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Editor's Note: With the release of God of War 3 now less than 24 hours away, we've decided to take you on a stroll down memory lane. Okay, we really just wanted an excuse to blabber about Greek mythology. The point is, if you've been living under a rock for a few years -- or if you've avoided the God of War franchise because you just don't like dudes with goatees -- then this article is for you. Here, Addam will explain the extremely convoluted minutae of the series up to this point, and he'll give you an idea of where this franchise is headed. If you're thinking about picking up God of War 3 tomorrow but don't have a history with Kratos, you'll want to check this out.
It’s hard to deny the drawing power of Greek mythology combined with pure rage. That, in a nutshell, is the most succinct way I can describe the God of War franchise. Winning numerous awards and garnering millions in sales, the crazy world of one of gaming's most beloved icons, Kratos, is one of the most memorable.
On the eve of the release of one of the PS3’s most hotly anticipated titles, God of War 3, we’re going to take a look back through the series that has helped define Sony in a huge way. We’ll take a look behind the curtain to describe how the series came to be and explore the Greek world of God of War.
God of War’s roots can be traced to one man: David Jaffe. Needless to say, the controversial developer has a twisted history. Originally working for SingleTrac, Jaffe helped bring life to Sony’s original console, the PS1, with Twisted Metal. He would continue his work into Twisted Metal 2, and would revisit the series after 989 Studios nearly ran the franchise into the ground, with Twisted Metal Black.
Looking at the Twisted Metal series, it’s easy to see how Kratos came about in looking at the series’ figurehead, Sweet Tooth. In Twisted Metal Black, Sweet Tooth is a psychopath with a taste for carnage. His primary focus in life seems to be tormenting and killing others. A being of pure brute force, it’s easy to see the makings of the would-be God of War in the psychotic clown racer.
After selling a hefty 1.25 million copies of Twisted Metal Black, Jaffe was looking to other works. Jaffe, acting as Creative Director, along with Sony’s Santa Monica Studios, began work on a new kind of game. It would be a game that defined Sony for years to come.
Using Greek mythology as a backdrop, God of War came to be. A hefty proposal for the time, Jaffe sought to change the very landscape of the action-adventure genre. At the core of the game would be the tortured being known as Kratos.
God of War began in a particularly odd fashion. Kratos flings himself off a cliff into the treacherous sea below. The game plays as a flashback over the course of three weeks. Starting with a massive bang, Kratos defeats a fleet of undead soldiers as well as the Hydra.
It’s at this point that we can tell a great deal about Kratos, simply by his character design. Kratos wears only a loincloth and his blades, leaving his upper body exposed to the world. It is drenched with red war-paint and his skin is as white as a ghost. He wields the Blades of Chaos, twin swords attached by chains, that swing out to attack his foes.
One of the game’s primary sticking points is the fluidity of movement that Kratos had. He swings his blades with a certain grace that, at that point, had rarely been seen. The addition of a roll maneuver allowed for flexibility in attacking foes. While the base combat seems archaic in retrospect, for the time, it was revolutionary.
After defeating the Hydra, Kratos consults with the goddess Athena. He seeks vengeance and to rid himself of the nightmares that had been plaguing him for years. Athena promises that the gods will forgive his sins if he protects Athens from an attack by Ares, the god of war. Kratos, though, is only a mere mortal. In order to defeat the god of war, Kratos will need power.
After consulting with the Oracle of Athens, Kratos learns that he must seek Pandora’s Box, a weapon of great destruction. It is here that we are given out first glimpse into his past. Kratos started his vicious career as a soldier in the Spartan army. The notoriously tough army was the perfect breeding ground for his brutality. Starting as a general with only 50 soldiers, Kratos quickly rose through the ranks of the Spartan army by being one of the most destructive forces in all of Greece. That, however, would quickly change in a single attack.
Following the Oracle’s orders, Kratos enters the desert, seeking Pandora’s temple. He finds it atop the Titan Cronus, who had been sentenced by Zeus to forever roam the desert until the sand ripped the flesh from his bones. After climbing the once mighty Titan for days, he finally reaches the temple.
After his climb to the temple, Kratos is reminded once more of his tragic past. After attempting to destroy a squad of barbarians, Kratos’ army is decimated and he is nearly killed. However, Kratos makes a last-ditch effort to win the battle. In exchange for victory, Kratos offers his life to the god Ares. Ares agrees and makes Kratos his champion on Earth. Kratos’ arms are welded to chain and the Blades of Chaos are forever chained to his body.
He is victorious in this battle and quickly rises to become one of the most powerful forces in all of Greece, his army feared by all as they slaughter any who get in his way. His final battle for the god of war, however, will change his perception completely.
Kratos proceeds through the Temple of Pandora, eventually defeating a Minotaur and gaining Pandora’s Box. As he is about to leave the temple, however, he is slain by Ares. In his moment of death, we finally see how Kratos became the tragic character that he is.
In his final battle for Ares, he ravages a village that had built a temple honoring Athena. Despite the warning by the village oracle, he slays all within the temple. His final two victims are, unknowingly, his wife and daughter. When questioned, Ares claims that this was done in an effort to make Kratos an even more powerful warrior. As he leaves the temple, the village oracle curses him to wear the ashes of his wife and child for the rest of his life so that all may know his crime.
As Kratos slips into death in Pandora’s Temple, he finds enough will to fight out of Hades itself. Eventually, Kratos reclaims Pandora’s Box and fights Ares. After summoning ghostly visions of his wife and daughter, Kratos is finally able to defeat him. With the god of war slain, Kratos asks Athena to get rid of his nightmares. While the gods do forgive him, she tells him that that was all she promised, as no one could forget the horrible crimes perpetrated by him.
It is at this point, the game loops around on itself and we see Kratos fling himself into the Aegean Sea. He says that the gods have betrayed him and that there is no hope left. However, the gods save him at the last moment. They claim that they could not let someone who had helped them so much die by his own hand. With that, they make Kratos the new god of war.
God of War was a masterpiece. While the story was minimal compared to the action of the game, everything felt like a true Greek epic. From the tragedy of Kratos to the massive encounters with Cyclopes and Gorgons, God of War set a new standard for the action-adventure genre. Winning numerous Game of the Year awards and selling millions, it seemed that a sequel was inevitable.
Much of this critical acclaim, though, was due to the ingenious design of the gameplay. Combat was fierce and fun, and was broken up by puzzles and exploration sections. Level design was excellent and the puzzles could be fairly challenging. Add to that the ability to unlock magic spells and upgrade your arsenal and it was a formula for success.
Indeed, unlockable videos in the original game indicated several different directions that the game could head. One implied that the next game might be set in modern day, as a group of explorers found the body of Cronus and Pandora’s Temple. Another implied that Kratos’ brother might be involved, as he was sent to die when it was found that when he was a child, he was too weak to be a Spartan warrior. The final, though, carried heavily into God of War 2, as it revealed that Kratos was, in fact, the son of Zeus.
With a somewhat finite story and such huge accolades, it would be hard to follow-up God of War in a truly meaningful way. While a great deal of the original God of War team returned, David Jaffe would not. Instead, the title of creative director was handed over to Cory Barlog. In many ways, the shift was visible in the game's tone and atmosphere.
While the original God of War partly told a tale of revenge, it was, at its core a Greek tragedy. The fall of Kratos was fairly epic and he was a tragic character. In God of War 2, Kratos turned his tragedy into rage, more than anything. While it served the purpose of the plot, it felt like Kratos was a completely different character.
The game is set 100 years after the previous title and begins with Kratos on Mount Olympus. He watches as his army tears apart the city of Rhodes. While he is a god, other gods refuse to accept him because of his ruthless behavior. Athena warns that if he continues down the path he is heading, the gods will turn on him.
However, despite all these warnings, Kratos ignores Athena and heads into battle on Earth. She strips away much of his powers and channels a great deal of strength into the Colossus of Rhodes to finish him off. However, it initially seems that some of the gods are still looking out for you, as Zeus gives you the Blade of Olympus to defeat the Colossus. After channeling all of his godly power into the blade, ridding him of all the power he gained from the first game, he is betrayed by Zeus. Zeus will spare Kratos’ life if he only will serve him. However, seeing as the last time that didn’t work out so well, Kratos defies Zeus and is stabbed through the chest as punishment.
As Kratos’ body is dragged to Hades, we learn that the God of War’s narrator is, in fact, a Titan known as Gaia, who seeks to protect Kratos so that he may fulfill his destiny. She channels life back into him as he ascends the walls of Hades. Once again, it seems that death can hold no sway over Kratos. However, upon his return to the land of the living, he finds that much of the Spartan army has been obliterated by Zeus. He finds a single soldier and demands he return to Sparta. Kratos will be seeking his vengeance.
Gaia tells the classic Greek story of how Zeus came to be. Cronus feared that his children would rise against him, and so he proceeded to eat them. However, when the final child was about to be eaten, Rhea, Cronus’ wife, tricks him into eating rocks and hides the baby Zeus away. It is revealed that Gaia raised the child, who would fight, not only against his father, but against all the Titans.
In order to defeat the king of the gods, however, he must find the Sisters of Fate. Only they have the power to change his destiny. He rides Pegasus to the cave of the Titan Typhon. He rips out the Titan’s eye, which conveniently serves as a new weapon and frees the former god Prometheus from his torment by casting him into a fire.
Upon reaching the Island of the Creation, home of the Sisters of Fate, he encounters Theseus, Euryale and Perseus and slays them all. Eventually, he encounters Icarus and falls into the underworld of Tartarus, but not before ripping Icarus’ wings from him. Eventually, he encounters Atlas in the depths of Tartarus who tells the story of the war between the Gods and the Titans. He reveals how the Titans came to be defeated by Zeus, weilding the Blade of Olympus. Atlas transports him to the other side of the island after Kratos pledges to help destroy the gods.
He then fights and kills a warrior in shadows who turns out to be the same warrior he sent to Sparta. Kratos learns that Zeus has destroyed all of Sparta. It is at this moment that Kratos appears to give up his quest. However, in a bizarre sequence, Gaia comes to Kratos in the form of his dead wife and tells him that he must not give up. Kratos defeats the Kraken that had been sent by the Sisters to kill him.
After hitching a ride on the Phoenix, Kratos finally reaches the Sisters of Fate. After each denies his request, he kills them all. In doing so, Kratos gains the ability to control time itself. He travels back to the moment that Zeus killed him and, in doing so, fights the king of the gods. However, Kratos inadvertently kills Athena, who, moments before she dies in his arms, reveals that Zeus is his father. Kratos once again travels through time, only this time he travels to the period of war between the Gods and the Titans. He is able to save Gaia and, together, they climb Mount Olympus as the gods scramble to prepare for the inevitable attack.
God of War 2 was notably larger in scope than its predecessor. With more locations and a much larger story, it was necessary, but few would have seen just how much larger in scope it was. While the game could have easily been a launch title for the PS3, Sony decided that it would keep the title as a PS2 game. It was an amazing way to go out.
This time out, combat felt much more fluid. Much of the clunkiness that was inevitable from the creation of the original God of War was removed. In addition, new spells and three weapons were introduced into the game proper. Another large addition was the inclusion of several flight sections. While most of these were on Pegasus, the introduction of Icarus’ wings added a new level of movement to the games platforming controls.
More than that, though, God of War 2 was a much larger game. The scope of the story seemed much larger, despite the fact that Kratos became a fairly two-dimensional character who only cared about revenge. The game also featured several bosses, whereas the original had a mere three major bosses. The game was packed full of Greek mythology, though the game had its own twists on the stories.
With creative director Stig Asmussen helming the third installment of the franchise, it's hard to image how much bigger God of War 3 could be. However, from initial demos, it seems that God of War 3 will be even bigger than it's predecessors. With a story so heavily revolving around revenge and death, it's hard to imagine Kratos' journey will be as simple as killing Zeus. In addition, the third installment seems to be focusing more on additional weapons, while in previous installments, they seemed like somewhat of an afterthought. While this might be the end of Kratos' journey, it's hard to imagine that it will be the last true God of War game.
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