Critics love God of War Ragnarok. The game has a score of 94 on review aggregator site Metacritic, making it the second highest-scoring original game of the year, just behind the transcendent Elden Ring. IGN’s reviewer called it “a complete work of art from top to bottom” and “an almighty achievement”. After breaking records during the pandemic, the video game industry has slumped this year due to a lack of major titles, console shortages and the economic downturn. So the stakes are high for God of War Ragnarok, one of the few blockbuster games of the fall and the latest entry in one of Sony’s most important franchises. God of War started in 2005 with a trilogy of raunchy but fun games about killing Greek gods like Zeus and Hades. In 2018, Sony rebooted the series with a new entry that dropped the gross sex scenes and recast series protagonist Kratos as a tough but loving father. This game won accolades and was widely considered one of the best of the year. It went on to sell 23 million copies on PlayStation and PC. Four years later, a sequel has arrived, which Sony hopes will match or surpass the heights of the last version. Playing God of War Ragnarok is beautiful and rhythmic, like playing an instrument – except at the end of the song you can decapitate a worm demon with a giant axe. Set in Norse mythology, the game takes place a few years after its predecessor during Fimbulwinter, the season of endless snow said to herald the end of the world. At the end of the last game, Kratos and his son Atreus discovered a prophecy with two key pieces of information. The first is that Atreus is really Loki, the Norse god of mischief, and the second is that Kratos is destined to die. This sets up some big stakes for God of War Ragnarok, and as the game begins, Kratos and Atreus are already facing big questions about their relationship, their purpose, and what Ragnarok might bring. I’ve played about 15 hours of God of War Ragnarok and even though I’m not done yet, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Combat is brilliant and deep, full of interesting options and combos that let you pick apart demons and monsters with abandon. Fans criticized the last game for the monotony of its enemies, which were mostly zombie variants, and the developers responded by packing God of War Ragnarok full of drastically different creatures to kill. Combat is satisfying, highlighted once again by Kratos’ Leviathan Ax, which you can throw and summon back to your hand with the delightful push of a button. You can customize gear and play around with different special abilities, for example using your frost weapon to stun an enemy and then swapping it out with your fire weapon to deal extra damage. I’ve never tried meditation, but I imagine the flow of combat in a game like this puts you in a similar situation. The designers at Sony Santa Monica, the studio behind the game, use all kinds of tricks to keep things attractive. There are important side quests and many more great stories delivered by the talking head Mimir, the wisest of the Norse gods and a returning character from the previous game. There are various new gameplay twists that I won’t spoil but it becomes clear after a few hours that God of War Ragnarok is trying to shake things up. The story is also a highlight. God of War Ragnarok features villains that have only been teased before, such as the god of thunder Thor, whose bitter demeanor is miles from his Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart, and the malevolent sage Odin, played to perfection by Richard Schiff , aka The West Wing’s Toby Ziegler. Odin is the best part of this game. Whenever he’s not on screen, I find myself wishing he’d come back. An early segment, in which he takes one of the main characters on a West Wing-style walk and talk across Asgard, is a particular treat. Fans are concerned that God of War Ragnarok might feel too much like its predecessor. In a way, it does. You still travel to realms like Midgard and Alfheim, still throw your ax to solve chain puzzles, still watch Kratos struggle to overcome his stoicism and bond with his son. But Ragnarok is bigger, better, and in some ways even more special than the 2018 game that garnered so much acclaim. It’s a triumphant experience worth everyone’s time. The game is available on the PlayStation 5, which has been in short supply this year, and the older PlayStation 4. In recent earnings results, Sony lowered its forecast for its games division and said gamers are reducing the number of titles they buy due to “ global macroeconomic conditions’. But the company also invoked God of War Ragnarok as a guide to bring players back. ©2022 Bloomberg LP
