Entertainment

Games: God of War: Ragnarok offers more satisfying Scandinavian gristle than an IKEA meatball.

God of War: Ragnarok
God of War: Ragnarok God of War: Ragnarok

God of War: Ragnarok (PS5)


By: Sony

TALK about big flip-flops to fill. 2018's God of War represented the PS4 at the peak of its powers, going on to become the console's biggest selling game.

Shifting the mythological mayhem from Greek to Scandinavian mythology, Sony's reboot mixed spectacle with blood, gore and abs for a dazzling Viking spree, as bearded brute Kratos embarked on a grand, gut-spilling hack and slash-fest.

With a planned trilogy scrapped, follow-up Ragnarok's Norseplay marks the conclusion to a saga that has come to define the PlayStation.

Four years on, Kratos and his son Atreus – now a gangly teen – get pulled deeper into the world of the gods. Kicking off in the frost-bit wastes of Midgar, players travel through the nine realms on a quest to stop Ragnarok – the end of the world.

While Kratos still bosses Atreus around, the wee un is the driving force of this tale, and later levels will let you control the oik, swapping out Daddy's muscular butchery for elegant bow-based combat.

And, given the reboot scrapped the series' infamous sex scenes, there's no randy Scandi action here, Ragnarok instead doubling down on the blood 'n' guts as a menagerie of weird and wonderful enemies attempt to flog an undead Norse.

Once again it's a classics course in mythical characters, from Odin and Bjorn to Mimir, God of Knowledge, who returns as a disembodied head swinging from Kratos' belt. And, cocking a snook at Chris Hemsworth's preening Thor, here the God of Thunder is a fat drunk.

With real heft to the combat, every swing of Kratos' Leviathon Axe or slash of his Blades of Chaos is brutally visceral. You can now charge up weapons for elemental spice while a bewildering skill tree opens up new perks and abilities.

A visual tour de force, Ragnarok is simply stunning. Its predecessor may have trail-blazed the one-shot camera effect, but never has it looked so good, with snowy vistas and frozen lakes popping off the screen at a locked 60 frames per second.

For all its technical bluster, though, Ragnarok doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, and mechanically feels rather similar to the 2018 original. Grumping through glades, dicing waves of enemies and solving puzzles are again the order of the day, and when you've cut your umpteenth rope or shimmied across yet another ledge, that 40 hour running time can begin to drag.

Thankfully, Ragnarok's final levels pull the saga together for a conclusion that sticks the landing. Pairing brawny action with gut-slugging emotion, God War: Ragnarok is without doubt the PS5's marquee title, offering more satisfying Scandinavian gristle than an IKEA meatball.