Backing up Kratos at all times is Atreus, who has a dedicated button to command him to shoot arrows at whoever you're targeting.
God of war 1 pc space in hard disk full#
These spectacle kills are so satisfying that I was constantly looking for an excuse to lose the axe and go full boxer. Once fully staggered, Kratos can seal the deal with an instant execution straight out of Doomguy's library of glory kills. Blunt blows don’t deal as much damage as the axe, but they do fill enemy stagger meters super fast. (Image credit: Sony)īecause nothing in God of War goes to waste, unarmed combat is an entirely different beast with its own skill tree and advantages. It often made sense for me to leave that pinned enemy in place, because axe-less Kratos can still fight with his two meaty fists. You can chuck the axe like a boomerang for a quick attack that bounces off enemies or throw it overhead for a harder hit that sticks and freezes them in place. That said, reaching for Ctrl might become a nuisance after a while if you don't have pinkies of steel. It was a good sign for God of War's default keybindings when I instinctually called back the axe by pressing the standard R reload key and it totally worked.
Axe combat translates surprisingly well to keyboard and mouse, too: left and right mouse are standard attacks and you have to hold Ctrl to ready a throw. It feels just as cool as it looks and doesn't stop being cool for dozens of hours. You've probably seen cool gifs of Kratos throwing the axe at a draugr and recalling it back to his hand like Thor's Mjölnir hammer. Here, again, Sony Santa Monica leverages Kratos' supernatural might to let you do impossible things with an axe, like cleave three enemies in half with a single move. In combat, the Leviathan is a gratifying balance of heft and speed that hits a lot harder than Kratos' old Blades of Chaos. It can pry open doors, destroy obstacles, freeze machinery in place, or be thrown the length of a football field to nab hard-to-reach loot. The axe is your primary weapon and do-it-all multitool throughout the entire game. One character introduced halfway through is easily the best part of the game, a wise old grandpa figure brimming with useful advice and stories to fill the dead air while the trio boat around Midgard.įor as good as God of War's characters and stories are, my strongest memories all revolve around one of the greatest weapons in videogames: the Leviathan Axe. Their relationship evolves organically as they take on the world together, but Sony Santa Monica was smart to let side characters do some heavy lifting as well. Kratos, meanwhile, is an emotionally distant father who projects his own issues on other people. Be better," Kratos tells him after taking a careless shot at a deer). Atreus is determined to prove he's ready to make the journey and pressured to live up to Kratos' high standards ("Do not be sorry. It's obvious from the jump that the two aren't close. It's not exactly a new narrative trick to pair a strong silent type with an inquisitive youngster, but unlike the developing relationship of Joel and Ellie, Atreus and Kratos already have a layered rapport that's steadily peeled back over time.
Lifting big rocks wouldn't be near as fun without the back and forth banter with Atreus (or as he's often called, "boy"). For a character that used to mostly show his toughness by killing every living thing in the room, it's nice to see Kratos throw his weight around the world itself. Where Nathan Drake looks for a chain to lift an ancient pulley, Kratos simply throws his axe at the gears so hard that they spin. It's both cool and funny how often Atreus ponders how they're going to cross a gap just as Kratos lifts a beam the size of six cars or spins an entire building like it's a windup toy. My strongest memories all revolve around one of the greatest weapons in videogames: the Leviathan Axe.