Kratos
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Kratos coming to 'Fortnite' could be the first of several video game cameos
You can now play in Fortnite as Kratos from the God of War series, either as a single skin or in a bundle with a Mimir back bling.
'God of War' returns to form with good ol' father-son bonding
By the time 2010's God of War III wrapped up, the bottomless pit of anger at the heart of protagonist / anti-hero Kratos had played itself out. The pantheon of Greek gods was destroyed, and Kratos was either dead or had disappeared -- and it almost didn't matter which. Over the course of three games, he had gone from a flawed, murderous but sympathetic character to rage personified. Without that anger, what was left to say about Kratos? A lot, it turns out. Sony wisely put Kratos' adventures on hold following a disappointing 2013 prequel before showing off a completely re-invented God of War for the PS4, lead by God of War II writer / director Cory Barlog. After spending the last week playing the game's main quest, I can definitively say that developer Santa Monica Studios has successfully brought God of War into the modern gaming era. The game's visuals are stunning, gameplay is varied and engaging, the new combat system and over-the-shoulder point of view add a fresh feel while keeping the fluid action the series is known for. But, most importantly, Kratos is more nuanced and shows more emotion in the game's opening hour than he did in the entire previous trilogy.
The 'God of War' reboot comes to the PS4 on April 20th
It's been nearly two years since Sony announced it would revitalize the God of War franchise, and now we finally know when Kratos' next adventure will arrive. The next game in the series, simply titled God of War, will be available on April 20th. To go along with the release date, Sony has also detailed some extremely lavish and expensive pre-order bundles and released a new trailer. The latter will likely be more exciting to fans, so let's start there, shall we?
The next 'God of War' comes to PS4 in early 2018
When Sony teased us with a new God of War game at last year's E3, its presentation was almost perfect. The 10-minute gameplay reveal had almost everything: the return of Kratos, alive and well after the events of God of War III; a beautiful environment; thrilling combat; an epic beard; and, most important, a strong indication of character development. Not only were we getting the Destroyer of Worlds back, but we were seeing a more human side of Kratos. The only thing missing from the reveal was a release window. A year later at E3 2017, we finally have one. God of War for PlayStation 4 will be available in early 2018.
Kratos finds his humanity in the new 'God of War'
It was never in question whether God of War would return. The franchise is one of Sony's most successful exclusives of the past decade, and the main trilogy of games were both critically acclaimed and hugely popular. But the conclusion of God of War III seemed to put a pretty definitive end on the series while the relatively lackluster prequel God of War: Ascension that came a few years later showed that Sony had pretty much run out of ways to continue telling the story of its antihero, Kratos. That is, unless developer Santa Monica Studios made a break from the series' past, changed the gameplay, left Greek mythology behind and, most important, showed us a more human side of Kratos than we'd ever seen before. Judging from the preview of the forthcoming God of War that kicked off Sony's E3 event, that's exactly what's happened, and it completely reinvigorated my interest in a series that felt like it had nothing left to say.
Shovel Knight brings shovel-based platforming, 8-bit Kratos to PlayStation
Yacht Club Games' spade-wielding hero, Shovel Knight, will be bouncing to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, Sony announced today as part of their PlayStation Experience keynote. The 8-bit hero will be bringing some company as well, as God of War's infamous god-murderer Kratos will also make an appearance in the game. Don't believe us? Check out the teaser above. [Image: Yacht Club Games]
God of War: Ascension hits PSN Oct. 15, team ends DLC development
Sony Sana Monica has finished its DLC efforts for God of War: Ascension, but will continue to assess the need of balance patches "in the weeks or months ahead," a post to the PlayStation Blog has detailed. The post also announced that Ascension will descend on the PlayStation Network on October 15. The team's most immediate balance efforts will come in an update meant to "tune-up all the Allegiances," the bonds between a player's character and Greek gods that grant them specific powers. The post notes that team will be "monitoring online 24/7" in search of future exploits that need to be addressed. In honor of the game's digital release, Ascension's DLC will be marked down to "special pricing" and the Ascension soundtrack will be free for all PSN users to download for a limited time. A Double XP Weekend is also planned worldwide from October 18 - 21.
God of War: Ascension demo hits PSN alongside new trailer
The single-player demo for God of War: Ascension is available now for all users on the PlayStation Network. There's also a launch trailer out for the game, as seen above. Turns out the pre-divine Kratos is just as popular with the ladies as the fully-powered one was. Oh, and he's plenty angry, too.
Kratos: God of war, man of evolving fashion tastes
If God of War's Kratos is best known for anything, it's obviously his impeccable fashion sense. His ensemble, even from the beginning of his hell-bent rampage, speaks of being meticulously composed, what with that pale skin, flowing skirt and bold face tattoo. How avante garde.That said, it's interesting to note that just days before Sony introduced Kratos to the world, he sported blue full-body markings and more Hot Topic-inspired accessories. Right before his launch, however, someone on director David Jaffe's team pointed out that Smurfy Kratos resembled the Barbarian from Diablo 2, and his design was swapped to the red Kratos we now know and love."I had played Diablo but never 2, and this was sure news to me," Jaffe recalls. "As it was too clearly to many/all others on the team, as this was the first we'd heard of the character, let alone the similarity. So you can bet we changed it, lickety fuckin' split!"
God of War: Ascension, Power Stone, and paying allegiance to the gods
When asked about how he and the team at Sony Santa Monica are bringing multiplayer into the God of War series with God of War: Ascension, game director Todd Papy digs deep for inspiration. The single-player side of the game is obviously an influence, he says, as multiplayer side of the game attempts to enhance the always cinematic world of Kratos with a new character called the Avatar.But then things get a little nuts. "You can look at Allegiance levels," says Papy, referring to the mode's customization choices defined by the four gods Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Ares, "and you can look at Diablo and Call of Duty and other games that have skill trees that you basically level up."And then you can look at Power Stone," says Papy, "as far as that old school melee feel to it." Yes. That's the one. Playing God of War: Ascension's renamed "Favor of the Gods" mode, and running around with up to eight other players flipping switches, executing combos, and earning favor points does feel a whole lot like the Dreamcast classic. In a strange way, to be honest. But a good one nevertheless.%Gallery-172713%
All-Stars Battle Royale ad sees PlayStation heroes fight in live action
When you think about it, this was a predictable step from the creators of last year's "Michael' commercial for PS3. After successfully expressing the thoughts of live-action PlayStation characters, this ad for PS All-Stars Battle Royale shows the time for talking is over. Maybe because the budget was blown on fancy special effects; Nolan North doesn't come cheap, you know.Though it doesn't quite match the brilliance of last year's ad, it's another imaginative and fun effort for what will hopefully be a game with similar qualities. On a side note, live-action ads seem to be the rage at the moment. Last week Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Halo 4 got their real on, and now All-Stars Battle Royale follows suit. If only Nintendo would join the club.
New God of War: Ascension trailer is Fury-ous
The major enemy group in God of War: Ascension is composed of The Furies, three vengeful deities bound to hell and in possession of a contract with Kratos that connects his life to Ares'. When Kratos breaks this contract, The Furies are hellbent on tracking him down for slaughter.
God of War: Ascension dev 'pulls back' from in-game violence against women
In an interview with IGN, Sony Santa Monica's David Hewitt admitted the team's scaled back on the violence towards women in God of War: Ascension. The team is of the mind that showing such a thing would make a statement and define the character in a way that doesn't befit Kratos. "There are some things we've pulled back from. I think where this has been an issue is with violence against women – the team's pulled back from some of that and assessed that a little more carefully," Hewitt admitted. "There are certain things that carry has a different kind of resonance that we don't want to get into. This isn't about statement-making in that regard. It's about fleshing out this character."The overall interview focuses not just on violence on women, but violence in general. As one of the most criticized games of E3 in this regard, Hewitt justifies God of War: Ascension's body count by saying Kratos doesn't languish in the slaughter, nor does he particularly enjoy it. Kratos is constantly pushing forward, moving toward his goal of revenge, so Hewitt doesn't feel the violence is particularly glorified.
God of War: Ascension gameplay revealed, coming March 12, 2013
Sony just showed off the first singleplayer content for God of War: Ascension. Kratos is back in action fighting all kinds of baddies, including both a goat man and a half-elephant, half-man of some kind. Kratos showed off a nice arsenal of various weapons, including his trusty chainblades, and quite a few environmentally-obtained tools of destruction, as well as a few new stun moves and some very nice counter attacks.Kratos also has one other big move: When a dock is destroyed, he can use something on his wrist (and a shiny green glow) to rebuild the dock's crane, Red Faction: Armageddon style.The demo ended with Kratos diving right into the belly of a large kraken, undoubtedly ready for more killing. The game is coming out March 12, 2013.
Ready at Dawn gets technical about God of War: Origins Collection on PS3
Oh, you just thought they tighten up the graphics a bit and call it a day, huh? No way, José -- converting PSP games that run at 480 x 272, 30 frames a second, to full 1080p, 60 frames a second is no small task. Ready at Dawn had to get its hands dirty and create a custom PS3 version of its internal engine for God of War: Origins Collection, Nathan Phail-Liff recounted on the PlayStation Blog today. "We ended up going through every single character in the game and doubling or tripling polygon count by hand, as well as up-rezing and re-painting every texture across both games at 4x resolution on both characters and environments," Phail-Liff said. He also said Ready at Dawn had to re-render every cutscene from Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta in the new PS3 engine. Finally, there's also going to be full stereoscopic 3D support in both games. God of War: Origins Collection launches for the PS3 on September 13, 2011.
Mortal Kombat trailer showing Kratos doing what Kratos does best
Well, our fears have been confirmed: Kratos is going to be the most unfair Mortal Kombat kharacter of all time. Not because he can blind and stun fighters or hit them from miles away with his Blades, but because he's obviously part god. Then again, so is Raiden, we guess. Never mind.
Kratos confirmed for Mortal Kombat, exclusive to PS3
As rumored this past week, Kratos was confirmed during tonight's Spike VGAs as playable in the forthcoming Mortal Kombat reboot. Scorpion's all "Get over here!" and Kratos is all "I don't think you know who I am!" You shoulda seen it! Well, actually, you can -- right now! The full debut of Kratos can be found after the break.
Rumor: Kratos in Mortal Kombat, exclusively on PS3
It seems that the constantly furious Kratos of God of War fame could be appearing exclusively on the PlayStation 3 version of this February's Mortal Kombat. Fighting game site Shoryuken claims the January issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine will detail as much, though copies of the magazine have yet to arrive in readers' hands. The Grecian rage machine will purportedly not appear in the game's story mode, but will rip apart characters in versus. Also, if the rumor is true, we're putting this out there right now: fatality featuring a stampeding Pegasus. Just sayin'! Anyway, between the issue's impending release and the nearing VGAs, we hope to hear more on Kratos' cameo soon. Who's next? Link in the Wii version -- oh, wait a minute ... [Thanks, Adam]
'Kratos yourself' (or your cat) with God of War: Ghost of Sparta web app
PlayStation UK has created a handy web app that can transform a normal headshot of yourself (or your dog, cat, life-size cardboard standee of Burt Reynolds, etc.) into the spitting image of the Ghost of Sparta himself, Kratos. Perfect for seeing if you can rock that red, full-face tattoo you want.
The Art of God of War III at Gallery Nucleus
The God of War III art team held a panel this past weekend in Alhambra, California, at a place called Gallery Nucleus. In front of an audience packed to capacity, artists (from left to right above) Scott Seeto, Jung Ho Park, Izzy, Andy Park, Cecil Kim, and Andrew Kim spoke and answered questions about how they'd come up with the art designs for Kratos' final story ("as far as I know," Cecil Kim said, "there is no more God of War"). They were first asked about bringing the game into the HD generation, and how that affected their work on the games. Mostly, it just meant more work for them -- they pointed out that even when the camera isn't close-up on Kratos, you can still see the muscles in his back tense as he pulls out his blades. Art designers in HD have to be meticulous about details, and as a result, character development takes about six times longer. The team also said that they were impressed by the PS3 hardware -- on the PS2 versions of the game, the developers knew how far they could push the older console, but on the PS3, "we still don't know what we can do with it." %Gallery-89162%
