God of War Greek Trilogy Remake | Why Scale Is the Secret to Everything
From the Colossus of Rhodes to Cronos, Scale Has Always Been God of War's Greatest Weapon
EDITIORIALS
MattGhostie
6/18/20264 min read
Going back and playing the original God of War trilogy for the first time in about ten years, the first thing that struck me wasn't the combat or the brutality or that bloody rage Kratos operates under. It was the scale.
And as I've progressed through each game, that observation has only grown more important. Currently as I play through God of War: Chains of Olympus on PSP, I keep coming back to the same realization. Scale isn't just a visual flourish in God of War. It's foundational to what makes these games work, creating a larger than life world that never ceases to make your jaw drop.
That Moment in Athens
There's a moment in the original God of War that perfectly encapsulates this. You cross through Athens, climb some stairs, and reach a vista overlooking a battle. Ares stands in the distance, the size of a skyscraper. And suddenly you understand something visceral: Kratos is small. He's just a guy accomplishing godlike feats of power. What makes this even better is you are in control, so really it is you doing all of this.
Then you walk around the cliff and find a gargantuan sword sitting horizontally on a statue. It takes a full ten seconds to walk the entire length of it. That's the moment Santa Monica Studios shows you what they're doing. Kratos is a normal-sized human, yet also somehow larger than life and from that point forward, you can't help but notice the scale being flexed at every turn.
God of War II Gets It
But it's God of War II where the development team really understood that scale is a core pillar of the franchise. They didn't just show it off once. They showed it off constantly.
You start fighting the Colossus of Rhodes which is absurdly massive, taking an entire level and multiple set piece moments just to topple it. You even spend a whole platforming section traversing the interior as you seek to destroy it from the inside. Then you move to the Isle of the Fates and walk along massive chains that take thirty seconds to cross. To me this moment is the second most awe inspiring section in the entire franchise. The fixed camera angles position themselves to make Kratos look like an ant and multiple camera cuts are used to emphasize just how small he is in this world. These moments compound and build as you progress through bigger bosses and bigger set pieces to ultimately show Kratos as he begins his assault on the legendary Mount Olympus while quite literally riding the back of the earth mother Gaia. It’s insanely indulgent in the best way possible.
The Peak: Cronos
It all peaks in God of War III when you fight Cronos. You rip off his fingernail. You swing along his body. Kratos literally appears to be an ant on the foot of a Titan. And yet despite his size being so insignificant, it doesn't matter. Cronos dies just like the rest, and not even a literal mountain can stop the God of War. The scale is always emphasized, but it never stops him from accomplishing his goals. That's the genius of it.
Through it all, Kratos becomes a force of nature. He is the grain of sand that stone walls the tidal wave and that is why I think we all came to love him and his story. Yes the combat is fun, yes his story of rage and brutality are captivating, but without the scale Sony Santa Monica emphasized so much, his story would likely be another we forgot about as time went on.
The Remake Question
Now the God of War trilogy remake has been announced, and a lot of people are concerned. They think an over the shoulder camera can't capture these moments of scale. That the tight framing of the Norse reboots inherently prevents that kind of spectacle. Which they definitely aren’t wrong about. The Norse games do have some spectacular combat moments but when the game usually comes up short is capturing the size of the world in its traversal. Very rarely do we feel that same smallness. However, I do see people saying that a traditional 3rd person free camera angle simply can’t capture the scale of the world we had before.
I disagree. Good camera work can change an entire experience, and if the remake team is intentional about it, they can capture that scale. It'll take creative choices. Zooming out the camera during set pieces. Unlocking it from the shoulder for certain moments. Mixing free camera with fixed camera angles at key moments to show Kratos on the back of something impossibly large.
It's going to take work, but it's absolutely possible. And if there’s one team I think can do it, it’s Sony Santa Monica and Cory Barlog.
Without Scale, It's Just Another Action Game
God of War isn't the same game without scale. Without it, it's just a relatively safe character action game with good combat. Add in the scale though, and it becomes something else entirely. It becomes the herculean effort of a man so hellbent on revenge that his normal human size can't stop him from accomplishing his goals. That's what makes these games special.
The scale is what separates God of War from every other action game out there. It's what makes you feel small. It's what makes Kratos's victories feel earned. And it’s what makes the story of Kratos worthy of a legend.
