Before I begin – a message to my dear friend 🧑 & his nephew 👦

A long time ago, I remember that I spoke with a dear friend of mine whom we will call “Bob”.
Bob was a friend I met in my high school years, and he’s the one who introduced me to the Hack & Slash genre.

before I met him, I tried once GoW1 on my PS2 and I never really liked the game, perhaps because I was more into shooters like Ratchet & Clank.
But when I met him, he told me how much he loved the God of War series, and how he’s dying to play the 3rd game.

At that time, I had a PS3 and he had an Xbox 360.
So I made a deal with him that I would buy GoW3 on the PS3, and he would buy GoW3 😁 on the Xbox 360 because I really liked the Gears of War series back then.

We played a lot together in both games, either by coop or take turns after we die in the hardest difficulty in God of War 3.
While I did enjoy God of War 3, I did not get that itch I was craving for.

But then, my dear Bobby introduced me to Devil May Cry 3 on the PS2 he still had.
And boy oh boy, was it magical.
Flashing thoughts in my mind told me that this is the Ratchet & Clank of the Hack & Slash genre… and from there, I got hooked HARD on the H&S genre.

So thank you, Bobby 😂, because of you, my gaming addiction is dying because there are barely any good hack & slash games to play these days

To his little nephew 👦

I heard that you wanna know why I “think” God of War (2018) sucks.
To tell you the truth, buddy, me and your cousin have already experienced the golden age of gaming.

But I digress, because it’s time to take you back to the past, where the gaming industry hit its first rock bottom and how it helped this game to become “one of the best games that came out in 2018”

And no, it’s not gonna be short like the video I sent to you through your cousin:

So without further Ado, let’s begin this review

Intro

“God of War”, the game that was released in 2018, is a unique game.
But not in terms of combat or story direction.
The game is a miracle for Santa Monica Studios for MANY reasons, which oddly enough are never discussed in the gaming community to this day.

Why is that 🤨?
Does the gaming news channel that dull? 🤔
And what about the influencers? Do they bring their own opinion, or just follow the sheep?

The short answer is that most gamers, influencers, and the gaming media as a whole decided to put GoW 2018 on a pedestal.
A game that represents what a game should be like, and how a product should be delivered to the gaming market.

And THERE ARE good reasons for that. But before we dive into the reasons, let’s discuss the pre-production.

Pre-Production 🏭

After the successful God of War 3, the developers at Santa Monica Studio had a choice between 2 mythologies:

1. Norse Mythology
2. Egyptian Mythology

Cory Barlog, who started as a Lead Animator of GoW1 and essentially one of the co-founders of God of War ever since the beginning with David Jaffe, had the opportunity to decide the next step of the God of War trilogy.

Since his wife was Swedish, he was more familiar with the Norse culture, more or less.

Either way, this would allow Santa Monica Studios to have a fresh start, with the Gods and monsters to mess around with.
However, over the years, Cory Barlog’s vision shifted away from traditional “game script”

I need to find the article where he says that he wants to create a “script.”

Making games more than just… games

Over the years, video games, along with Anime, were considered in some parts of the world as “kids’ things”

However, teenagers who grew up in the golden age of gaming, like me and my friend Bob, knew that video games had more to offer than just gameplay.
More specifically, God of War had a lot of depth with its characters and storytelling.

Sure, at first glance at old God of War games, some might reference these games’ Adult QTE sections, and the over-the-top blood & Gore that are there to make the game more edgy and such.

There’s no denying that. David Jaffe, one of the other co-founders of God of War besides Cory, stated that if he were to create another GoW game, he would keep the sex, blood, and gore.

But when actually getting invested in the story, there are a lot of emotional moments where you do wish for Kratos to get some sort of resolution.
In GoW1, Kratos shows his deepest regrets for murdering his own family, and he’s willing to defend them.

In GoW3, we see Kratos at his worst.
He has no sense of right or wrong, and no hope whatsoever. However, after encountering Pandora, he re-discovers hope, which allows him to keep moving forward.

The shift away from gameplay to story

Anyway, as stated before, Cory Barlog wanted to focus more on the story rather than the gameplay.
He wanted to make the story more “emotional” in some sense, rather than “grandiose” and “epic” like the old games.

Now I don’t know how much money was invested into each department in Santa Monica Studios’ GoW production, but it’s safe to say that a significant amount of money went into story writing, characters, and actors, unlike in the previous entry.

Lack of focus

Now, here’s the thing.
If God of War 2018 was focused on the story, with linear level design, this would allow the developers to craft a well-paced story in a video.

But the thing is, the game’s direction was all over the place:

1. The game had an open world
2. The game had many side quests called, I keed you NOT, “Favors”
3. A third-person combat, which is similar to God Hand, an action game by Capcom
4. And a “script” (not a “game-script”, mind you) that focuses on father & son alone

However, with all the “favors” in mind, how does one actually get invested in a story when they can participate in some random quest, which Kratos would never do?
Because let’s be real, Kratos, old or young, would never do a favor to a stranger that doesn’t help him in his quest.
And no, the materials or whatever you get from these sidequests do not contribute to the story.

The negative reception from Sony

Based on this article

The 1st guy to notice just how bad the game was was actually Shuhei Yoshida, the former president of Sony Worldwide Studios from 2008-2019.
Yoshida visited the studio about six months before its game was eventually released!

Not 3 or 2 years ago, but 6 months before production!
This means that any required changes & fixes might not be able to be even patched in.

The article later states that in a short time, the studio somehow managed to improve the game, and Shuhei’s “next encounter with God of War was much more positive” – but as someone who works in web development, which is no less intense than game development, I can already tell when someone is bluffing.

God of War 2018 had the same issues as Cyberpunk 2077 – it tries to be too ambitious for its own good.

Release date 📅

The new game was finally released on April 20, 2018.

Many gamers from different spectrums played the God of War game, and the reception was overwhelmingly positive from legacy media like IGN, typical influencers, and many casual and average gamers.

There were a few exceptions to this, like Matthewmatosis that criticize the game in their own way.
But no criticism managed to pull away the audience’s praise & glaze of this mediocre game.

In fact, the whole video documentary called “Raising Kratos” feels like a struggle of the developers to make an emotional game rather than a video documentary of some cool video-game devs making awesome games.

The final nail in the Coffin ⚰ – Game Awards

In my opinion, if you cement something in the gaming industry, you’re gonna need the support of the Game Awards show.
Even thou it’s biased AF like the Oscars, even though many gamers can agree that the Game Awards is trash 💩,
There’s no denying that it has an influence on game companies.

And so, on December 7, 2018, God of War was announced to have won the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards.

And luckily for me, the top liked comment of this video, to this day, exposes the true reason why GoW was glazed into oblivion.

The top comment of the video:

No Microtransactions.
No Loot Boxes.
No Multiplayer.
Only Boy.

This comment got 37K likes!

The true reason behind GoW’s success

Between God of War 2018 and Wither 3, many triple-A games started exploiting early DLC packs, loot boxes, and microtransactions to milk as much money as possible from gamers.

It was a nightmare, to say the least. Every game out there was a sawed-off from its complete version, and was presented as a “standard edition” for only 60$.
If you wanna get the full package of the game, which includes DLC goodies and cosmetics, you gotta have to cough up more coins.

In addition to that, the idea of loot boxes was essentially a gambling-like mechanic for gamers to get cosmetics, or worse, in-game items that bust the game’s balance if you’re willing to spend real money for a chance to get a rare item.

Let’s list all the games that came out during that time (with the help of ChatGPT 🤖, of course):

1. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Sept 1, 2015) – Action-adventure/stealth. Featured optional microtransactions in its online Forward Operating Base mode – players could buy MB Coins with real money to speed up base development or ensure resources (e.g. FOB insurance)
2. Halo 5: Guardians (Oct 27, 2015) – First-person shooter. Introduced REQ Packs – loot box-style bundles of weapons and items for multiplayer that could be earned in-game or purchased with real currency, chicago.fandom.com, siliconangle.com. This system drew some controversy, but also funded free map DLC post-launch
3. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Oct 23, 2015) – Action-adventure. Included Helix Credit microtransactions as an optional time-saver – players could buy in-game currency to unlock gear and upgrades more quickly gamespot.com gamespot.com. (All content was achievable through play, and Ubisoft emphasized that the microtransactions were 100% optional.)
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Nov 6, 2015) – First-person shooter. Although a full-priced title, it later added “COD Points” microtransactions – players could spend money for points to exchange for Supply Drop loot boxes in multiplayer (containing random weapon skins, attachments, etc.) en.wikipedia.org techtimes.com. This started Activision’s trend of loot boxes in COD, continued by subsequent releases.
5. Star Wars Battlefront (2015) (Nov 17, 2015) – Multiplayer shooter. Monetized via a $50 Season Pass for four expansion packs (announced pre-launch), which granted purchasers two-week early access to each DLC pack polygon.com. Notably, a free DLC map (“Battle of Jakku”) was available two weeks early to pre-orders of the base game battlefront.fandom.com – an example of early-access DLC as a preorder incentive.
6. Fallout 4 (Nov 10, 2015) – Action RPG. Bethesda sold a Season Pass alongside release, promising “all…downloadable content” for $30 gematsu.com (The pass content was later valued higher, and its price increased). While it had no in-game microtransactions at launch, Fallout 4’s DLC plan was an example of substantial paid content revealed before or at release.
7. Just Cause 3 (Dec 1, 2015) – Open-world action. Offered an “Air, Land & Sea” Expansion Pass (3 DLC packs) at launch. Expansion Pass owners not only got all post-launch mission packs, but also received each pack 7 days early before it went on sale for others en.wikipedia.org steamcommunity.com – effectively early DLC access for pass holders.
8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Dec 1, 2015) – Tactical shooter. Adopted a service model with ongoing free maps but microtransactions for cosmetics and operators. It uses two currencies: Renown (earned by play) and R6 Credits (purchased with money) – e.g. players can buy R6 Credits to unlock new operators or skins without grinding en.wikipedia.org techtimes.com. (Siege’s model, while controversial to some, sustained the game’s post-launch development.)
9. Overwatch (May 24, 2016) – Team-based shooter. A full-priced game that popularized loot boxes for monetization. All post-launch heroes and maps were free; revenue came from optional loot boxes containing random cosmetic items (skins, emotes, etc.) that players could earn or buy venturebeat.com. Overwatch’s approach – purely cosmetic microtransactions – was widely discussed but generally well-received by players.
10. Tom Clancy’s The Division (Mar 8, 2016) – Online action RPG/shooter. Had a traditional season pass for expansions, and later introduced a premium vendor for cosmetics. By early 2017, Ubisoft added purchasable “Premium Credits” so players could buy outfits, weapon skins, and emotes (all purely cosmetic) store.steampowered.com pcgamer.com. (Notably, the developer had initially stated there would be “no microtransactions,” leading to some community criticism when optional cosmetic purchases appeared.)
11. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Aug 23, 2016) – Action RPG/stealth. This single-player game drew notice for its microtransactions – players could buy one-time-use packs of in-game credits, crafting parts, or Praxis Kits (upgrade points) for real money notebookcheck.net steamcommunity.com. These consumable boosts could only be used once per save file, a design choice that upset many fans (it was seen as an unnecessary monetization in a single-player experience).
12. Battlefield 1 (Oct 21, 2016) – First-person shooter. Utilized loot boxes in the form of Battlepacks containing random weapon skins. Initially, Battlepacks were earned through play, but by late 2016 EA enabled direct purchase of them with real money ea.com tweaktown.com. (Battlefield 1’s approach was cosmetic-only, avoiding pay-to-win, but the inclusion of purchasable loot crates contributed to the wider debate on loot box design.)
13. Final Fantasy XV (Nov 29, 2016) – Action RPG. Came with a Season Pass ( ~$25) covering six DLC packs (story episodes and expansions) announced ahead of release. While FFXV did not have an in-game microtransaction store, it’s an example of a AAA title where significant DLC content (new story chapters, extra modes like multiplayer) was sold early on, to be delivered in the months after launch.
14. For Honor (Feb 14, 2017) – Action fighting (melee). Ubisoft’s sword-fighting game included an in-game economy where players earned Steel to unlock heroes and gear, with the option to purchase Steel with real money as a shortcut. The progression grind (and calculations showing it could take hundreds of hours to unlock everything without paying) sparked debate about its microtransaction balance.
15. Mass Effect: Andromeda (Mar 21, 2017) – Action RPG. Like Mass Effect 3, it featured a co-op multiplayer mode with loot box-style supply packs. Players could spend real money on “Andromeda Points” to buy multiplayer packs containing random weapons and items (mirroring ME3’s card-pack microtransactions from 2012). This continued BioWare’s trend of optional MP microtransactions in an otherwise single-player-focused franchise.
16. Destiny 2 (Sep 6, 2017) – Online FPS/MMO hybrid. This AAA title from Bungie included the Eververse store – a real-money shop selling cosmetic items like skins, emotes, and sparrows. Players could buy “Bright Engrams” (loot boxes with random cosmetics) or purchase specific cosmetics/currency (Silver) directly. While cosmetics-only, Destiny 2’s reliance on Eververse at launch drew community criticism (e.g. over XP throttling tied to Bright Engrams).
17. NBA 2K18 (Sep 19, 2017) – Sports (Basketball). Became infamous for its aggressive microtransactions. The game’s career mode heavily relied on Virtual Currency (VC) for player upgrades and cosmetics, and 2K18 significantly ramped up the grind – prompting accusations that it was “riddled” with microtransactions. Players and outlets noted that haircuts, clothing, and attribute boosts all cost VC (earnable in-game but also sold in variously priced VC packs for real money), leading to widespread backlash.
18. FIFA 18 (Sep 29, 2017) – Sports (Football/soccer). Part of EA’s annual FIFA series which consistently features FIFA Ultimate Team. In FUT, players acquire player card packs (essentially loot boxes) to build their team – obtainable with in-game coins or purchased FIFA Points. By 2017 this mode was enormously popular and profitable, but also drew regulatory scrutiny as a prominent example of loot box mechanics (random “pack” openings) in a full-priced game
19. Middle-earth: Shadow of War (Oct 10, 2017) – Action-adventure. A single-player game that launched with a controversial Market where players could spend real money on “War Chests” (loot boxes) containing random orc followers and gear. The inclusion of microtransactions in a story-focused, paid game received heavy criticism; Monolith ultimately announced the removal of the real-money loot box shop in mid-2018, admitting it “undermined” the game’s design
20. Assassin’s Creed Origins (Oct 27, 2017) – Action-adventure. Like prior AC titles, Origins offered Helix Credits for purchase. Players could buy Helix packs to acquire crafting materials, maps, or cosmetics instantly. The game also included a “Nomad’s Bazaar” loot box (paid with in-game currency) for random gear. While not pay-to-win (all gear was attainable by playing), Origins is representative of Ubisoft’s AAA approach of supplementing open-world games with time-saver microtransactions.
21. Call of Duty: WWII (Nov 3, 2017) – First-person shooter. Continued Activision’s trend of post-launch loot boxes in Call of Duty. WWII featured Supply Drops in its new social space – crates with random cosmetic items and gameplay bonuses. Players could earn Supply Drops or buy them via COD Points (purchased with cash) en.wikipedia.org. (The game even made loot box openings visible to other players in the Headquarters space, highlighting how normalized the mechanic had become by 2017.)
22. Star Wars Battlefront II (Nov 17, 2017) – Online shooter. Perhaps the most notable controversy of this period: Battlefront II launched with a pay-to-win loot box system. Players could purchase crates (containing random “Star Cards” that buff characters) with a premium currency, on top of the full game price. The progression was initially built around these loot boxes, causing massive backlash during the pre-release beta and leading to accusations of predatory, gambling-like design washingtonpost.com. The outcry (and even intervention by Disney) forced EA to disable real-money purchases at launch and overhaul the game’s economy in early 2018. Battlefront II’s fiasco became a tipping point in the loot box debate.

The peak of the reek was with Star Wars Battlefront 2, which was so badly received by the world that Belgium 🇧🇪 actually took drastic measures to combat these predatory loot boxes.

And out of nowhere, amid chaos and despair, came the Messiah, the one game that was delivered as a full package with no bullsh*t DLC, microtransactions, and no loot-boxes.
Which was the new God of War game

Critics

While the public was overjoyed to not be scammed by corporations, some hardcore gamers like myself had a different look at what the game brought to the table.

For me, the 2 primary critics, besides Matthewmatosis’s video, were TheGamingBrit and UnderTheMayo.

While GamingBrit casually talked about how GoW 2018 was shallow of its former self, it was UnderTheMayo that delivered a hard criticism on the game’s lackluster combat quality.

1. No jumping
2. Enemies that strike you off-screen, making you use the “red cone” indicator when you’re about to get hit
3. The level grinding, which was off-putting for a game that features Kratos, a literal God.
   “The dude killed the entire Olympian pantheon shirtless, and you’re telling me you have to level up armor?“
4. Lack of enemy variety
5. Lack of boss variety
6. Foced Walking sections

I highly recommend you watch these guys’ critique to get a better understanding of where I am coming from.

The sad Conclusion & Outcome

God of War 2018 was a miracle for Santa Monica Studios.
It’s a mediocre game that was expected to flop on release, and has subverted the expectations of everyone at that studio.

It came out just at the right time, when the gaming industry was at its worst.
When nobody had any real standards and expectations for any new game that came out.

God of War 2018 was a complete package with no catch to it.
You buy it, you get it.

And that’s what really made it.

Before GoW 2018, the gaming market was saturated with online multiplayer-only video games.
Nowadays, Game companies realize that they can create mediocre open-world games and get away with it.
As of this date (27-05-2025), the gaming market is still saturated with these mediocre open-world games.

Wake me up when the gaming community has standards, or at least when the gaming market is saturated with fast-paced hack-and-slash games.