Test God of War: the masterpiece of the PS4 is doing well on PC

Initiated on PS2, the God of War saga finally arrives on PC, with an episode with a (good) taste of reboot, which migrates Kratos (and the players) from Ancient Greece to the Nordic lands of Midgard.

Test God of War: the masterpiece of the PS4 is doing well on PC View PriceRead ConclusionGod of War

Technically dazzling
The Kratos/Atreus cooperation
The very rich combat system (and even a little demanding at times)
Many side quests, and often fabulous

A first contact that will inevitably confuse some
The map, not very clear anyway
The customization/upgrade interface

A PC version that lives up to the legend?

After Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding, one of the best PS4 exclusives is coming to PC to the delight of all fans of large graphics cards (what the shortage?). Already dazzling on the Sony console, God of War has benefited from an update on PS5, unlocking the framerate to reach 60 frames / sec. Good news, on PC you can push the sliders much further if your hardware allows it.

The game offers many settings to make the most of the available hardware (including ultra-wide screens), and will be compatible from launch with NVIDIA's DLSS and AMD's FSR. Without going into details, these upscaling techniques will allow you to save precious images/sec to increase the graphics parameters. If they are not very numerous, the most important are present.

NVIDIA has also integrated its REFLEX technology to reduce latency as much as possible. If the boost will mainly be felt by playing the keyboard / mouse combo, we will much prefer to play with the controller. Know that the irreducible will be able to configure all the keys to their liking.

In terms of performance, the game runs at more than 110 frames / sec in 1440p, all settings at maximum and without DLSS on our rather muscular configuration (RTX 3090 / i9-11900K). If you activate DLSS in performance mode, the framerate even reaches 150 frames/sec. For more modest configurations, it is still possible to exceed 60 frames / sec in 4K ultra on an RTX 3060 with DLSS activated in performance mode! Finally, we did not encounter any crashes during our tests. Nothing to report in terms of content, it is strictly identical to the PS4 version.

God of War is dead... long live God of War !

If you follow video game news at least, you know that this God of War PS4 is a completely revisited episode. This new episode gives pride of place to a whole new form of gameplay, including a repositioned camera, a redesigned combat system (without the Blades of Chaos), but also an evolution in cooperation with the young Atreus, side quests, magic, a Nordic mythology, a thick and finely trimmed beard... In short, know it, this God of War has everything to destabilize the first hour fan. A title that can actually confuse the player during the first minutes / hours of play, but which will gradually deploy all its qualities, until it ends in a rather exceptional masterpiece.

Thus, for the record, we find here this dear Kratos who, after the events that occurred in the previous opuses, decided to go and cool off on the side of Midgard by settling down sparingly in a small cabin in the heart of the forest. . Kratos is now accompanied by his son, Atreus, and the two will embark on a journey, in order to respect the wishes of the wife of the bald divine, Faye. A revisited Kratos, flanked by a brand new beard, but who quickly demonstrates that he has lost none of his divine attributes, this time facing all the barbarism of Nordic mythology.

A Resident Evil 4 reboot?

As mentioned a little above, this God of War PS4 is a completely redesigned episode. Exit the impressive camera angles, and make way for a dynamic camera placed behind our hero. This greatly changes the very approach of the adventure game: it will be necessary to constantly observe the places visited, the latter being full of bonuses to recover, but also of alternative paths. Rather interventionist at the start, God of War literally opens over the hours, and will in particular allow you to divert a few hours from the main quest, to accomplish various ancillary tasks. Secondary objectives not to be neglected, since if some simply allow you to recover a little XP or Money, others will not only allow you to recover rare objects, but also to discover a whole new part of the map, with some breathtaking sequences and some (very) impressive bosses. As far as we are concerned, this God of War PS4 reminded us of a certain Resident Evil 4 in terms of its risk-taking and its reorientation. The game therefore retains all of its aura, while modifying (sometimes drastically) the codes of the saga, to achieve a whole new God of War experience, as was the case for Capcom's title at the time.

JVFR

For the first time, God of War therefore offers a map, places to explore (with a completion percentage), objects to recover to modify Kratos' attributes, armor to forge, to improve... A fully RPG side assumed, and rather well brought here, since the latter will also develop over the hours so as not to rush the player too much. In the long term, it will therefore be necessary to spend its XP to discover new capacities (in particular new attacks) to be attributed to Kratos and Atreus, but also to manage its equipment and its runes according to the environment. Obviously, the most perilous quests will often make it possible to get their hands on very rare objects, and even to open complete environments which will be inaccessible to those who will be satisfied with the main quest. Via an ingenious hub system, God of War makes it possible to revisit the places already visited, and thus allow Kratos and Atreus to reach this or that ledge, to unlock a door thanks to a new ability... In certain aspects, the PS4 game will also be somewhat reminiscent of The Last of Us, with our two heroes constantly needing each other to evolve.

Obviously, God of War benefits from an absolutely breathtaking staging, with not only the Kratos / Atreus relationship evolving over the hours, but also some anthology sequences and an avalanche of bosses and other dantesque fights to perform. On this subject, Kratos has here an axe, Leviathan, and if the attack possibilities seem very limited at the start of the game, we quickly manage to understand all the subtlety of the new combat system, which quickly reveals itself from a unheard-of wealth. Added to this are very well thought-out puzzles, rewarding the player with chests opened with all the delicacy that characterizes this dear Kratos. One can for example throw his ax at an enemy to nail him to the wall, attack his accomplice with his bare hands, while ordering Atreus to riddle the third thief who arrives behind us with arrows. By pressing Triangle, we call Leviathan back to slay the enemy during its journey, before performing a quick U-turn and finishing off the knocked-out enemy behind us by pressing R2 for a long time. Obviously, to these super-dynamic combat sequences are added the famous executions of God of War, in particular in the face of the bosses, always so wildly grandiose.

JVFR

A dazzling technique?

Obviously, this revival on the gameplay / progression / style of play side, is accompanied by a total graphic overhaul, with an opus developed especially for the PS4. Thus, God of War offers increasingly vast environments as you progress, but the Santa Monica Studios game also displays a level of detail rarely achieved. Just observe the textures, the visual effects, the particles, the modeling of the two heroes, the lighting effects, the staging effects, the snow, the mud... everything has been optimized to the maximum, and force is to admit that the result is quite dazzling for the retina, whether we play on PS4 as on PS4 Pro. To this visual prowess is also added a rather incredible technical miracle, since God of War does not impose any loading time once the adventure has started. Best of all, the game uses a sequence shot-like staging system, with no black screens, shot changes or anything else, so the same camera will follow Kratos (and Atreus) from the first minute to the last. game. Bluffing.

In terms of lifespan, this new God of War will require between 20 and 30 hours of your time to complete this magnificent journey. As said before, we can only advise you too much not to neglect the side quests or even the treasure hunts, the latter allowing in particular to search the smallest corners of the map, which are full of superb places to visit. We can also try to take up the various challenges integrated into the main quest, with elimination objectives, objects to recover, doors to unlock...

JVFR

In short, if some are bound to be skeptical during the very first minutes/hours of the adventure (arguing to whoever wants to listen that "it's not God of War!"), the game very quickly manages to to fill the peepers, to deploy a rather incredible gigantism, a nervous gameplay and a rather palpable overall richness, so that even the most skeptical should quickly be filled with happiness. A spectacular, violent, rich and devilishly inspired title, which also took care to hide many subtleties from players during its development.

However, everything is not perfect: we will note a gameplay that is sometimes a little rigid or even some somewhat dated mechanics, not to mention an imprecise map, but that does not prevent this new God of War from constituting a successful new start for the saga, and incidentally one of the best games in the PS4 toy library (even of this generation).

God of War : l'avis de JVFR

Like a Resident Evil 4 in its time, God of War PS4 manages to retain all the aura of the saga, while completely revolutionizing its game system and its progression. A risk-taking payoff for Santa Monica Studios, which delivers a work of impressive density, carefully developed and equipped with a dazzling technique, on PS4 as on PS4 Pro. An undeniable masterpiece, with a Kratos / Atreus tandem that will keep you spellbound for nearly thirty hours, whether you are an unconditional fan of the original saga or not.

God of War

God of War manages to keep all the aura of the saga, while completely revolutionizing its game system and progression. Santa Monica Studios delivers a work of impressive density, elaborated with care and endowed with a dazzling technique. An undeniable masterpiece.