Funny you should say that. I always thought Vin Diesel would be perfect to play Kratos if they ever made a movie.
[quote=“Phatlewt, post:20, topic:535307”]
Definitely Anti-Hero./QUOTE]
Agreed. I’d even go as far as to say he’s an Anti-Villain played as the protagonist. He’s selfish and headstrong to an extreme degree of obliviousness.
I like the God of War games almost precisely because of the fact that Kratos really isn’t sympathetic. He’s long since left his original motivation of avenging his family and he’s become bloodthirsty, (“all gods are responsible for humanity’s plight and must be destroyed”) and power hungry, (“I need their power to fight them.”) The games lack a classic hero or anti-hero which leaves Kratos to pick up the protagonists mantle.
For comics fans… he’s an X-Men story told from Magneto’s point of view. The ends, (removing the gods influence over humanity), justify the means, (murdering everyone in sight.) 
I think it bears mentioning that each of the three GoW games has seen a different head designer and team spear heading the projects. If the original creator, (David Jaffe), had stayed with the franchise we’ve might have seen something different. Or maybe not… Jaffe is a bit of loon quite frankly.
You are giving the games WAY too much credit. The amount of plot/character development/story in these stories is only slightly less than the amount of understated violence (being nil).
It’s a fine action hack and slash, but it’s patently ridiculous to pretend it’s anything more. Whereas Magneto has a complex, well developed, and credible backstory, Kratos is a hyperviolent punchline to a joke.
I’m giving the DEVELOPERS way too much credit perhaps. I confess I’m reading between the lines a great deal though.
The violence is the point of the games, for good or ill. I won’t dispute that.
Kratos was a conquering spartan warrior who was manipulated into murdering his own family on the whim of Ares. In his rage he has, irrationally, turned his instincts to conquering the gods rather than human states, damn the consequences The developers have used that as a jumping off point to spin an action yarn. I don’t pretend that they necessarily thought it through any further than that.
Magneto, because of the whim of history saw his family, (for what it was), murdered simply because what they were, (Jewish, Gypsy, Mutant, take your pick). Magneto, a natural conqueror by personality, turns his power to removing that threat permanently.
It’s a loose analogy, I admit, but I don’t think it’s without merit.
God of War is a cautionary tale about the folly of bloodlust and indiscriminate rage. It’s also a hell of an action game and can be enjoyed purely on that level.
If Kratos collects 40 years of storytelling history behind him it might become an even comparison. (That won’t happen, it’s a videogame, the first of which was only five years ago, which means emphasis on it’s analysis will be on mechanics and not the plot.)
Still, introduce a character of equal or greater combat skill into the narrative opposing Kratos and the story would change greatly.
Michael Corleone was the head of an organized crime family. Bugsy Malone was the head of an organized crime family. They are, in no way, shape or form, comparable.
They had three games to develop the character beyond “I’m gonna kill everything I see” and didn’t. The opportunity was there, it just was deemed completely unnecessary. I appreciate GoW for what it was, a good hack and slash, but it’s folly to pretend it was anything more.
Then it’s a good thing I’m not comparing Michael to Bugsy then isn’t it?
Hence my “They used it as a jumping off point…” comment. I already admitted the point of the series was the violence and, to elaborate, the over the top action sequences. You haven’t contradicted me here.
So there’s absolutely zero room for analysis or interpretation in it? Any attempt to read accepted character archetypes or narrative tropes is completely useless even apart from what the designers may have intended?
I don’t buy that. Even from a classical perspective our own traditional interpretation of a hero differs greatly. Ancient Greek heroes were defined by strength, feats, accomplishments, and loyalties, not necessarily by moral complexity. It was what they did and for whom. Not necessarily ‘why.’ Even from that perspective Kratos embodies the classical hero more than a traditional example. Given the mythology chosen to back the franchise, (arbitrarily I would assume), I think that opens interesting avenues for analysis.
Look Hamlet, I don’t pretend for a moment that the developers considered the ramifications of their choices about the characters in light of classical tropes. Chances are they never took it further than “muscle bound hero fights mythological monsters”, but that doesn’t mean they’re not drawing on accepted cliche’s, deliberately or unconsciously. Kratos fits an archetype, so does his story. It speaks to a 21st century audience. There’s a reason for that.
A bit? Jaffe is a total fucking headcase. He seems to have forgotten he told everybody back in February that he was working on a Twisted Metal game and now won’t even admit one is in development anywhere inside Sony.
And then he gets mad at people for asking about it.
It’s an analogy. Michael is to Bugsy as Magneto is to Kratos.
Even very bad character development is some character development I guess. And GoW series is very bad character development. While Kratos can certainly be seen as an archetype, I simply think the story and his character, are poorly done (if done at all). It’s not that big of a deal though.
Does the game no longer feature those little puzzles and riddles that were present in its predecessors? If so, then dismissing it as a completely mindless “hack and slash” game is a bit unfair. I’m not saying that those puzzles were incredibly challenging, but they did make the game more than just another “hack and slash”.
The puzzles are still in there, but they’re fairly easy and require more finger speed than brains.
Yes. Yes he is. I was trying to be nice, but you’re absolutely correct on this.
Oh it’s bad. It’s definitely bad. I don’t want to give to impression that I think GoW is some sort of storytelling brilliance, because it’s not. The characters and plots are simplistic to a fault and anything approaching ‘development’ comes out left field to say the least. Everything else takes a back seat to spectacle. These games are kind of like summer blockbusters in that way.
You said before that I give the games way too much credit which is probably true. Frankly, even though I think you can look at these at these games and tease some measure of character or thematic analysis from them, any similarities it may have had to the developers intentions is purely coincidence.