God of War [PS4, PC]

[tuna]

This is obviously a very different game than GOW1-3 (and its spinoffs). It would of course be cool if people made more games in that style, but I also like the fact that this dev team wants to do something fresh and different.

 

[TEEDA]

But maybe they found that the button smashing/comboing non stoping action made it's time and didn't evolve. there are other games like that like DMC, or the upcoming Nier which thanks to platinum games looks like Metal gear Rising.
I do think they' re aiming at a gameplay which could make use of more "interactive " mechanics, contextual, more ways to defeat the opponents using elemental attributes, maybe traps. they said they didn't toned down the intensity and brutality from previous GOW.
One thing I liked from Ascension that I talked before the game was revealed, that they implemented was the ability to use ennemies weapons. That was great but underused i think. I loved the weapons in GOW 1 especially the sword. But Ascension had less diversity on the weapon side. I didn't like it much as GOW II or III. But yes more story driven focused experience. But with a new " modern ? " approach and twist to combat gameplay, maybe more strategic which could also add to the remplay value and less repetitive manoeuvres. They also if I remember noted few years ago that most of the people kept using the same weapon and favorite ones like ( blade of chaos ) and power it up more than the others. Now they may bring more varied weapons that all have their use and not spam the same power. or ability over again.
But I get you too Phil. What I would ve loved for this GOW IV was an evolving gameplay also using the free climbing mechanic of Shadow of the colossus or Dragon's dogma with that old school gow gameplay. But maybe it wouldn't have worked well. I' m sure they have experimented that as well.

Infos from jeuxactu.com

- The behind closed doors demo was more about showing the exploration side of the game.

- He asked him whether the game will have a skill tree and Cory Barlog was reluctant to answer and didn't neither confirm it nor deny it. He only replied that they are still working on that aspect.

- The axe is not only helpful in combat, but also in exploration, like collecting objects and items: for example there is a distant object that you can't reach or you need to walk for some time to get it, just throw your axe on it and call it back, it will retrieve the object with it.

-The axe has really amazing complex combos connecting the throwing and the recovering of it: You hit an enemy with the axe or other weapon, you throw your axe on the enemy (you can probably continue punching him or beating him with another weapon) then you jump, and instantly call your axe midair and beat him or finish him from the airs.

 

[London Geezer]

I think Phil's main problem is the 30fps vs a kinda-60fps-not-quite-but-faster-than-30fps.

Unfortunately, as we've seen many times already, we live in a world where GOW will have to compete with Uncharted 4 and all the Uber Pretty AAA Games that have been released lately. And that can only mean 30fps. Until Neo comes out, when you'll still get 30fps but at higher res. Or until PS5, where you'll still get 30fps but even prettier graphics.

 

[Phil]

I think GoW3 with it's not-quite-60fps () did quite well against Uncharted 2 & 3, even KillZone 2 & 3 back then. I still think it was one of the prettiest games of last generation. It probably achieved that because of the way the camera system was fixed and predictable. Because the characters were also quite small, I also assume they were using quite a bit of lower polygon models for most of it, only to switch to more detailed ones for the special combo-moves when the camera would zoom up close. And lets face it; The whole game was just one marvelous set-piece. No exploration, very narrow path of where you could actually go and where most battles took place. But this also gave the ability to create a spectacle. Just about any battle in GoW3 was. The boss fights were just the tip of the ice berg so to speak.

So yes, naturally, I am disappointed when I see the devs seemingly throw the greatest thing about GoW3 (its fast relentless combat against multiple enemies) out the window in favor of more story-driven-intimate-and-realistic gameplay. And the framerate is part of that too. I mean seriously, I know I'm known to be a bit of a framerate fanatic here (psycho or not, at least I'm loyal to that), but if I was a developer and I was about to develop a 'realistic story-driven-game', I'd be aiming for 30fps too. However, if I was about to develop something fast-paced and as relentless as the previous GoW games have been, I'd be targeting 60fps for sure. I think Santa Monica is like that too and in understanding that, I feel they are about to make a very different game that besides Kratos and the plot of involving some ancient mythology and gods will not have much in common with the previous games (from a gameplay perspective).

At the same time, I want to stress that I do think that what they have shown of GoW so far from a purely technological and visual perspective is absolutely stunning. I'm close to saying the most impressive playable thing showed at E3 so far. At times, I was wondering if this might be actually running on even better hardware than just a PS4. It's hard not to be impressed from that perspective, 30fps or not, so if I am voicing any criticism or concern, I'm not trying to troll or be an annoyance - I'm just voicing my disappointment as a fan of GoW3. And for the record, GoW3 was the first God of War game I played - and it was so good, I actually got to play 1 & 2 too (although I never completed them... shame on me). And no, I didn't like Ascension either, even though it's hard to pin point why exactly. Maybe it had to do with ego needing to complete it on the hardest difficulty on my first play through, then getting stuck midway through the game to the point I nearly set my PS3 on fire... talk about stubbornness.

 

[London Geezer]

Phil, you are never a troll. You're just standing up for our second amendment right to 60fps in games.

 

[Sigfried1977]

I think Phil's main problem is the 30fps vs a kinda-60fps-not-quite-but-faster-than-30fps.

Unfortunately, as we've seen many times already, we live in a world where GOW will have to compete with Uncharted 4 and all the Uber Pretty AAA Games that have been released lately. And that can only mean 30fps. Until Neo comes out, when you'll still get 30fps but at higher res. Or until PS5, where you'll still get 30fps but even prettier graphics.

I'd consider the likes of Battlefront, or Doom, or Infinite Warfare (I'm not a CoD guy at all, but the demo they had at the Sony PK looked nuts) to be uber pretty as well, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. I'm not that bothered by the framerate, though. I think Phil's dead on regardless. If I'm going to watch an Expendables movie, the last thing I'd expect or want was for it to be bogged down by something like, let's say, a marriage drama. Doesn't mean something like that couldn't work in the context of some other action movie. I just do not appreciate it in that one particular context.

 

[ultragpu]

Game runs great even in this early state

Nice, even DF thinks it's the best looking PS4 game along side Horizon Zero Dawn, but knowing SSM the final build would usually receive a pretty healthy visual upgrade, not to mention the eventual Neo version, my my the wait is torturous.

 

[AlNom]

I was hoping for the Egyptian Mythology before the Norse, but oh well.

Indeed.

 

[London Geezer]

I'd consider the likes of Battlefront, or Doom, or Infinite Warfare (I'm not a CoD guy at all, but the demo they had at the Sony PK looked nuts) to be uber pretty as well, so I wouldn't say it's impossible. I'm not that bothered by the framerate, though. I think Phil's dead on regardless. If I'm going to watch an Expendables movie, the last thing I'd expect or want was for it to be bogged down by something like, let's say, a marriage drama. Doesn't mean something like that couldn't work in the context of some other action movie. I just do not appreciate it in that one particular context.

Don't get me wrong, I think Doom is a total riot. Still trying to finish it. I didn't expect to have this much fun with it. COD:AW I also loved and looked great.

All I'm saying is that our expectations with these first party Sony games, the reality, is that all these AAA games will come out at 30fps, with the prettiest pixels they can possibly push. And maybe wait for Neo and The Next One to patch them up and run faster, if at all possible. Or re-release them completely.

That's the reality.

 

[ultragpu]

A very informative IGN interview with Barlog.
* We will be fighting epic giant bosses
* That troll was just a normal grunt we often get to fight
* Tons of variety in the environments that we haven't seen
* Game has been in development for 3-4 years
* The kid wont get in the way of your kill, only to support
And much more.

 

[Billy Idol]

No way!!! Norse is so much cooler than Egyptian...Egyptian is so boring!!!

 

[London Geezer]

Both have been overdone to death, really.

If you want edgy, radical and never done before then Kratos going through the Bible and the Koran is the only option.

Sony would probably be annihilated by suicide bombers and random bible bashing fundamentalists, but that's another issue.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Nothing crazy about bible bashing anymore, though. It's very much the hip thing to do, and EA already more or less did just that in Dante's Inferno. They even had to manufacture the outrage because no-one really gave a fuck.

Anyway, the fun thing about the Olympians and the Norse gods is that they're basically X-Men. Pretty regular dudes and gals with superpowers who aren't above enjoying booze and sleeping around.

 

[AlNom]

I think GoW3 with it's not-quite-60fps () did quite well against Uncharted 2 & 3, even KillZone 2 & 3 back then. I still think it was one of the prettiest games of last generation. It probably achieved that because of the way the camera system was fixed and predictable.

Christer Ericson and Phil Wilkins chimed in on this years ago. Make of it what you will...
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1429406/
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1429407/

Because the characters were also quite small, I also assume they were using quite a bit of lower polygon models for most of it, only to switch to more detailed ones for the special combo-moves when the camera would zoom up close.

I'm not sure if it applies to the NPCs, but Kratos was one LOD to save on memory IIRC; I certainly don't recall popping for him at least. @London-boy might?

 

[wco81]

Kratos with Norse mythology?

Come on, they're jumping the shark.

 

[Clukos]

Kratos with Norse mythology?

Come on, they're jumping the shark.

Hey, there's nothing else to kill in Greek mythology! Kratos has his eyes set on some new gods, will probably rip some heads and legs to use as furniture for his new family home

 

[Phil]

Christer Ericson and Phil Wilkins chimed in on this years ago. Make of it what you will...
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1429406/
https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/1429407/

Excellent stuff AlNets, I wasn't aware that this was a topic and that actual devs of the game commented on this specifically. Very nice info. From that I gather from the links, the whole scene needs to rendered anyway, because the camera is somewhat unpredictable and pans in or out depending on what the player does. So perhaps the fixed camera wasn't used to such an advantage there. Maybe my point was more that if you know that the camera is usually above and only viewing a rather smaller real estate of the scene, it allows the developers to optimize the scene accordingly. E.g. you might not concentrate too much on your best assets on things you hardly see and optimize for what you do usually see, that being the view from above. Then when the camera pans in, the focus of the player would be naturally on the kill-move, so Kratos, and not necessarily on whatever is in the background.

 

[TEEDA]

Some artworks here of Kratos and his son
http://www.thevideogamegallery.com/info/game:god-of-war-ps4

Missed things people probably didn't notice while watching the trailer

Hermes boots from GOW III
http://i65.tinypic.com/2evfez7.jpg

Axe upgrade probably using elemental runes..
http://i68.tinypic.com/104etzq.jpg

 

[AlNom]

No trophy wall of skulls?

Well... I guess there wouldn't be too many intact anyway. Surely he could continue using Helios' head when camping out in the woods.

 

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, everytime someone mentioned a benefit of fixed camera for GOW, I think: there was even a dev that posted on B3D that this is not so true

Still, everytime GOW graphics are mentioned, someone will say fixed camera....I think they have this now sorted out with the new game