Sony had a banner 2018 thanks in large part to high-quality, first party titles like God of War. This latest entry in the long running violent action series managed to evolve the franchise from its familiar gameplay style, something not many people thought was possible. Taking the franchise out of the Greek pantheon, players step into the shoes of an older Kratos, now with a son of his own. Placing a bigger focus on this relationship as well as a stronger emphasis on story, original concepts for the game also included a lot more boss fights than what the final product offered players.
In the latest documentary from Noclip, God of War director Cory Barlog provided more insight into how the game evolved from its initial stages of life. One of his initial regrets looking back is that the studio originally had many more boss battles in the game that had to be cut. One boss, in particular, took a team of 30 developers about a year and a half to create. The various trolls that players come across were never originally intended to be boss characters, but due to their massive size, the team added the health bar on screen instead of above or below the character itself.
Other insights include how Sony Santa Monica managed to hire Christopher Judge to play Kratos and more regrets and proud moments that Barlog has when looking back on the project. In addition, Barlog revealed early concepts of Kratos’ son Atreus and how initial concepts had him simply follow the player and wouldn’t do anything until a button was pressed which sent him towards a target. eventually, the studio found that this method leaned too heavily on the risk/reward system of putting Atreus in danger which deemphasized the fact that Kratos is ultimately raising this child who should be autonomous as well.
All of that hard work and long years behind the scenes clearly paid off for Sony and the Santa Monica developers. Not only did God of War become the fastest selling PlayStation 4 exclusive in just three days but it went on to sell over 5 million copies its first month alone. The game was also nominated in most end of the year awards categories and even won numerous Game of the Year honors from various sites and other media. Just recently, God of War was revealed as a nominee in six categories for the upcoming Game Developers Choice Awards, an event that annually takes place in March.
God of War is available now, exclusively on the PlayStation 4.
Source: Noclip
