The highly anticipated epic from Santa Monica Studio, "God Of War" has finally arrived and comes with four different difficulties. Although their descriptions may speak for themselves, we have to wonder exactly what it is we’re choosing. In a game like "God of War," affecting the difficulty could mean a lot of things. How many enemies will spawn? How will their attack patterns play out and how aggressive will they be? Will Kratos’ health or the enemy health be affected?
The first and easiest is Give Me A Story, which tones down the intensity of combat, simultaneously making Kratos far tougher to kill and enemies that much easier.
This is great for the casual gamer simply along for the ride. The second, Give Me A Balanced Experience does what it says on the tin. Players will have to carefully apply tactics and timing in combat to survive but will still die fairly rarely. Next, Give Me A Challenge, ramps things up considerably. This is a great setting for more seasoned gamers accustomed to sore thumbs and meditative levels of concentration. Finally, Give Me God of War is a merciless mode that will demand a thorough understanding of every move available. Kratos must be flawless in every move or will die, quite frankly.
'God of War’s' RPG mechanics mess with how difficulty choice plays out
Kratos' latest adventure takes a new direction this time around, aiming for more of an RPG style experience.
Any seasoned gamer can tell you, whether it’s "Dark Souls," "Skyrim," or "The Witcher," RPGs tend to follow the same difficulty curve. At the start of the experience, our character is under-geared and under-leveled. We must tread carefully and explore areas with a sharp eye on what lies in wait. Eventually after a suitable amount of destruction and many hours later, our character becomes an unstoppable god of death.
The easier the difficulty you choose, the sooner in the game you’ll experience this skill-less wall of ease, attaining the RPG god of death standard.
Santa Monica Studio explains the difficulty tiers
The game’s combat undergoes its first set of tweaks in the Give Me A Balanced Experience. While it’s unclear exactly what has been changed from Give Me A Story, Santa Monica Studio recommends that first time players start with this one as they have “tuned it to deliver a balanced and challenging playthrough.” Give Me A Challenge is described by the studio as “harder and less forgiving.
It is recommended for players who find action games extremely intuitive, and for confident long-time God of War series veterans who’ve beaten past games on harder difficulties.”
Where things start to get technical under the hood is "God of War’s" most challenging difficulty, Give Me God of War. In this mode, players can expect a more rigorous and brutal experience. Jokingly, in their statement, Santa Monica Studio states it is a difficulty for “people who wrestle polar bears in their undies.” Here, Kratos is noticeably weaker, enemies stronger and placed into more challenging positions in relation to the player to keep them on their toes. Enemy behavior is also tweaked to be more unpredictable and aggressive.
Unlike the other difficulties, the player will not have the option to tone down the challenge mid game. They would have to restart the entire on a lower difficulty! Certainly a game mode for the most committed God of War fan.