Last week, in news that can be categorized in the "things we're really not surprised about" column, God of War IV was leaked -and then officially announced- alongside a new trailer.

Proposed as a prequel, this new God of War  supposedly tells a tale of Kratos during a time that he is not shaking with anger, shivering with rage, or filling his pantaloons with globules of bitterness.  It's hard to deduce much so far, since little information has been released, and the trailer only hints at the ambiance of the game, but making it a prequel means that not a lot needs to be changed in the series. In a prequel, all the same bosses and enemies magically respawn, meaning that -if need be- Kratos can fight them again. Or at least adversaries of similar background.

Not that I've ever been the biggest God of War fan, but it  worries me that there will be more of the same rather bold leaps. Why not continue to move forward, with all the Gods dead and new Gods struggling to take their place. Maybe it would be too bold of a move for Sony to stomach, but why not have Kratos dealing with the rise of Christianity? Why not have him fight Yahweh? Or attempt to stop the birth of Jesus, by pulling him back into that virgin womb with those beastly chains of his? Sure, it could be a fools errand, but what better way to finish the Kratos story than to have him finally defeated at the hands of the new religions?

It would be a fitting end, but sometime developers prefer to go back to established  cannon, rather than continuing a story. Maybe it's in an attempt to avoid the ire of the hardcore fans? Or maybe there is some interest in seeing how it all began. Sometimes I fear that it is more the former, and perhaps that might be one of the main factors stunting the evolution of story in our games.

But I would rather see developers take a chance and fail, then not take a chance at all. To push stories to their limit, and develop new and interesting worlds for our protagonists to exist in.

Those are the stories I want to see.

 

Comments

  • Avatar
    lemith
    11 years, 11 months ago

    I like your idea Joseph, but seriously doubt that we will see any form of ambition in this project.

  • Avatar
    pioshfd
    11 years, 11 months ago

    I had the same idea you had, Joseph. I would actually be interested in seeing Kratos go toe to toe with Odin or maybe faced up against Shiva or even Buddha! ...Okay, maybe not Buddha; but I'm a religion-buff and would have loved to see some of the other pantheons make an appearance.

  • Avatar
    StückBrot
    11 years, 11 months ago

    Nordic gods, egyptian gods, indian gods, babylonian gods... the possibilites are endless, but sadly they are probably gonna stick to their already established universe and not try anything drasticly new, which is a shame really.