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God of War wasn’t always going to feature Atreus in the mix, and probably would have ended up having protagonist Kratos wondering around all on his lonesome mumbling to himself, developer Sony Santa Monica Studio has revealed.
Speaking to GameSpot, Cory Barlog confirmed that early ideas for the game didn’t have Kratos’ pint-sized companion in such a key role, and in some cases wasn’t part of the equation at all. As such, God of War would have been ‘a very different game’; sort of like Robert Redford’s All Is Lost, only, ya know, without a big, angry bloke going around eviscerating Norse-inspired monsters.
‘Alright, it’s gonna be All Is Lost with Robert Redford; it’s gonna be one character who talks to himself occasionally, but generally, it will be very silent and everyone will talk in old Norse, so that you won’t understand anything anybody’s saying,’ commented Barlog.
In addition, Rob Davis, the game’s lead level designer, revealed that having Atreus opens up more possibilities in regards to storytelling and gameplay, which allows for an ‘odd couple relationship.’Â
‘You can do a third setup where neither of them really understand what’s going on and then you get cool story telling level design and puzzles and exploration intersecting because they’re discussing the thing they have to work out together, he said.
God of War is due for release exclusively on PlayStation 4 this Friday, but make sure you have a gander at our review to see if it’s worth the wait.
