God of Witcher

It's been about eight years since the last God of War game so naturally I was super excited when I found out that Santa Monica Studios decided to create a new GoW, largely because "Yay graphics!" I recently purchased a 4K television set because, well, it's 2018 and my old TV wasn't even a smart TV (cue gasps). As one who considers herself a bit of a gadget geek, my adult responsibilities restrict me from purchasing the latest and greatest tech. The days of reckless spending of my teenage years when I could squander my minimum-wage paycheck on smartphones, headphones, and useless shit alas, is over. So the 4K TV was my first big purchase in a long while.

This game, for those maybe not familiar, usually revolves around an anger filled Spartan-turned-demigod (father is Zeus because we all know Zeus had a hard time keeping it in his pants) who goes around killing all the Greek gods who tricked him into killing his family.  It is extremely violent. You use insane finisher moves to execute gargantuan monsters and powerful entities. You literally travel through hell and kill things there. Every god you killed created a consequence in the world you traveled. It is a beautifully rendered hack-and-slash game where you go around seeking vengeance.

That is until now.

We find our hero, Kratos, now a father, immersed in the Nordic realm with a son who is unaware through most of the game of his god-like nature. The son is your helper, assisting you in battles. You have to "grind," or seek side quests, to level up your character and your kid. You have to craft and modify weapons, solve puzzles, and help people.

It is infuriating.

The developers have managed to take an original game and twist it into elements of some of the top game titles of the last two years. It is officially The Last of Us, Witcher, and Resident Evil all wrapped into one. I have spent more time grinding and killing repetitive monsters than I have fighting gods. In fact, after almost two weeks of heavy gameplay (I've lost track of logged hours), I've killed ONE god—one of Thor's sons, I forget which.

I spent an hour alone last night trying to navigate a temple filled with spiky-walled booby traps. In essence, the game is something completely different yet nothing original. It is mundane with hours of little action. The hack-and-slash parts feel hack-and-slashy because now you feel like you're getting nowhere as you do it. I've encountered Baldur five times and still have not fought him except for the first level where your character is programmed to lose. Thor's other son ran away from me twice, and I haven't seen Thor or Odin or anyone else even make an appearance. It is genuinely boring but has already received rave reviews. I imagine this is  because GoW has literally borrowed from everything that was well reviewed as of late and slapped a GoW skin on it.

The graphics, I will say, are super impressive as it is one of the first few games made for the PS4 Pro, Playstation's high-powered 4K console. You can see every single pore, wrinkle, and beard hair on Kratos' face. The motion capture is insane, and the game, even though the gameplay itself is very slow-paced, has an interesting story.

I just wish there was more "warring with gods" and less traveling and puzzle solving. Don't get me wrong, I love the games it has borrowed from and even own them. I enjoy story-heavy, puzzle-solving games as much as the next gamer. It's just...when I put in GoW, I expect to kill things, not be a responsible parent. Needless to say after all this, I'm just not a fan.

Still, I'm one of those people that sit through a bad movie because I've already committed and want to see if maybe the end justifies the suffering. So Grind of War it is.