From the Top - God of War Part 4

In this mini-series, I have been going through my own little labours by playing through the mainline God of War games (with the addition of God of War Ascension) that precede the 2018 soft reboot of the same name. My goal, simply enough, is to figure out who the main character, Kratos, is and how he goes from a man angry enough to squeeze diamonds out of coal with his frown alone to the slightly-less-angry but responsible father figure we see now. If this is your first time joining me on my journey, I recommend starting from the top to get the full experience! But without further ado, let us dive into the final leg of this Sisyphean quest and explore the final title, God of War III.

- Martin Heath

The game kicks off pretty much where God of War II left off: our livid living legend Kratos is fighting off the forces of Olympus atop the Titaness Gaia, who is, in turn, climbing Mount Olympus in an effort to cast down the current gods and bring about the second age of the Titans. The gods, however, disagree with this plan and join the fray, with Poseidon summoning deadly Hippocampi, Helios burning all in the wake of his chariot, Hades reaping souls, and Hermes being a general pest. The introduction to the game is honestly fantastic, with the constant action and feeling of scale! Teenytiny Kratos seems so insignificant next to and around the humongous Titans and Gods. Sure, he is still a force to be reckoned with, but the amount of divine fury being thrown around is such that even he can’t seem to keep up. That is until Poseidon gets within punching distance. In the previous two games, we’ve basically spent the whole experience chasing and trying to defeat a single god or godlike entity, but when Kratos squares off with the kinda Jason Momoa-looking Poseidon, the result is a shockingly violent death… but for the God. Our merciless hero beats the divine out of the oceanic deity, resulting in his foe erupting and the seas to foam and swell in rage! I was not expecting this.