kratos's son's name was Charlie, which Barlog laughingly denied. As a nod to this, the giant turtle above Freya's house in the game was named Chaurli. In January 2017, after a fan downloaded the God of War overture and saw the track's details that read, "An introduction to Kratos and Atreus", Barlog confirmed on Twitter that Atreus was in fact the son's name. Barlog said Atreus was unaware that Kratos was a demigod and did not know about his past. After God of War was revealed at E3 2016, it drew comparisons to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us (2013), a game that also featured a father-child type story and gameplay. Barlog felt it was "fantastic" to be compared to that game and found it odd that some people considered the similarities a negative thing. Although he did not directly state they were influenced by The Last of Us in developing God of War, he did say, "I think we're all inspired by each other". He did, however, use The Last of Us as an example to show the development team how an in-game companion could work without the game becoming an escort mission. McCreary was called into Santa Monica Studio in November 2014 to meet with music producers Peter Scaturro and Keith Leary to discuss "a secret project"; McCreary had previously collaborated with Scaturro and Leary on 2011's SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. Ideas of folk music, mythology, Nordic ethnic instruments, vocal writing, and classical thematic development were discussed; McCreary correctly guessed that the discussions were about a new God of War. McCreary met with Barlog early on to discuss his narrative vision for the game. After meeting with him, McCreary felt the franchise was in good hands because God of War II, which Barlog also directed, was his favorite installment. which resulted in him using "exotic instrumentation and languages from various Northern European folk traditions". He spent several months working with Barlog, Scaturro, Leary, Sony music director Chuck Doud, and the rest of the development team to make this new theme. McCreary described it as "arguably one of my most structurally satisfying and catchy melodies". After further scoring, McCreary realized that Faye would require a theme, and his original one was "exactly [what] I needed". This melody was woven throughout several scenes and is featured as prominently in the game as Kratos's theme. When it was decided that God of War would be revealed at E3 2016, Sony wanted McCreary to perform his original score with a live orchestra at the press conference. McCreary opened the show with the new main theme before the unveiling of God of War and performed the gameplay demo's music live during the presentation. ==Release==

The game was released worldwide on April 20, 2018, for the PlayStation 4. The Collector's Edition came with many of the same items, minus the ring, the keychain, the carvings of the horse and troll, and the exclusive shield skin. The Digital Deluxe Edition came with all the digital content, minus the exclusive shield skin. U.S. and Canadian customers also received a Kratos and Atreus pin for pre-ordering the Digital Deluxe Edition. Pre-orders at select retailers received three skins for Kratos's shield. Pre-orders from GameStop or EB Games also received the "Luck of Ages XP Talisman", granting increased XP and Hacksilver gains and increased ability to trigger perks. In addition to the special editions of the game, a Limited Edition PlayStation 4 Pro bundle was available the same day as the game's release. The bundle included the standard base game, a PlayStation 4 Pro console decorated with the runes on Kratos's axe, and a similarly themed DualShock 4 controller with the God of War logo. Additionally, an official tabletop card game titled God of War: The Card Game was released by CMON Limited on October 25, 2019. Created by Alexandru Olteanu and Fel Barros, players take on the role of the Norns, the Fates of Norse mythology, as they try to prevent Ragnarök with different combinations of characters and events from the game, providing many variations to completing the card game. Prior to launch, Barlog confirmed that God of War would not have microtransactions, a feature that had become prominent with other games and criticized. He also confirmed that the game would not have post-release DLC, like an expansion pack. He said he had pitched an idea for DLC, "but it was too ambitious". His idea was similar in scope to that of The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014) and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (2017), large standalone expansions for The Last of Us (2013) and ''Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' (2016), respectively. He said it would have been too big to be DLC, warranting its own standalone release. Post-launch, Santa Monica supported the game with patch updates to address software bugs. As well, the developers added new features along with these free updates. A Photo Mode was released as part of update patch 1.20 on May 9, 2018. It allows players to take customized in-game screenshots. Players can adjust the field of view, depth of view, filters, borders, the visibility of characters, and the ability to change the facial expressions of Kratos and Atreus. A New Game Plus mode was released as part of update patch 1.30 on August 20, 2018. To access the mode, players must have completed the game at any difficulty level. The mode itself can be played at any difficulty, but enemies are at a higher level with new maneuvers. All obtained items carry over to New Game Plus, and there are new resources to further upgrade gear, which also have new rarity levels. The option to skip cutscenes was also added. In November 2020, the PlayStation 5 (PS5) launched and is backwards compatible with PlayStation 4 games; these games see a performance boost when playing on the PS5. To further enhance the playing experience of God of War on the PS5, Santa Monica released an enhancement update on February 2, 2021, allowing the game to be played at 60 fps with checkerboard-rendered 4K resolution. As part of Sony's larger efforts to port their first-party exclusive games to Windows, Santa Monica Studio announced in October 2021 that God of War would be released for Windows on January 14, 2022. The port, handled by Jetpack Interactive with supervision by Santa Monica, includes additional graphic options support for Windows, including Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology and ultra-widescreen support. This in turn marks the first main entry in the series to release on a non-PlayStation platform. According to Santa Monica's Matt DeWald, they had considered what options they could use to port their games to Windows, particularly as they used a non-standard game engine, and worked closely with Jetpack to determine the scope and technical issues associated with the port. God of War: A Call from the Wilds God of War: A Call from the Wilds was a text-based game that was only playable through Facebook Messenger. To help further promote God of War, Sony partnered with Facebook to develop the play-by-web game, which released on February 1, 2018. Completing the game unlocked downloadable concept art. The short story followed Atreus on his first adventure in the Norse wilds. After archery training and learning runes with his mother, Atreus ventures into the wilderness after telepathically hearing the voice of a dying deer; he finds it covered in blood and stays with it during its final moments. A couple of draugr appear and Atreus attempts to fight them but is injured. He is saved by his father, Kratos, who was out hunting. The two then battle a revenant before returning home. ''God of War: Mímir's Vision'' '''''God of War: Mímir's Vision''' is a smartphone companion app that was released on April 17, 2018, for Apple and Android devices. Using alternate reality, it provides a background for the Norse setting of God of War''. Raising Kratos Raising Kratos is a YouTube documentary of Santa Monica Studio's five-year process in making the game, showing the "herculean effort" that went into reviving the franchise. The documentary was announced on April 20, 2019, the one year anniversary of the game's launch, and was released the following month on May 10. Tie-in books The Art of God of War The Art of God of War is a book collecting various pieces of artworks created for the game during its development. It was written by Evan Shamoon and published by Dark Horse Comics on April 24, 2018. God of War – The Official Novelization An official novelization of the game, written by Cory Barlog's father, James M. Barlog, was released on August 28, 2018, by Titan Books. An audiobook version is also available, narrated by Alastair Duncan, who voiced Mímir in the game. The novel retells the events of the game, but unlike the series' previous two novels, this one closely follows the source material with a few notable exceptions. The game never revealed how or why Kratos ended up in ancient Norway, or how much time had passed since the ending of God of War III, but the novel gives some indication. Kratos chose to leave ancient Greece to hide his identity and change who he was. At some point after leaving Greece, he battles some wolves and is saved by a cloaked female figure, presumably Faye. Later, during their journey, Kratos, Atreus, and Mímir see a mural with the wolves Sköll and Hati. This causes Kratos to have a flashback to the initial battle and makes him wonder if they dragged him to this new land and if so, why. There was also some retconning; at the end of God of War III, Kratos had the Blades of Exile, but this novel says he had the Blades of Chaos after killing Zeus. It is also mentioned that he tried several times to get rid of the blades, but by fate they kept returning to him. (For example, he threw them off a cliff, but they washed up on shore near him.) Sometime after ending up in Norway, he decided to hide them under his house and never use them again. This moment was said to have occurred 50 years before the start of the current story. When Kratos does recover the Blades of Chaos, he hears Pandora's speech about hope from God of War III. In the game, Kratos sees one last image on the mural in Jötunheim. It seemingly shows Atreus holding Kratos's dead body, but in the novel, this mural is partially broken and does not show the corpse that Atreus is holding. Brok and Sindri also reveal why they made the Leviathan Axe for Faye; she had come to them as the last Guardian of Jötnar and needed a weapon to protect her people. The Huldra Brothers crafted the Leviathan Axe for her to be Mjölnir's equal. Mímir also mentioned that Faye, or rather Laufey the Just, thwarted many of the Æsir's plans, including freeing slaves, and Thor could never find her. Kratos's Guardian Shield is never mentioned, and Modi does not ambush the three, resulting in Atreus falling ill; Atreus instead falls ill shortly after their first encounter when Kratos kills Magni. God of War (comic book series) A four-issue comic series titled God of War was published monthly from November 2018 to February 2019 by Dark Horse Comics. Written by Chris Roberson with art by Tony Parker, the miniseries takes place shortly before the events of the game. Issue #0 was included digitally in the game's collector's editions. A second four-issue series from Dark Horse titled God of War: Fallen God was published monthly from March to June 2021—it was originally to begin publication in June 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking place before the first series, Fallen God covers the timespan from God of War III to the beginning of the first comic series. Both series were collected as trade paperbacks in May 2019 (Volume 1) and December 2021 (Volume 2), respectively. God of War: B Is for Boy God of War: B Is for Boy is an "ABC storybook for adults" in which the story of the game is retold in an abridged format with illustrations. The title comes from Kratos referring to Atreus as "boy" for most of the game. It was written by Andrea Robinson, with the illustrations being provided by Romina Tempest. It released on September 1, 2020, by Insight Editions. God of War: Lore and Legends God of War: Lore and Legends is a tome that recreates Atreus's journal from the game. The book features expanded lore that was written in collaboration with the writing team of the game. It was written by Rick Barba and published by Dark Horse Comics on September 9, 2020. ==Reception==

Reviews God of War received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, It has the fourth-highest score of all-time for a PlayStation 4 game, and the highest score for an original, non-remastered PlayStation 4 exclusive. It was the highest rated PlayStation 4 game of 2018 until the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in October, which pushed God of War to second. It is also tied with the Xbox One version of Celeste for the second-highest score of 2018 regardless of platform. God of War received particular praise for its art direction, graphics, combat system, music, story, use of Norse mythology, characters, and cinematic feeling. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. The story was well praised. Nick Plessas of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) said the story's most memorable moments were the interactions between Kratos and Atreus. He also noted, "there is often some comic relief to be found when Kratos's curtness and Atreus's charming naivety collide." Sales During its release week in the United Kingdom, God of War became the fastest-selling entry in the franchise, selling 35% more physical units than God of War III. The game remained at the top of the all format sales chart for six consecutive weeks through April and May, setting a record for a PlayStation 4 exclusive having the most consecutive weeks at number one. It sold 46,091 units in its first week on sale in Japan, which placed it at number two on the sales chart. The game sold over 3.1 million units worldwide within three days of its release, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive at the time. The game was the fastest-selling game of the month of its release and contributed to the PlayStation 4 being the best-selling console of that month. In total, the game sold over 5 million units in its first month, with 2.1 million in digital sales. By May 2019, the game had sold over 10 million units worldwide, making it the best-selling game in the series. By August 2021, total sales of the game had exceeded over 19.5 million units, making it the best-selling PlayStation 4 game. By November 2022, the game had sold 23 million units. Accolades God of War won Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications, including British Academy Games Awards, CNET, Destructoid, D.I.C.E. Awards, Entertainment Weekly, G1, The Game Awards, Game Developers Choice Awards, Game Revolution, GamesRadar+, IGN, New York Game Awards, Polygon, Push Square, Slant Magazine, It won the award for Game of the Year, Best PlayStation 4 Game, Best Action-Adventure Game, Best Art Direction, and Best Story at IGNs Best of 2018 Awards. It was a runner-up for Best Graphics, == Sequel ==

Following God of Wars announcement in mid-2016, Barlog confirmed that it would not be Kratos's last game. Barlog also said he liked the idea of having different directors for each game, as had happened with the Greek era, and that although he might not direct another God of War, he would still be at Santa Monica to work on future games. However, the game was delayed, in part, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and released worldwide on November 9, 2022, for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the first cross-gen release in the series. Barlog stepped down as game director and became a producer and creative director, while Eric Williams, who had worked on every previous game in the series, assumed the role of game director. Taking place three years after the 2018 installment, Ragnarök concluded the Norse era of the series. ==Television series==

In March 2022, it was reported that a live action television series was said to be in development at Amazon Prime Video by Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, and Rafe Judkins. During an investor briefing that May, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan confirmed that a God of War television series was in development for Prime Video. The series was officially ordered in December 2022 and is being produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios in association with PlayStation Productions, and it will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Executive producers include Barlog, PlayStation Productions's Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan, Santa Monica Studio's Yumi Yang, and Vertigo Entertainment's Roy Lee, with Santa Monica Studio's Jeff Ketcham serving as a co-executive producer. The series will adapt the Norse era, beginning with the events of the 2018 installment. Amazon Studios's Head of Television, Vernon Sanders, assured that the series would stay true to the game. Implying that there could be multiple seasons, Sanders said that the "emotional core" of the first season, and series as a whole, would be the father-and-son story. Qizilbash stated that they would apply the same amount of care that they did with the television adaptation of The Last of Us, stating that they would be telling the whole story of the game, as without the time constraints of a film, they have multiple episodes to be able to tell the story. The series was originally being written by Fergus and Ostby, with Judkins serving as showrunner, who were all also going to be executive producers. In October, however, it was reported that while multiple scripts for the first season had been completed and although both Sony and Prime gave praise, Fergus, Ostby, and Judkins left the project as the studios wanted to start over and go in a different direction. Prolific creator and showrunner Ronald D. Moore was then hired on as the series writer, showrunner, and as an executive producer. In March 2025, Moore revealed that Amazon had ordered two seasons of the series. Pre-production started that December in Vancouver with casting underway. Frederick E. O. Toye is set to direct the first two episodes of the series. Casting announcements began in January 2026, with Ryan Hurst, who portrayed Thor in God of War Ragnarök, as Kratos, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Danny Woodburn as Brok, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, and Ed Skrein as Baldur, with Alastair Duncan reprising his role as Mímir The series officially entered production on February 27, 2026. ==Notes==