What I liked about God of War was the spectacle, the fast-paced beat 'em up action, the grand environments, the (linear) exploration, the over the top brutality, the epic score, the puzzles. How they all combined to create a mythic adventure. I would have carried those things over to a reboot, set in a different pantheon with a different deity of war as the protagonist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_deities
This zoomed in walk and talk movie game isn't God of War.
Over-the-shoulder cameras are better for slow, mechanical shooters. You can barely see the enemies around you as you're hacking. The field of view is so small that the player will have to adjust the camera constantly. The standard attack is probably bound to R1 to compensate. They've also locked the camera to the enemy like in Dark Souls. You can tell by the way it turns upward when the boss raises his foot.
https://youtu.be/CJ_GCPaKywg?t=4m36s
It will have some of the same camera problems as the slower-paced Dark Souls. Even when Kratos was up against many enemies in the new trailer, the field of view was small. It looks like they'll wait their turn if they're not in the zoomed picture. At one point, I noticed them moving from the left closer to the center, despite Kratos aiming all his power there.
https://youtu.be/gOE2BVRCUkM?t=2m8s
With the camera pulled back, the player has a better view of the action and the environment and can more easily take care of enemies on multiple sides. I expect the combat to be slowed and the adventure elements to be simplified just because the player can now barely see around them without turning the cam.
I doubt it will even have platforming. The levels are more realistic and the camera is so zoomed in that it's impossible to create satisfying platforming. Apparently, platforming isn't realistic enough.
They probably went with an over-the-shoulder view because it's more "cinematic" and it allows them to make the environments prettier.
I didn't use most of the combos in the old games, but I would hope the combat is a little more fleshed out than hack left, hack right, hack left, hack right, power jump, repeat, QTE. I did like the shield from the new trailer, though. Oh, also, roll like an idiot, often. The old games had a dodge roll, but if you're gonna go in the cinematic, realistic direction, then replace it with something more practical, like a speedy dash, combined with a slight duck where appropriate.
A hand axe doesn't have enough reach for the long-range combat God of War is known for. You're gonna be running up to enemies a lot and throwing it constantly. I wonder if they're gonna give you alternate melee weapons or if that's not realistic enough anymore. The devs may have just decided, "We've got the close range weapon that can be thrown, we've got the ground pound and we've got the sidekick whose bow the player can aim. Now let's build on those and call it a day." If that is the case, at least provide temporary pickups, like spears and halberts that actually do have reach.
I don't care about Kratos and his son. When I was playing God of War and God of War II, I didn't think to myself, "I wish I had a companion." I liked going out there on my own and brutalizing every creature in sight. Why would I want that kid helping me through my whole adventure? They have a button just for him. The level design will have to be limited to allow him to maneuver. It's pretty obvious they're doing it because of The Last of Us, rather than in the best interest of the series.
This isn't Kratos. They basically started over with another character and gave him Kratos' name and (vaguely similar) appearance. Anger defined Kratos. There was no redemption. He was too far gone and basically a cartoon character. It's like turning Daffy Duck into Vito Corleone. The games were never meant to be so meditative and artistic. This new version is painfully pretentious. (At other times, it's embarrassing. Like that joke character they inserted shortly after the middle of the new E3 trailer.) If they cared about Kratos' history, they wouldn't give the game the same name as the original. I would be more intrigued by a new character with new motivations, quirks and flaws.
It makes no sense to move to a different mythology but keep Kratos. It's like a bad joke. He's killed the gods and made Greece his bitch, so he goes north and finds another pantheon to ruin. Mythologies and religions don't coexist. They have opposing explanations for the nature of the universe. They HAD TO replace Kratos. Mixing mythologies makes them less credible. Same reason why Batman shouldn't exist in Superman's world and why Alien vs. Predator is a mistake. The "DC universe" has always been stupid. It devalues Batman's struggle for justice to know Superman could solve all his problems without breaking a sweat. It also makes the whole world more ridiculous to know that there are so many humanoid superheroes from different planets.
The old games were far from perfect. But there was plenty they could have changed and improved without turning it into another pretentious walk and talk movie game. Too many games forsake their identities instead of improving on their concepts, all to chase after what's popular at the moment. In this case, The Last of Us. God of War is as much a disservice to the God of War series as Tomb Raider was to the Tomb Raider series. And it bothers me that I have to speak in such confusing terms because they didn't wanna come up with new titles, like God of War IV or God of War: A New Beginning.
It seems like games are more and more being made for people who don't even like playing games. Who insist games must aspire to higher artistic standards. Pretenders who should probably be watching movies instead.
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