The latest updates for the new "God Of War" sequel will feature more details on Atreus' role and director Cory Balrog's plans for its future development.
Father and son quest
Santa Monica Studio's engineering lead Jeet Shroff revealed new details about Atreus' role in the new "God of War" game during a sponsored post from Gamasutra, as he stated in an interview that he will play a huge part in Kratos' journey in the Norse world and that his father is his biggest motivation.
"In turn, Atreus aids his father in many ways throughout the entire journey.
To reinforce this theme, we didn't shy away from limiting their relationship to just narrative," Shroff said. "In gameplay, Atreus plays a key role in autonomously aiding and complementing Kratos while navigating through this foreign land as well as being an extension to his arsenal in combat."
Gamers who were in attendance at E3 2017 saw how useful Atreus can be in "God of War" as he assists Kratos in battle using specialized arrows. The father and son dynamic in the sequel will allow players to utilize several unique ways to defeat their enemies and solve difficult puzzles.
Game director Cory Balrog revealed that Atreus can speak multiple languages and helps his father explain certain things to him.
The E3 2017 trailer also revealed that Atreus can speak to the World Serpent, hinting that he has a connection to other Norse monsters in the game.
Future plans in development
Santa Monica will have more development plans for "God of War" as Balrog stated that with this game, players will know that he and the studio will continue the rich legacy of the game series. The game director added that he chose the Norse setting because he already outlined and mapped out multiple games.
Balrog also explained the reason for Kratos abandoning his famous Blades of Chaos for an enchanted battle axe is that it reminds him of his horrible past from previous "God of War" titles and having a new weapon meant for him to start fresh and move on from his mistakes.
"We were experimenting with lots of different weapons, lots of different things," Balrog said. "I think I wanted to create an identity because to me the blades represent a very dark time in Kratos' life. They are not just a weapon to him. They are his scarlet letter."
The decision to abandon the Blades of Chaos is mainly story driven as Kratos's battle axe will provide a more brutal and straight forward approach, unlike the fluid and elegant attacks from the blades. "God of War" is set to launch on 2018 for the PlayStation 4.
