God Of War IV: Should It Have A New Hero And Setting?

We have to assume a fourth God of War is on the way, and recent evidence makes us believe that Sony Santa Monica is already cranking on the new adventure.

But here's the big question: should we have the same hero and setting? The developers have said Kratos' story will have to come to an end at some point, and if you played and completed God of War III, you probably have a lot of questions...

Now, Kratos is a confirmed bad-ass and everyone seems to love the Greek mythology atmosphere. There's always more you can do with that, but SCEA Santa Monica may want to spread their wings; they've hinted as much in the past. But is this one franchise that absolutely requires a recognizable face and landscape? Will people be skeptical if the devs change everything? I mean, even if they keep the same gameplay (combat, platforming, etc.), we've been on the Kratos bandwagon since 2005. Familiarity is a good thing, isn't it?

There are other franchises that are often forced to change; Ubisoft started Assassin's Creed with Altair in a medieval setting, and then shifted to a new protagonist (Ezio) and the late-15th century in Italy. It seemed to work out there, didn't it? Of course, they tied Ezio to Altair and now, they're going to bring the two together in Constantinople in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. So we don't necessarily require the same hero and atmosphere. Still, as I said above, we've been playing as Kratos for a good six years.

Okay, so if they change it, what should we see? What kind of character and setting would you love to immerse yourself in?

Tags: god of war, god of war 4, god of war iv, god of war sequel

10/31/2011 9:19:27 PM Ben Dutka

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Comments (50 posts)

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bigrailer19
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:07:24 PM
Reply

I think if ita called GoW it should be Kratos in Greek mythology. It was called God of War for a specific reason, If you change that reason to be something else but keep the name of the game well that wouldn't be right.

I'd like some questions answered though about Kratos, n I'd also like to see that "alternate ending" that supposably exists.

But if they want to do something else that's fine by me, just don't call it GoW.

4 up, 5 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:10:29 PM

Nonsense, there are many gods of war.

8 up, 2 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:33:35 AM

You should just stick to Dante, I'd much rather keep Kratos around. ;)

Last edited by bigrailer19 on 11/1/2011 12:34:08 AM

5 up, 4 down

ZenChichiri
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:25:01 AM

It should be called God of Cuddling. The back of the game would say something like "You are a cute panda bear and you must CUDDLE the GOD OF CUDDLING!"

Sounds intense. The God of Cuddling is really really good at cuddling.

1 up, 5 down

Underdog15
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:34:22 AM

Kratos isn't the god of war. Ares is. And if I'm not mistaken, did not the first GoW feature stopping Ares as the main priority?

I haven't played the first since it released, so memory is a little foggy.

3 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:58:46 AM

I never said ares wasn't the GoW. And yes stopping him was the priority. But at that point as you remember the focal point was on Kratos becoming the GoW after he finished off Ares.

Not to mention that, calling the next game GoW if Kratos isn't in it kind of takes away from why it's called that, they'd have to come up with something clever for a new protagonist if they got rid of Kratos n kept the name. That's all I'm saying. I'm open to whatever, I just would rather them try something else, than make a new GoW with a different character.

I'd still like to see, HS2 done by them. But that's just wishful thinking.

3 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 10:07:11 AM

What I'm saying is various mythologies have their own gods of war, so the title could stick easily.

3 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 10:30:54 AM

Of course there is... I don't know though. Just Seems awkward to me to do something without Kratos.

2 up, 2 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:12:47 PM
Reply

I'd like to see a new hero and new setting, it wouldn't make any sense for Kratos to keep killing. His vengeance is complete, what's he gonna do fight the Titans and Hundred-Handers for no reason?

Give me some Norse mythology with a brand new badass with his own problems.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 10/31/2011 10:13:07 PM

7 up, 1 down

TheIllusiveMan
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 11:35:58 PM

Keep Kratos!

Imagine this, end of GoW3 (spoilers), everyones dead, planets in ruin, Kratos' almost dead body washes up on the shore of some destroyed little island barely alive. Barely gaining enough strength to look up, he just says "Lysandra (his wife he killed, who is now avenged), I'm sorry" and collapses down. The terrible storm that's been raging suddenly opens up and massive amounts of light come through. Then through the light comes Odin.

Now just to keep it short, Odin saves Kratos because he wants his help and in return he would bring back Kratos' family. Whether or not he lies doesn't matter. Other than my writing skills needing major improvement, I believe that could be a perfect way to transition the series.

11 up, 0 down

giant123
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 9:15:19 AM

jman, that sounds pretty epic... Id say keep kratos and change the setting. think about it like this: where do the gods go when they die, and if they go somewhere wouldnt kratos end up in the same place? although killing the same gods over and over again might get old...

0 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:18:04 PM
Reply

GOW without Kratos?

That's like Christmas without Santa Claus.

Might take some getting used to if that is indeed the case.

6 up, 0 down

JustXTheTip
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:19:48 PM
Reply

I wouldn't mind seeing a seperate title by the same Santa Monica. I would still like a few of my questions to be answered. Maybe Kratos as a wise old man that has a disciple, but who to fight? Maybe Kratos brother will finally show up like was hinted in the extras for the first GoW. If you couldn't tell, most of this is wishful thinking.

0 up, 0 down

Twistedfloyd
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:53:34 PM
Reply

I don't think there's anymore room for Kratos. His story as far as I'm concerned is complete. There's no more room for anymore prequels, after III ended (and ended disappointingly, not the whole game but the ending and story itself), I just don't see how Kratos' story can continue.

It's over, it's done, there's nothing else really to explore.

If they continue it, I'd like to see maybe something in Egypt or Rome. But above all else, I'd like to see Santa Monica do something new. God of War is done, and now it's time to try something else.

1 up, 2 down

johnld
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 10:59:22 PM
Reply

i dont know much about kratos' past, i just played 1 to 3. i'd say they can bring his brother in as an enemy, i keep hearing about kratos' brother. gods could decide that the only way to stop kratos is to use someone he knows, brings back his brother to kill him. he's dethroned from being the god of war with his brother taking his place since the gods favor him over kratos. kratos then has to climb back up to either save or kill his brother. again, i dont know kratos' past so his relationship with his brother is unknown to me.

1 up, 2 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 11:00:26 PM

but all the gods are dead

1 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:40:01 AM

Not all of em'

0 up, 0 down

johnld
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 2:19:10 AM

well, since its based on greek mythology, i believe the gods were a horny bunch and had a lot of children.

0 up, 0 down

giant123
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 9:17:22 AM

* and half children..

0 up, 0 down

GuyverLT
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 1:41:31 PM

You really only played GOW 1&3 cause if you played the new GOW origins were he does actually fights his brother Deimos.

0 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 11:03:19 PM
Reply

as far as settings go it should definitely move away from the dark and cramped settings in gow 3. there was so much backtracking around that hub...i just did not care for it as much as i did gow1 or gow2. i thought the ending was meh as well. i would rate castlevannia los over gow3. it's a better game in many ways imo. better story, and it featured some absolutely gorgeous and open settings. that's something gow3 was lacking. anyways i absolutely loved clos. it had one of the best endings i have seen in a game this gen. great twist at the end.

i saw on the gow 3 extras that jaffee once had an intersting idea of where to take gow next. after taking on the greek gods he would continue on to the norse gods of legend. kratos vs odin and thor? i don't know about that...it does not feel right for some reason. what did the norse gods ever do to kratos to deserve that?

1 up, 4 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:32:17 AM

I'd much rather battle on a Titan than have an open scenery. That Titan boss battle was among the best things I've ever experienced in a game, it far out does most anything in gaming. The fact that Sony Santa Monicas engine could do that is amazing. Say what you will but GoW3 had a great story, awesome combat, and was one hell of an experience I'll never forget.

Never played Castlevania but from what I hear it's not my type of game. Don't know and prolly won't find out either.

2 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 7:49:13 AM

the titan boss battle was impressive, but it seemed to go downhill from there. gow3 could pf used something like the steads of time section in gow 2. somehow gow 3 felt smaller, and less epic to me than the previous gow games. a lot of small, dark rooms and backtracking. as for the story...to each their own. i'm glad you liked it.

i highly suggest you check out clos. if you like gow then i think you'll like castlevannia los. the gameplay is pretty similar. clos is a game that spans a lot of beautiful enviroments that have a great deal of variety to them. the combat is even a little deeper. there are some incredible boss battles in it as well. one that could have been pulled straight from sotc. a very under rated game imo. a very long game as well. it lasts around 20 hrs, and i can't say enough about that ending. wow is all i can say. it looks like hideo kojima being involved in the game paid off...he has the magic touch.

1 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 9:01:23 AM

Kojima knows how to end a game for sure. One of my favorite endings was in MGS snake eater! The boss battle was pretty epic too.

0 up, 0 down

AshT
Monday, October 31, 2011 @ 11:59:54 PM
Reply

I dont mind a new hero and setting, just keep the same gameplay

0 up, 0 down

godsdream
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:00:24 AM
Reply

Uhm guys, I think you shouldn't spoil anything for players that haven't played (really, you haven't played it??? really??) this franchise. This comments are full of spoilers, and it's appreciated even if you put spoiler alerts but still. You don't want to ruin even a little thing for them to enjoy one of the greatest franchises ever.

3 up, 0 down

Gordo
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 3:37:00 AM

Do we have to avoid spoilers in a 18 month old game?

I can understand in Heavy Rain but in God of War...

Now excuse me, I'm off to watch "The Crying Game" on DVD. Quite fancy that girl in it... Can't wait until she gets her kit off...

0 up, 1 down

PSTan
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:16:27 AM
Reply

Kratos had an epic closure with GOW3, it's time to move on to a new character and setting. Bringing back Kratos, in my opinion, would be Santa Monica's equivalent of pulling a Halo 4 (which was really unnecessary in my opinion).

On the flipside, the ending to GOW3 gave a lot of hints for a sequel. Either way, SM needs to make a choice: either keep the series the way it is now or provide answers with one last God of War. At this point in the game's universe, there isn't enough content to justify creating a new trilogy of games.

0 up, 0 down

Kevin555
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:54:19 AM
Reply

Although Kratos is quite simply, the man. If one had to kick his spartan arse off the throne i'd like it to be Athena personally.

I enjoyed using her in GOW2 as an extra skin.

0 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 1:52:45 AM
Reply

Hmm... strange that they'd just post up the project title like that. Not a fun way to do it. If this is indeed an indication of the return of Kratos and co., I hope that he's playing only a small role in trying to rebuild the world as he feels remorse for destroying it in the first place (Kratos and remorse in the same sentence? BLASPHEMY!). Anyway, he's basically succeeded and he's assigning the gods, when all of a sudden, it's like a crusade and the Roman gods come and it turns into an epic battle simulation (not quite RTS).

It may not be such a great idea, but it says military/combat as the genre, not action, not adventure...

But I hope that this is just misdirection to give the candidates an idea of the prestige of the team that they're going to be aiming to get access to.

0 up, 0 down

Gordo
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 3:31:58 AM
Reply

Love me a bit of Kratos but I think GOW3 had a good wrapped up ending...

As Yahtzee says in Zero Punctuation, Kratos has been cast down into Hades enough times to get a season ticket!
(Ok I paraphrase)

The Norse Gods may be good but it may start getting a little bit Tolkienesque...
(The mad bugger was a Germanic/Anglo Saxon schlolar)

Celtic Elves, rustic Hobbit English yeoman, Norse horsemen, German dwarves and the heathen southern Orc hordes...

I think it may be a bit old hat!

Probably keep it in the Greek World as that is their trademark but have another character?

What about basing it on David Gemmells Alexander the Great retelling? Showing my age but that was excellent and had magic, swords and history all wrapped up in a good story!

(Plus the odd red hot slave girl for good measure)

1 up, 0 down

___________
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 3:57:28 AM
Reply

obviously there working on a new GOW, its only one of $onys most successful series!
id put my money on a vita title though, no way there bringing out a new platform without one of their biggest series!
if its for the vita then hopefully its a prequel, not GOW4.
if it is for the ps3 then hopefully its GOW4 and of course pick up where 3 left off, and no kratos is not dead.
removing him from the series would be like removing mario from super mario brothers.
come on, you cant have GOW without the bald greek who seriously needs to go to anger management classes!

0 up, 2 down

Lawless SXE
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 4:30:45 AM

Why would Santa Monica work on a portable iteration? They're one of SCE's premier studios...

0 up, 0 down

___________
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 9:52:48 AM

y not?
there a massive studio helping out on so many other games, id be nice to see them do a GOW game for the vita and not shovel it off to ready at dawn.
no offence to them there a fantastic studio, did fantastic work with both PSP games.
but id be cool to see what SM could do with it.

0 up, 0 down

tanner1
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 7:48:44 AM
Reply

Would'nt be G.O.W without Kratos, it's like having fish without chips. If it's changed then re-title it.

0 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 10:36:28 AM

Indeed!

0 up, 0 down

Robochic
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:21:35 AM
Reply

Hmm I love Kratos just can't see playing a gow game without him we'll see what they pull out of their hat.

0 up, 0 down

tridon
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:31:19 AM
Reply

If Kratos is staying, I'd like to see the game jump into the future where Kratos returns to find the world has changed. It doesn't necessarily have to be modern times, it can be the future or the current past, but I think that'd be a great way to make the series fresh without having to get rid of the best element of the franchise: The Ghost of Sparta. ;)

EDIT: I think GoWIII had a great ending, though, and I think the PS3 has had a great run of God of War games with both HD Collections and the third title. I personally think that Sony should hold off on GoWIV and release it as a PS4 launch title. It'd definitely help sell the new console!

Last edited by tridon on 11/1/2011 8:35:45 AM

0 up, 0 down

tridon
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:32:54 AM

Or just for joke's sake, how about God of World War II... it was really Kratos who ended the war! The secrets are revealed!

Percy Jackson and the God of War? ;)

1 up, 0 down

gumbi
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 8:44:48 AM
Reply

I think GoW3 tied it up pretty well. I'd be okay with ending Kratos's story there.

I'd really like to see Santa Monica start a new franchise with the same formula. Lets move on to Norse, Chinese, Aztec, or Egyptian mythology. They may not have the recognition of Greek mythology, but they all have great stories to be told, and many gods to be dealt with ;)

Kratos is one of the greatest badasses of all time in the video game world, but his story has been told. Lets get a new protagonist/anti-hero. And they don't need to try and recreate kratos, in fact i think that would be a bad idea. Lets see an entirely new character, with a new personality driven to the edge and manipulated by the gods for revenge, redemption, power, or glory... whatever.

0 up, 0 down

matt99
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 10:13:04 AM
Reply

I'd love to see it involve ancient Egyptian mythology.

0 up, 0 down

Condemnedsoul23
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 11:02:01 AM
Reply

I'd be interested in a female lead character but she has to be brutal like Kratos

0 up, 0 down

GuyverLT
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 1:44:30 PM

Just play Heavenly Sword nuff said.

0 up, 0 down

Clamedeus
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 7:43:02 PM

^ What he said.

Good game by the way, just too short.

Last edited by Clamedeus on 11/1/2011 7:43:25 PM

0 up, 0 down

DjEezzy
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 12:24:53 PM
Reply

I'd love to see them venture into japanese mythology or norsk mythology. I think that would be bad ass.

0 up, 0 down

BIGRED15
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 1:49:26 PM
Reply

Nordic myth would b so sick. In a culture that's all about war, u could make a game just as brutal.

0 up, 0 down

tes37
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 @ 6:12:04 PM
Reply

I like Kratos, but the God Of War theme could be used with different settings and characters. All it takes is talent and everyone would be on board. Just do it right, Santa Monica.

0 up, 0 down

JackDillinger89
Wednesday, November 02, 2011 @ 1:39:10 AM
Reply

In my honest opinion if there is a gow4 coming out they need to not make it extremely linear and make it a longer more varied campaign. Im about done paying $59.99 for a game with a 8-10 hour campaign that i can beat in 1 or 2 days with not much incentive to replay it again. Dont get me wrong i enjoyed every second of Gow3, but attempting a second playthrough it gets boring fast and not the same. Also i would consider gow 4 a definite fail if they remove kratos from it. I cant imagine a uncharted without drake.

0 up, 0 down

Jaylynn
Wednesday, November 02, 2011 @ 2:47:10 PM
Reply

God Of War without Kratos!? Big mistake that would be.

Last edited by Jaylynn on 11/2/2011 2:47:33 PM

0 up, 0 down

tear dem
Thursday, November 03, 2011 @ 8:37:41 PM
Reply

you need kratos if you are making God Of War 4

0 up, 0 down

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