Ever since the first God of War game launched on the PS2, the franchise has been one of the most beloved on the PlayStation. Fans enjoyed the mythology, Kratos’ savagery, the puzzles, and how it all meshed into an unforgettably grand time. This was a rival to games like Devil May Cry, and to some, it was better.
Enter 2018’s God of War reboot. This game changed a lot of mechanics, and it turned Kratos from a raging, vengeful god of death into someone more mellow and reserved. The combat was still brutal, but not as over-the-top as the other games in the franchise. It was met with praise from fans and critics, but not all of them.
To some, the original games were good enough and the formula only needed to be tweaked a little. To others, the reboot refined the series and made it more mature. So, let’s see just how the two versions compare, especially in terms of what they do better than each other.
10 Original: Hacking And Slashing
The God of War reboot focuses on more than just hacking enemies to death; players spend just as much time solving complex puzzles and exploring the realms.
But let’s be honest: one of the main draws of the original series was the hack-and-slash aspect, which it had perfected to a level few other games could even hope to match. Racking up combos, slicing up hordes of enemies, and taking on countless gigantic foes was an experience the reboot doesn’t come close to matching. For hack-and-slash fans, the original games are way more fun.
9 Reboot: Kratos Is More Sympathetic
In the original games, Kratos was a raging murder machine hellbent on revenge. He destroyed everything in his path with no remorse, human or god.
He still kills a lot in the reboot, but he tries to restrain himself, even if it’s a little. Having a son humanizes him, and we see that his thoughts and feelings are no longer one-dimensional. His quest in the game is also different from just getting revenge on gods who have wronged him; this time, his main quest is to spread his dead wife’s ashes at the highest peak in all the realms.
8 Original: The Mythology
The reboot does justice to Norse Mythology, showing us gods, monsters, and lore unique to it. However, its mythology is nowhere near as immersive as the original games.
The early God of War games taught us a lot about Greek Mythology, from the rivalry between the gods and Titans to each god’s weakness, the customs and culture of Ancient Greece, and more. Other than picking up a textbook, God of War was the best way to learn about Greek Mythology. The three main games achieved this admirably, and the reboot would need a couple of sequels to match up to that level of world-building.
7 Reboot: The Open World
While the original games had massive worlds, the player couldn’t just take Kratos where they wanted. It was linear, almost to a fault. But this changes completely in the reboot. Here, the developers chose to make it an open world. Players are free to travel almost anywhere in the game world whenever they please.
And that’s not all. The game has no loading screens in most sections, which is unlike the countless loading screens in the original games. The game also rewards exploration, with branching paths that reward the player with chests and other items.
6 Original: Over The Top Tone
The original God of War games cranked everything up to 11. The gore was astounding, with Kratos constantly targeting the belly or eyes of large monsters, and generally destroying his enemies with as much cruelty as the Mature rating could allow. The game also packed in as many gods, monsters, and titans as was possible, which was virtually everything in Greek Mythology.
The original games also packed in over-the-top characters, lengthy runtimes, and absurdly powerful weapons and abilities. The reboot is more reserved, and this makes it a different sort of game that fans of the originals might not take to.
5 Reboot: More Customizable
Players could always customize Kratos’ abilities in the original games, but this was quite limited. However, the reboot makes the game so customizable that it’s basically an RPG.
Players can customize Kratos’ weapons, enhancements, and armor until he fits their preferred playstyle. For instance, one can increase Kratos’ raw strength until his fists become lethal weapons. The player can also unlock new gear by progressing through the story, and they can also pick up new gear with better stats. This makes the game more immersive since Kratos can be as tanky or as lethal as one wishes.
4 Original: Combat Was More Fluid
The rebooted game places the camera close behind Kratos, which is supposed to make combat more intimate and tense. In some ways, it works. But this comes at the expense of fluidity.
The camera in the original games was positioned far from Kratos, so combat felt smoother. Kratos could take on multiple enemies at the same time while keeping an eye on any who might try to attack him from behind. It was also easier to chain combos together. The reboot tries its best, but combat just doesn’t feel the same.
3 Reboot: Combat Is More Tactful
The original games’ combat focused on chopping down legions of enemies, and the more challenging enemies often required quick-time events. The quick-time events were incredibly frustrating since they sometimes meant life or death.
In the reboot, the enemies that the player can face at once are fewer, but one has to be more tactful dealing with them. Kratos’ magical axe doesn’t just deal lots of damage up-close; he can also hurl it at enemies, which makes battles more strategic. And instead of quick-time events, the player simply has to stun enemies to unleash chaos.
2 Original: More Replayable
The learning curve in the rebooted God of War is steeper than in the original games. And because of the depth of combat and exploration, it’s not such an easy game to go back to—except, perhaps, to take on the tougher New Game+ mode.
Fans of the original game could just pop in and replay their favorite missions. Even if it had been a while since they last played the game, they could quickly come to grips with the game’s combat. And chopping and slicing multiple enemies to death had a weird sort of catharsis to it.
1 Reboot: Kratos Has A Companion
In the old games, Kratos never had a true companion. On the rare occasions he wasn’t alone, it never ended well for them. Having a companion was a distraction to Kratos’ mission of destroying Zeus and the other Olympians.
In the reboot, Kratos has a real companion: his son, Atreus. The boy is always by his father’s side, and he has his own personality and unique abilities. For instance, Atreus can drop hints when Kratos is stuck somewhere. The boy also talks to Kratos frequently, which reduces the feeling of loneliness that players could have had while playing the original games.