Thanks For The Memories Part 1: God of War

The ultimate in revenge stories -- and a brutal saga to boot -- is God of War. PlayStation’s most iconic hack and slash series has helped define the genre and most importantly, as of me typing this, has just reached its 10^th anniversary. Yes, back in 2005, Santa Monica Studios gave us the first glimpse at Kratos, his unbelievable fall from grace, and quest to avenge his family. I pretty much ignored this franchise for the better part of 6 years before I bought a PS3 and played the entire collection within a week’s time. Though originally planned as a trilogy, the series got PSP titles and a prequel to stuff all the gaps closed throughout the years. But, the third numbered entry is, and will ever be, the end. At the time of release the game had review scores anywhere from 8.5/10 to 10/10, so did this effectively close the series and have a fitting ending?

The entire saga is loosely based on Greek mythology; it is set in ancient Greece with revenge and retribution as its central theme. Revenge is a great setting for any game, and I believe that this particular story was told well enough through the first two games. The main plot is very simple, but in the first God of War the player actually was given his incentive. The agony of losing his family by his own hands and tortured by the Gods was as good of an excuse as any to seek retribution. The problem with the rest of the series is that aside from having continuous visions of his family’s death (the torture of the Gods), Kratos’ goal doesn’t change. At the end of the first game Kratos succeeds in killing Ares and that could have been the end of it, but a common trope of Greek mythology is those damn tricks the Gods like to play because they are dick butts. Unfortunately, Santa Monica uses this ad nauseam and makes the last two games of the series feel a bit contrived.

I would have liked to see them delve into his past a bit more but I guess that is what Santa Monica sold out for in Ascension. The plot returns to what is ostensibly the God of War saga’s Deus Ex Machina, Pandora’s Box. Yes Kratos’ entire goal in God of War 1 was to attain what was in this box to help him defeat Ares. Well he did open it and even after that we were not entirely sure what was in it and then this plot device seemingly disappears in the second game only to show up again. Even from the beginning the plot starts its repetitive nature, while climbing the Titan Gaia trying to reach the top of Mount Olympus Kratos falls and guess where he ends up?; The Underworld. The same place we started in God of War II.

This place looks familiar.

Now down in the underworld Kratos will stop at nothing to get back to kill Zeus this time and anyone who stands in his way. Each God must be dealt with and we even take out some Demigods to be sure; including Hercules who for some reason is now in cahoots with Hera. This is clearly a conflict of Greek Mythology 101 here as Hera detests the existence of Hercules, so why are they working together? It is silly missteps like these that take away from the plot of the game. One thing that did stand out was as each God was destroyed there was a noticeable effect on the world in a negative way and it was good to see the connection. But then what happened when Kratos killed Ares in the first game? The implementation of new rules really detracted from the story as a whole but simultaneously drove me to find the next God to eviscerate just to see what would happen. After decapitating and maiming a litany of Gods we reach the culmination of five years and 3 games. It all comes down to this single moment and battle(s) with Zeus. The world is in shambles from the slaying of the Gods and we finally find out what was in that box.

Drum roll please…..All the evils of the world are inside the box along with “Hope” that Athena threw in for good measure. Kratos screwed the pooch on this one folks and opening Pandora’s Box in the first game somehow made the Gods go insane with “Evil”. Even that is too abstract for Greek mythology. Athena becomes angry at Kratos for reaching his goal and "stealing" the hope she put in the box even though she pushed us to defeat her brother Ares and the other Gods. 

God of War III marks the finale to Kratos' story and even though there may be other titles that follow, this really is the end of his tale. Kratos mentions, “My vengeance ends now,” right before he thrusts the Blade of Olympus into himself. Of course, there may be speculation on his death;  after the credits roll, a scene plays from where Kratos died and trail of blood is shown going off into the distance. Whether or not he is alive, like I said before and even Kratos himself said, his saga is at an end. I truly enjoyed my time with all the games in this series, but the God of War III story just didn’t have the same feeling that was present in the first game. I would have liked to have seen Santa Monica Studios tell a deeper story with the last two games of this franchise. The very few emotional scenes of the game fell flat without any added weight. I feel that what players got was almost a cut and paste rehash of the first game. The writing of the game leaves much to be desired but it holds up well enough to get you to the end of the game. I was very underwhelmed by the story of the third game but it did get the ending it deserved. There really was no other way the franchise could have ended and Kratos ultimately got the results he wanted. We can now officially put this franchise to bed, rest in peace Ghost of Sparta, and thanks for the memories.