Me too. Ive never felt the way i felt in the first fight at his house, im also barely at the begining but man, im so impressed. The only other time a game impressed me this much was The Last of Us, and Shenmue I before that.

@necrum & s2k,

Damn right. I think this open-linear direction is what we need right now to get our minds off the dreaded open world grind/fatigue. GoW is a shining example of hand crafted level design. I constantly find my self veering away from the main objective marker while forgetting all about the main story; yes the exploring in this game is almost on par with the main stuff, its that good and rewarding (and hard as F* sometimes).

I think this is the best game I've played in years...only bloodborne comes close. I love it so much that I've bought a second copy to gift it to my nephew. Well deserved Santa Monica, well deserved.

Edit: Oh about this review, well didn't they noticed that the time to post "that" review has passed? Pathetic trolling attempt...

"n4g, the only place you can say you think a game is great and people crap all over it."

Really? Are you sure? Get a computer and try this place called the internet. You will see far worse.

Also there is something to be said for getting gut punched when you come into a situation where you know the lay of the land and decide to kick sand on people. Stop acting as if you were praising the game. I know you are not anti-PS4. At least you did not used to be. You said you played through The Order twice and hoped for a sequel. Still, you should know better.

See that guy in the news a day ago that went to Peru and insulted local people even though he said he really loved the culture? So he razzed on their religion and their local shaman was killed and they blamed him? Odds are he didn't shoot the shaman but someone took the opportunity to push the blame on him. See that? I'm an atheist but there are just some things common sense says, don't be surprised when you do A and B and then C happens. Had he not insulted the religion there in their face he would have been okay. You actually do not get to complain at that point because you should have known.

GoW is being universally hailed. Not just by fans but by other developers. Even Microsoft has applauded the game. What do you really expect? I do not personally dislike you but let's be serious. You are being naive if your surprise is the least bit genuine.

Morgan....You gotta be kidding right? Killed the shaman 🤔? That is a crazy story if true and I feel bad for the man. I'm against all of these false religions including Christianity ( I'm not an atheist) but keep my thoughts to myself. Hopefully he wasn't involved and they set him free.

@hamburger,

The guy when down there to study local medicines but had a habit of poking at religions (which I think are absolutely evil 99% of the time) He offended the locals. He had been there for a while. The other day someone shot and killed the local shaman. He was blamed since he was a newcomer and had made light of their beliefs. There were supposed eyewitnesses but we know how that works sometimes. The shooting was completely out of character for him but he was blamed and lynched. They dragged him through the streets by his neck and killed him.

https://www.washingtonpost....

Do we need an x1x or a x1f with graphics like this?!

This is the problem with xbox one. It will not get the top exclusives it will only get games that are on all platforms.

I don't think they need to do anything new all the time. I also said, it's a great game, I really enjoyed it. But I think in order to be a 10 it should be cohesively one of the greatest games of all time, which these scores are indicating. In this example I don't think it's the greatest game of all time. I think it's a great game. The reviews I've read do not seem to align with the game I played. Although it comes together nicely, I am missing the masterpiece. Again, I think it's a great game, but for some, simply thinking a game is great isn't good enough.

In the example of god of war we aren't talking about games need to do something new to be good. It's a good game, a great game even, but a masterpiece. I don't think so. Nobody ever said games need to do something new to be good.

I can say the samething about the last gta game, Zelda and Mario games. Though they were great games, nothing in those games blew me away like the god of war bosses, even the story in god of war and the graphics we're better than any of those games yet those are sitting at 97 metacritic. Everyone has their own opinions but what i wrote down about god of war are facts.

If I have to nit pick the flaws of this game. I would give this game a 9.5/10.

But I would give this game a final verdict 10/10. I would add another 0.5 on my previous verdict of 9.5 for 3 reasons

1) SSM have the balls to reinvent such an inconic character like Kratos and resurrect a stale franchise to it's amazing form. Sure, it might not have an "innovative mechanics" but it works well with the new GOW.

2) A complete single player experience (enough said)

3) No microtransaction and other BS

Do you say that about Mario? or Mario Kart? or Zelda? I doubt it. Mario keeps getting high scores yet the stupid plumber keeps getting his Mrs kidnapped. No one ever goes, oh Mario, that story is old, or its just more jumping and collecting. One rule for one and another rule for someone else.
Go on guys put your head on and think, what can games really do that has not been done before?

"but I'm not seeing a universal 10"

what??? are you telling me you are the universe and you are the all and powerful gaming Gaming critique who has the powerful power to bestow a universal score which is absolute?

going by your logic no game deserves a 10 because for it to have a score of universal 10 everyone in the planet should like it.

“mechanically and story wise it's not doing anything that hasn't been done before“

This is what I’m talking about and it has been said with games before. Games do NOT need to do anything new just to be good. There’s really not much a game could do that hasn’t been done before if you sit and think about it. If people would stop trying to reinvent or revolutionize gaming they’d probably see that there are plenty of awesome games already out there.

@tontontam0

Not to mention of a score was universal there would be even more of these articles crying for the sake of it.

So what in your opinion is a game that is worth a 10/10?

For me games like mgs, mgs4, bloodborne, gears of war, uncharted 2, the last of us, horizon zero Dawn, and the latest god of war all deserved those 10's because at the time of their releases they pushed gaming to new heights and set the bar high in almost every phase of the game. Not just gameplay, but every aspect of the game.

The production quality is honestly on a whole other level.

Gameplay wise it's deep and rewarding, the combat system, while maybe not perfect if you look at it as if it was a fighting game, is DAMN GREAT. And if you look at it from a hack&slash perspective (which it is) it's just amazing. I know other games (godhand?) have done something akin to this before but never at that level of polish.

Graphically it's out of this world. The story is just awesome, the level design is really well done and it takes cues from the best. (Metroid, Dark Souls, etc.) The way it mix open-world design with linear design is something to behold and it was never done on this scale before and never this good anyway.

It has RPG elements to it, a rewarding crafting system, a shit ton of challenge and so much to see everywhere... And all of it is deep and well crafted. None of it feels like it was bolted on for the sake of it. It all comes together like a great puzzle.

Add in the beautiful cinematography, the one-shot camera deal, the way it uses HDR like I've never seen yet, the general extreme level of polish and the replayability and you got yourself a killer.

Some won't like everything and others will always find something to complain about. I worked in the industry for a few years and I can appreciate to it's just value the amount of effort and work and heart that was put into this piece of art. This is what you get when a talented studio are given the time, talent and money to bring it's
vision to reality.

It's amazing. Simply the best at what it does.

The game gets 10s because it is a very polished game, great story, great gameplay, presentation, it literally does everything well minus some issues that do not detract from the experience. That si what a 10/10 means: A game that does everything well with no issues that detract the experience

Games should be rated by their own merits and not some personal criteria, like you criteria here saying a 10/10 game needs to bring something new. Also this game is ''One of the best'' which is what critics have said.

There's not ''Greatest of all time.'' The world hasn't stop spinning yet to any game become that. Many 10/10 games in the past have brought nothing and they are not questioned. Innovative games like indies and some AA don't get 10s and don't get attention. There's no mandatory requirement for games to be 10/10

Witcher 3 got 10s and didn't bring something new. Dark souls have been a very influential game and considered one of the best, and it didn't bring anything to the table. It was Demon's Souls who introduced that genre and constantly is forgotten because it was an exclusive. So again, Why can't God Of War be a 10/10 game too?

The game and devs' greatest achievements was having the balls to reinvent the series instead of bringing the old formula to this generation. If you are not gonna give it credit for not bringing something new, at least acknowledge this because this is something you don't see nowadays from other devs, and that is just as good as bringing something new to the table. Totally worth the hype for that alone and succeeding big tie doing so

So if God of War doesn't deserve a 10 out of 10 does BoTW? Gaming is subjective not objective because it's influence by opinion, personal taste, or feelings toward something for instance I don't believe BoTW is a 10 out of 10 many people do that is my opinion which you can agree or disagree with. However what is not up to debate is the ambition of SSM to date God of War has been one of the most ambitious games ever made wether you think it deserve a 10 out 10 or doesn't really doesn't matter what matters is if the game accomplished what it set out to accomplish.

@n1kki6
Don't even try man. People can't accept a different opinion nowadays, even if it's just slightly different than theirs.

Just to clear that out, I do not agree with the 10s of God of War but I don't with the 10s of Zelda BOTW and Mario Odyssey neither. The only games of this generation that really deserve a perfect score (IN MY OPINION for god' s sake) are Monster Hunter World, Bloodborne and Persona 5.

Nikk don't take it to heart lol. If you don't see the universal 10s that's just you. And yes for the rest of You, it applies to Zelda as well lol smh....

"So if God of War doesn't deserve a 10 out of 10 does BoTW?"

Lmfao. Crazy!

Im seeing universal tens. i see 34 of them on metacritic...

Wut?
It's a great game, and of course it's not a universal 10, where you got the universal 10?

Reviewers give many 10/100% scores these days.
Personally I disagree with most of them (like Zelda, Mario, GoW). Good games, but nothing I would give a perfect score for. played everything seen "everything" but well... there is always room for improvement. But not if you give something a perfect score, than the game should have no flaws and I really don't wanne play anything else for quite some time. This didn't happen to me, yet.

You are not being honest.

HUH"? LOL name another game in the market like it? Metroid like world design, top tier story and ehat might be the best combat system ever. get real.

@Obelisk92

I don't think the voice acting and dialog are quite at Naughty Dog level.

I can see why someone may not think it's a 10. But at the same time, given that so many reviewers will give out 8's and 9's to games that are not anywhere near as well crafted as this game, a 10 certainly can't be questioned too hard. I think the game has a couple flaws, but those flaws don't really take away from the overall experience, and are just mechanics or design choices you either come to terms with, or find not that bad in reality.

The only reviewers I may not question a lower score from are those who don't doll out 10's like candy. One publication does that(can't remember which one), but they have disclosed their review standards to place a 5 as OK, with 6 being average. Most other sites seem to be all over the place with their review scores, with no actual editorial standard to maintain between different reviewers.

I can't speak for this particular review, and how they fare in the equation....because I've never seen or heard of them before. But overall, it's pretty easy to see why this game got 10's if you look at the game objectively. Obviously, there is always going to be some that just don't like it as much for one reason or another though. Some of the highest rated games through history, I couldn't get into, and I'd imagine we've all had that experience before. Sometimes things just don't click on a personal level.

"I really enjoyed it. But I think in order to be a 10 it should be cohesively one of the greatest games of all time"

And I have a feeling, and I'm kind of feeling this way myself right now, that this game may be considered one of the greatest games of all time. Not only is it an epic showcase of talent from the devs, it's insanely fun, addictive, and has some of the structure design in an open-world type game I've ever come across. One that doesn't get boring, offers tons of variety, and with each step of the story, adds new game play challenges which are actually meaningful, or at least interesting.

I never thought I'd ever say that a GOW game would become one of my favorite games. I've never been a huge fan, but always enjoyed the games. But this game just takes game design to another level. Maybe nothing extremely new, but the way it's put together, and ultimately executed shows extreme talent for the craft of game design. The only design choice I question is how close the camera is to Kratos, because moving it back a few feet would have been extremely beneficial to the game play style.

''Only on n4g can i say i thought a game was great and be crapped on for it''

you are not being crapped. Your opinion is being challenged just like you have challenged the 10/10 reviews. be a man and stick to your word, and don't thicken out with rhetoric like this. I guess we have proven you wrong

I highly doubt you beat or even played the game. whats your gamertag?

Lol, you aren't a gamer man!

A 5 is not average. A 5 is 50%, which on a grading scale would be considered failing. A 7 is average.

Looking through their site, it seems a lot of their articles, not just reviews, are structured on the premise of what games just don't do right.

Things like,

"Overwatch: Retribution isn't enough to solve the games narrative problem."

Interesting, considering Overwatch doesn't have narrative driven game play, and I never was aware that it was a problem.

"FarCry 5 offers no insight into Christian Fundementalism"

Interesting, considering FarCry was never a series that really offered much insight into anything. It always took sardonic looks at things that may be part of popular culture.

"FarCry 5 doesn't understand the Country Life"

Sure. Because the country life is only one thing.

Clipped some more due to space.

In any case, their review system seems to place 7-8 as an good but average game. But they can give Super Mario Odyssey and BOTW, Persona 5, Nier: Automata, Sonic Mania(of all things) scores in the mid-high 9's. Yes, these are above average games....but here's the point.

It seems disingenuous to give a game which has equal if not better game play, more story(outside Persona), better graphics, better execution overall, and has some of the highest production value and direction of any game to date a 7.5, it comes across as no actual standards. Those other games...outside maybe Sonic, have all been considered well executed and showcase titles for their genre. They either reinvented the game play, or did it so well it was exemplary. Yet GOW does that, has more story than any of them except Persona, the best graphics of the generation, and only deserves a 7.5?

Some other games we probably played they scored higher

FFXV (8.5) Really......like that game wasn't chocked full of bad design choices and released incomplete.
Arms (8.0)
Gears of War 4 (8.0)

Games they consider as good with a 7.5 rating

Splatoon 2
FFXV: Episode Prompto.....yes just the episode

Other really good, or at least decent games they scored pitifully low

Horizon: Zero Dawn (6.0)
Mass Effect: Andromeda (4.5)...I know it's debated, but it's not a terrible game
Halo Wars 2 (5.5)
Halo 5 SP campaing (6.0)...OK, that may be acceptable I guess, but then there's this
Halo 5 MP (7.0)

There is only one site I know that doesn't just dish out high reviews, and a 8 from them is considered a really good game. I want to say Giantbomb, but that sounds wrong. 5 is their general OK game score. But at least they give their criteria for their scores, and expect their reviewers to adhere to it. They can still base it on their opinion, but they can't just choose a score at random.

@Old_Prodigy

That is how we see things based on the scholastic grading system. However, each site has, or at least should have it's own criteria on what those scores mean. Some may consider 5 to be average. Others, a 7. Biggest problem with aggregates is there's no consistency across the publications like you would have with a school grading system.