The God of War Challenges, how the journey continued after the games

I’ve played through hundreds of video games in my lifetime. A small percentage of which I would consider among the best. The God of War series was unique because it was amazing across the board. Every title in the franchise looked great, played great, and provided the perfect challenge. As a mythology geek the stories, and characters kept a fire burning inside me. Also unlike other games once you played through this games the adventure didn’t necessarily end. You could raise the difficulty, and give it another try. Either in the search of secrets to unlock, or simply for the challenge. Sony Santa Monica seemed to know they had a great thing early on. They made sure to put in a lot of content, in addition to the main game. They wanted audiences to enjoy the experience they had created in different ways. This is how they came up with the Challenge of the Gods.

These were mini challenges featured in the series that allowed players to test their ability. Whether it was fighting a certain type of opponent, trying not to get hit, or wiping out a regiment, there was something unique to each trial. The challenges weren’t straightforward either. To raise the stakes most gave Kratos limited time, magic, or energy in order to complete. They may have seemed impossible at first, but players learned that there were attacks, and combos that made them possible. Audiences had to go with trial, and error in order to find which moves worked best. Doing this repeatedly actually made them better players. Suddenly the harder play throughs seemed less daunting. Completing the challenges rewarded the player with all sort of bonus content. You could earn concept art, making of videos, special skins, or other features that you could unlock during a play through. Of all the bonus games the one I enjoyed the most was featured in the Ghost of Sparta. You could fight within a Combat Arena. These were customizable battles that took place on a large circular stage. You could configure these fights in a number of ways. You could select the types of enemies, the number of enemies, the difficulty of them, and even whether or not they respawned. You could also choose to have infinite energy, or magic as well.

The Combat Arenas were first introduced in God of War II as the Arena of the Fates. They featured the stages that were created for the Challenge of the Titans. Each location was reminiscent of areas featured in the game. There was the Summit, which looked similar to the place where Kratos, and Zeus had their final battle in GoW II. There was the Barbarian, which was the location in the bogs where you battled The Barbarian King Alric. Lastly there was Daedalus, a circular platform with mechanized wings. Not every arena had to be a place visited in the game. It just had to carry the same design, and tone from the series. For example there was the Forest, which took place on a stone path in the middle of a rainstorm. There were no forest locations in the Ghost of Sparta, but it still matched the look of the game.

Each arena location told a story. Some were bold, others very subtle. For example the arena labeled Arctic. It had a frozen atmosphere similar to the Mounts of Aroania. If you looked in the distance however you could actually see a temple, and a statue of Zeus. This hinted as to where his temple was located in the GoW universe.

 

There was the Desert. Possibly the nicest looking background. A steady breeze blew sand across the ground. The sun was past midday. You could just about feel the heat. I imagined that this place was not too far from the Desert of Lost Souls from the first GoW. I greatly enjoyed the look of all these places, could appreciate fighting within them as long as I wanted, and with whichever enemy I chose.

One of the most unique stages was Hades. It looked different than how it appeared in either GoW III, or the Chains of Olympus. It was dark, and mysterious, with harpies flying in the background, and lava waterfalls skirting the perimeter. It was certainly not a place that a mortal would want to visit.

In my opinion there was a toss up between the two best arenas in the game. One of those was Atlantis. In the previous blog I talked about how the sunken city had been on the drawing board since GoW II was in development. This was around 2005. That stage wouldn’t formally be introduced until the Ghost of Sparta in 2010. The stage was part building, and part magical barrier where we could stare out in the abyss. It was the sort of fantastic world that Sony Santa Monica, and Ready at Dawn could bring us into.

You could really appreciate the planning for the stages if you looked at the concept art. Atlantis wasn’t the only location that the studios had always thought about taking Kratos through. In very early GoW II plans they were thinking of setting a chase, or action stage, through the city of Sparta, as they were under attack. There would be a huge battle, with flaming arrows streaking back, and forth across the sky.

Some of those plans, and settings were adapted by Ready at Dawn. The burning arrows, and spears were used in the opening moments of Chains of Olympus. The intact city of Sparta was put in the Ghost of Sparta. Whereas the city being destroyed became Crete, and Heraklion during the eruption of the Methana Volcano, as well as the collapse of Atlantis. Ready at Dawn honored the developers at Sony Santa Monica by putting an actual Troy arena in the game. Best of all playing the Challenge of Ares, the Challenge of Athena earned you red orbs that you could spend in the Temple of Olympus, and unlock all sorts of goodies. The best surprise in the game was the Grave Digger’s Shovel. It allowed you to unlock a special character in the Combat Arena.

There had been a lot of speculation as to the identity of the Grave Digger from the series. Many had guessed that he was Zeus in disguise, especially since he referred to Kratos as son. It was nice to see this get officially confirmed in the game. When the arena stage begins we see the Grave Digger standing in place, for a second I thought I would actually be able to see him swing the shovel in combat. However he instead raises it to the sky, and a lightning bolt transforms him into Zeus, and the shovel into the Blade of Olympus. He not only fights with that, but in his left hand he has the Gauntlet of Zeus. The most powerful weapon from the Chains of Olympus. To say Zeus is O.P. would be an understatement. He doesn’t have a block button, but instead he’s blindingly fast. Rather than roll he can dash out of the range of most attacks. Also he doesn’t use any magical attacks. If you press the directional button, the ones that activate magic for Kratos, he instead makes one of four statements. “Feel the power of Olympus! I will crush you! Insolent Fool!” and the always classic “Die mortal!” The studio went so far as to actually animate his mouth when he talks.

It was great having Zeus as a playable character, but the team did make one change with his weapons. The Gauntlet of Zeus was a right hand weapon, but he sports it on his left. It’s a minor detail, but one that I noticed because of how much I replayed the Chains of Olympus. I’d like to know if you had a favorite challenge in the GoW series, or if there was one that you felt was absolutely impossible. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Ghost of Sparta, Kratos finds his brother, and battles death

When we last saw Kratos he had returned to Atlantis to find the Death Gate. It was the portal to bring us into another world. The conspiracy to kidnap his brother was starting to come into focus. Sparta was attacked by an unknown army when Kratos was a young man. A massive figure on a war horse took his brother Deimos. Kratos tried to fight back but was knocked away. A female warrior was accompanying him, she said the Fates had warned that the one with the markings was destined to cause the fall of Olympus. Now that they had the marked one they were to leave the other boy alone. They rode away. We learned that it was Ares, and Athena that had attacked Sparta that night.

Ares needed to ensure Deimos would never fulfill the prophecy. Had he killed the boy then his soul would have ended up in Hades. Once there he could have gone to the fields of Elysium, or the pits of Tartarus. In either case he would have grown up in the land controlled by the Olympians. He would be able to train with other deceased warriors, and recruit like-minded souls. Eventually he would have raised an army like his brother, and then overthrown Olympus. Ares had to take Deimos as far from Olympus as possible. In this case it was the Domain of Death. The Olympians had no power over the forces that existed before them, the Primordial realms. He left Deimos in the charge of Thanatos, the god of death. The only way Ares could have entered this world was if he had a key. In his case he had the Skull of Keres, the goddess of death. He kept it hidden in his temple on Sparta.

This portion of the game had brilliant design. It was as well themed as the other locations featured in the Ghost of Sparta. As far as we could see there was no sun, or moon in this place. There was no horizon. The realm of death went on to the infinite. In the background we could see a massive building.

Kratos made his way to the Temple of Thanatos. Avoiding supernatural birds, and vines that would strike him. The Bane of Thera allowed him to burn away the living plants.

When he reached the doors to the temple Thanatos spoke to him. It was the third time the effect had been used in the game. Thanatos was not happy that Kratos had trespassed into his domain. He challenged the Spartan to continue if he wanted to meet his destiny.

The only atmosphere in this place was a steady breeze. What I thought made is unique was that the wind carried dust. In every portion of this world there was dust. It was cascading down the walls. It was flowing down stairs, and pouring in through the cracks. I could only assume that this was the dust from where all things were made, and how we would end up. There were a few versions of the Bible through history that had a version of the phrase “From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return.” This was from the book of Genesis.

The Temple of Thanatos was eerie. The constant wind brought life to the stage even though there were no residents. The scale of this place seemed too massive for a solitary being. Of course it was all designed to be imposing. It was eternal, it existed before time, and would exist after the end of the universe.

There were several massive traps scattered within. They were large, brutal, and powerful enough to kill a god.

There was a rotating bridge separating the temple from the vault that held the prisoner Deimos. Fire would periodically shoot across the bridge, making it impossible to get across.

Kratos would need the Arms of Sparta to figure out the trap. He could use his shield to reach the bridge rotating mechanism. Then he could temporarily jam the gears on the vault with a spear attack. The gate on the vault would close, and allow Kratos a moment to rotate the bridge.

The fire would continue whether the gate was opened or closed. While it was down the face of Thanatos could be seen glowing with every burning pulse. It was an awesome sight.

Kratos eventually reached the inner vault, and found his brother suspended by chains.

It wasn’t enough that Thanatos had imprisoned him. He had tortured Deimos for decades. His mind was not what it once was.

When Kratos lowered him it wasn’t a warm reunion. Deimos was filled with hate. It gave him strength, and power well above that of a normal human. The birthmark covering his body was now glowing with a similar rage to what filled Kratos.

Thanatos had left Deimos with large metal gauntlets. He would be able to use them against his brother, or any person foolish enough to release him. Deimos brutally attacked Kratos during the boss fight, and hit Kratos hard enough to break his gauntlets. Kratos would not strike back because he still cared for his brother. Once Deimos stopped pummeling his brother Thanatos showed up. He was enormous, taller than even Zeus. He grabbed Deimos with his claw-like fingers, and walked away. He knew Kratos had killed his daughter, and now he was going to return the favor. He jumped away from his temple. Despite his injuries Kratos followed after.

Thanatos landed on the Suicide Bluffs in Athens. He was going to drop Deimos just steps away from where the original GoW game started. It was a brilliant callback to the title that launched a franchise. Kratos saved his brother, and they reconciled. Deimos remembered the advice that Kratos gave him as a child. “A Spartan never lets his back hit the ground.” He nodded, and gave Deimos the Arms of Sparta. The two started a hunt for the god of death.

What followed next was an amazing battle. Both Kratos, and Deimos could strike at the same time. Thanatos used a giant sword to deflect the Blades of Athena, and spear attacks. When the duo were getting the upper hand Thanatos would transform into a giant beast. The creature was far larger than the monster Erinys could turn into. Little by little they were able to break through Thanatos’ armor-like skin. Just as they had the god of death weakened he struck the brothers. Slamming them each against the cliffs with tremendous force. The godly strength of Kratos saved him, but Deimos was mortal. He didn’t survive the final strike.

Kratos destroyed the giant monster form with his rage, then beat the human-sized Thanatos with his bare hands. As the god of death coughed up golden blood he filled in the blanks to the story. He told the god of war that the Sisters of Fate had already determined the marked warrior would destroy Olympus. There was no way to escape his fate. Kratos punched through his chest, and finished him. With his brother gone it was a hollow victory.

Kratos carries his brother up the cliffs, where an old friend is waiting. The Grave Digger appeared to Kratos as Crete was burning, and advised him to give up his quest. Now it was too late to do anything to avert his destiny. He has a hole prepared for his brother. Kratos lays him in the ground, and the Grave Digger begins covering him. Kratos wonders what he has become, the Digger replies “Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Athena appears through the portal of Olympus, and says now that he no longer had any ties to the mortal world she would fulfill her promise. She would wipe Kratos’ memories. He would no longer remember his family. Not his wife Lysandra, his child Calliope, his mother Callisto, or brother Deimos. He would remember only his life as a god. Kratos refuses, and uses the portal to return to Olympus. He vows to make the gods pay for what they did to him. His disdain for Olympus has grown tenfold. Athena regrets her decisions and apologizes under her breath, calling Kratos her brother. The seeds have been planted. We just witnessed the events leading into GoW II.

After the end credits we are treated to a special cut scene. The Grave Digger places the body of Callisto into the grave next to Deimos. He had a third grave prepared, and says “Now only one remains.” Then we see Kratos wearing his God Armor, sitting on the throne of Ares. It was a brilliant ending to a brilliant game. I said it at the start of the blog series, and I’ll say it again. This might be my absolute favorite GoW game, and easily one of my favorite games of all time. I’d like to hear from you. Did you play the Ghost of Sparta? What did you think? Did you have a favorite game in the series? I’d like to hear about it. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Chains of Olympus, exploring a powerful, but tragic ending...

Chains of Olympus was telling the type of story that I had enjoyed in the original God of War. We were given an introduction to Kratos through the action. We learned how the game played through fights, and boss battles, rather than lengthy tutorials. All the while we moved from point to point across the ancient world. We were on a real adventure, and every new development helped push the narrative. The gods required the help of the Spartan once more, only this time things seemed most dire for the entire world.

When we last saw him Kratos had fallen into the underworld while trying to retrieve Helios, the god of the sun.

This was canonically the first time that Kratos had visited Hades.

This version of the afterlife looked much different than the one seen in God of War III. For starters it was well illuminated. In GoW III Hades was dark, and painted in a pallet of grays, blues, and black. This Hades had more Earth tones, and reds.

There was an ocean of blood in the distance.

The terrain was jagged, and uninviting. There were scattered ruins that must have been as old as time itself.

In the distance we could see an enormous tower. This would be revealed as the Pillar of the World. The point that held up the heavens from the underworld.

The level design in Hades was amazing. The faces of warriors were carved into the sides of the mountain, they acted as fountains for the waterfalls of blood cascading down from above.

These were locations that would make for some awesome heavy metal album covers.

I couldn't help but notice that the monsters that appeared in the underworld were different than the nightmare minions from earlier in the game. Although they shared similar attacks they had a different look altogether. This was a detail that I really appreciated in the GoW series. The developers couldn't really create dozens of unique enemy types, each with their own moves, attacks, and models. At least not with the limited memory, and storage in the Playstation 2, or PSP. The workaround that the studios found was in changing the textures on several of the models, and perhaps changing the color of their attacks slightly. This made the enemy types feel more diverse.

I wasn't complaining at all about recycling the models, and swapping out textures. I honestly thought that the villain designs in Chains of Olympus were among the best in the entire series. Look at how cleverly the modeling of the gorgon snake hair became a helmet, and braids for the banshee.

Kratos soon found himself at a river of blood with no way to get around. There was a massive bell to summon the ferry. This was about the time that the mythology geek in me began to hyperventilate. I was geeking out as hard at this moment as I was when Cronos appeared in the first game. I knew about the river Styx, and the ferryman known as Charon. I had no idea that Kratos would ever meet the person that ferried people into the afterlife.

Charon was considered the archetype for the figure we think of as Death today. He lamented to Kratos that both were slaves to the gods, never to be liberated from their service. He told Kratos it was not yet his time to be in Hades, as if he could foretell his future.

Having a boss battle with Charon was not on my checklist for badass moments in the series. Unfortunately for Kratos he is defeated by the ferryman, and tossed into the lowest pits of Hades. The dark place known as Tartarus.

Kratos wakes up chained to a wall. He is weak, and trapped in the place where condemned souls go. The only way to regain strength here is to kill the other souls chained in Tartarus.

We saw Tartarus in GoW III but it looked completely different. This portion of the underworld was colored with greens, and blueish-grays. The color scheme was another solid design choice. It told audiences they were now in a unique environment. Even the type of flames that illuminated this section were special. We had golden braziers in the Temple of Helios, warm torches in the Caves of Olympus, burning red coals in Hades, and bright sparking phosphorus in Tartarus.  

We were now getting to explore the place that the gods of Olympus had banished the titans.

I didn't know whether or not I would see any titans, but I was eager to continue exploring, and battling my way to the truth.

Again, I was struck with how amazing the locations, and enemy designs were in the game. Ready at Dawn Studios made sure that the Morpheus, and Hades minions had their own style, even if they shared polygon models, and moves.

The best of these were the ghost-like Hyperion Guards, and Death Knights. The Hyperion Guards looked like massive gladiators, with a key-shaped sword, and heavy shield. They could take a lot of damage, and deal even more. Then there were the Death Knights, whose spiked helmet, mace, and gate-like shield were every bit as formidable. These were the types of designs I wished there were statues, or action figures of.

As Kratos traveled through the underworld he discovered the corpse of the Jailer of Tartarus. It never occurred to me that there would have been someone responsible for keeping an eye on the souls that the gods had banished. There was even a crypt for the previous jailers. These were the types of details that helped make the world more real to me.

Kratos takes the jailer's key, and uses it to reach a secret platform.

We knew that Zeus used the Blade of Olympus to end the war against the titans. But we never knew how he kept the titans locked away until now.

Zeus had a Gauntlet created that would allow him to bind the titans to Tartarus using the Chains of Olympus. This would become the second, and most powerful weapon that Kratos would earn on the journey.

It seemed absurdly large over the arms of Kratos, but remember that Zeus stood a full head, or two taller than Kratos. It would have been more proportional to him. Best of all the Gauntlet of Zeus could be used against anyone standing in his way. Of course we still had to get out of Tartarus before we could see the full potential of the gauntlet.

As Kratos searched for an exit the hint of a conspiracy was starting to build.

We actually began to see evidence of titans bound to the walls of Tartarus.

One of the most important titans in history was clearly visible. It was Hyperion.

This was the father of Helios, Eos, and Selene. Remember that the Olympians were descended from the Titans. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were the sons of Cronos.

There was no love lost between the gods, and titans. They had locked up their parents so that they would never be seen again.

Kratos discovered that the chains that held the titan Atlas were broken. It filled the Spartan with dread.

He needed to find out where the powerful titan went, and get to the bottom of this mystery.

He followed the clues, and used the Gauntlet of Zeus to create a bridge using one of the chains.

Kratos was able to find a cliff wall on the edge of Tartarus.

There was an enormous waterfall cascading blood.

Kratos found a wall that he could scale using his Blades of Chaos.

He climbed for what seemed to be ages, and managed to reach the source of the waterfall. It was the river Styx.

Kratos summoned Charon once more, this was an eagerly anticipated rematch.

Charon could not defend himself against the attacks thanks to the Gauntlet of Zeus.

With Charon defeated Kratos had earned his third, and final magic attack. He picked up the golden mask that Charon hid his decomposing face behind. It was called Charon’s Wrath, and it allowed him to target multiple enemies with a burning gaze. Kratos could hold it ahead of him like Medusa's head, and fire off attacks.

Kratos then took the ferry up the river.

I enjoyed the few seconds of the in game cut-scene. It gave me a moment to think about how far the game had taken me.

I felt as if Ready at Dawn was filling out the plans that Sony Santa Monica had for Kratos since the first game. It allowed me to enjoy the classic mythological world of the past. It was serious in tone, but visually far different than the gritty world presented in GoW III.

I was trying to figure out how Morpheus was able to take Helios out of the sky. This game had the makings of a very good mystery. I was certainly hooked.

Kratos was headed towards the Temple of Persephone. She was the wife of Hades, god of the underworld.

Kratos began to hear the familiar song as he got closer to the temple.

Kratos saw his daughter as the ferry approached the temple. Calliope was playing her flute on the docks.

She skipped away towards the temple, unaware that her father was calling out to her.

Kratos goes through the temple, room to room, perpetually just missing Calliope as she goes into the next area.

Wave after wave of monsters slows down his pursuit.

Once again the developers created a fantastic stage, and colored it so that it stood apart from Tartarus, Marathon, Attica, the Caves of Olympus, or any other location featured in the game.

The lowest levels of the Temple, the ones closest to the river Styx are saturated in red.

As Kratos climbs the floors then light begins pouring through the windows, giving everything a more golden shade.

Kratos makes it to the other side of the temple where he finds himself at the Groves of Persephone.

He calls out for his daughter but she is nowhere to be seen.

He sees Persephone, the goddess of death. He demands to know where Calliope is.

She says that Calliope is in the Fields of Elysium, along with the other pure souls. Unfortunately Kratos cannot join her because he is mortal, and he has a troubled past.

Persephone says that if he wants to be reunited with Calliope then he has to atone for his dark past, and give everything up. His godhood, his magic, and his weapons.

Kratos does this so that he may enter Elysium. The reunion with Calliope filled with joy, but is unfortunately short lived. An earthquake begins to shake the afterlife.

Persephone reveals that the afterlife was coming to an end, along with everything else. She was the one pulling the strings. She broke Atlas out of Tartarus, and sent him to kidnap Helios. He was now at the top of the Pillar of the World destroying it. This would cause the collapse of the heavens, and afterlife.

Morpheus was a pawn in her scheme, a distraction. It was assumed that Charon was also tired of his servitude, and looked the other way as Atlas escaped. She hated living in the underworld, and caring for the dead souls. Since Hades kidnapped her, and forced her to be his wife she decided it would be better to destroy everyone, and everything in order to be free. By taking away all of Kratos’ strength the last person that could have stopped her was now powerless.

In order to regain everything Kratos has to reject his daughter, the last connection to his humanity. He then had to kill the innocent souls in the afterlife to slowly rebuild his strength, magic, and weapons. It was a sad turn of events denying Calliope.

If you looked carefully in the grass you could see Calliope sitting, and lamenting the loss of her father.

It was a story turn I didn’t expect, and something that made me genuinely hate the character of Persephone. This was great development from Ready at Dawn. It made the coffin of Persephone, and Hades’ loathing Kratos more impactful in GoW III.

The last portion of the game has Persephone switch from her dress into armor. She flies to the top of the pillar, where we see Atlas punching away at it. In one of his four hands a powerful light is shining. Helios is trapped within. It is a vicious fight against the titan, and goddess. In fact I thought she put up a bigger challenge than Hades. Kratos eventually gains the upper hand in the battle, and uses the Gauntlet of Zeus to chain Atlas to the heavens, forcing him to act as the top support of the pillar. He kills Persephone, and vows that the gods will honor their agreement to free him from his servitude. He rides away with the Chariot, and Helios back to the surface world. Kratos passes out, and falls from the chariot when it hits the thin air of the stratosphere. The gods stop his rapid descent as he lands at the Suicide Bluffs.

Athena, and Helios take the Sun Shield, and Gauntlet of Zeus away from Kratos while he lays unconscious. They use a portal at the top of the cliffs to return to Mount Olympus. This is literally a few moments before the beginning cinema in the original God of War. When Kratos awakes he thinks that the gods have abandoned him. He decides to step off the cliff, and set off the events of the first game. It was an amazing experience, the kind of adventure that I enjoyed best in the series. I had no idea that the follow up game would be even better, and possibly the best game in the entire series. I’m going to dig into this on the next blogs. Did you have a favorite God of War game? Did you play Chains of Olympus? What did you think about it? Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!