Game Discovery · Reviews · Curated Lists
Get Weekly Picks
Action 2018 · Santa Monica Studio

God of War (2018)

A reinvention that nobody expected and everyone needed. Kratos, the god-killer, is now a father trying to be better — and the gap between those two things drives one of gaming's greatest stories.

9.6
PixelPick Score
PC PlayStation

Santa Monica Studio took a franchise built on spectacle and anger and rebuilt it entirely around intimacy. The entire game is one unbroken camera shot — no cuts, no loading screens behind doors, just Kratos and his son Atreus moving through the Norse realms as a single continuous experience.

The combat trades the old God of War’s crowd control for something more deliberate and weighty. The Leviathan Axe — which you throw and recall with a satisfying thunk — is one of the best-feeling weapons in game design history. Combat has depth: parries, runic attacks, shield counters, and enemy types that require different approaches.

But the real achievement is Kratos and Atreus’s relationship. Christopher Judge’s restrained, broken performance as a father learning how to love his son is extraordinary. Their dynamic evolves naturally over 30 hours.

Why PixelPick recommends it: One of the best games of its generation. If you have a PS4, PS5, or a PC capable of running it, there’s no excuse not to play this.

Tags

action story-driven mythology father-son combat