Beowulf more interactive than God of War, dev claims

Scriptwriter says movie tie-in set to have better writing and more profound narration than PS2 classic.

The scriptwriter on Beowulf the game has claimed that it is more interactive than PS2 classic God of War.

Beowulf, which used God of War as "the reference" at the beginning of the game's development, also has better writing and more profound narration, narrative designer Gabrielle Shrager told Pro-G in an interview.

Shrager said: "Not to tout my own horn, but I think the writing is better and the narration is more profound in Beowulf than in God of War, which is a great story also, but more traditional. You have a level, you get to the end of the scene, there's a character that's standing there, gives the spiel and then you go to the next mission, and then you get to the end of that and then you get the spiel. We tried to make it a lot more dynamic. Our script is completely dynamic. You're getting minute by minute feedback according to what your status is, the state of your being as a player. You don't have that in God of War. So maybe it's more interactive in Beowulf."

Beowulf is based on the fully computer generated film of the same name, starring CGI representations of Ray Winstone, who plays Beowulf, and Angelina Jolie, who plays Grendal's temptress mother, and is due for release to coincide with the film's release in November.

Shrager said that although there are marked similarities with the God of War games, Beowulf, which uses the graphics engine from Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, is grittier, darker and more tactical.

She said: "It's much more visceral. So even though God of War is beautifully choreographed in many of the combats, this is grittier, this is darker, this is more about close combat and less about spectacular finishes, even though we also have some spectacular finishes. It's more about a man struggling, up close and brutal, with his men around him.

"They've (God of War) just got the hack and we've got this tactical layer of the thanes that count on you, depend on you and also can be very helpful on the combat field so that's a major difference. In terms of the immersion it's not the same. The cameras are more distant, they're farther off in God of War whereas we're up close and tighter. There are similarities in terms of the anti-hero aspect of Kratos. But the next-gen graphics do a lot for taking you further into the believability and the credibility and the real authenticity of the game."

Beowulf is due for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP and PC in November. For the full video interview with Shrager check the site later in the week. You can also check out our hands on preview of the game here.