25 Things You DIDN'T Know About God of War 2005

25 Things You Didn’t Know About God of War 2005

Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re tearing down the Greek pantheon in our pursuit of all the hidden secrets, easter eggs, and behind the scenes details we didn’t know about the game that launched one of our favorite series, 2005’s God of War.

Inspiring Clones

Just like any successful game, “God of War" spawned no shortage of clones attempting to capitalize on Kratos’ newfound success. Whether it was the graphic violence, the combat, or a combination of all the mechanics that made “God of War" special, other devs were quick to jump on Kratos’ coattails and try to launch their own series using Kratos as their starting point. While there were some titles that took the formula and copy/pasted it, such as “Dante’s Inferno” and “Heavenly Sword”, which closely copied the “God of War" formula but were still entertaining, others took their inspirations from Kratos and combined it with others in interesting ways. The “Darksiders” series is heavily influenced by both “God of War" and “The Legend of Zelda" series and differentiated itself enough not to draw direct comparisons. Even Wolverine took its brutal and fast paced combat directly from “God of War” and was all the better for it.

Not the First “Boy”

Like any main character, Kratos went through several changes to his design as development got under way. While there were many interesting variations, some of which we’ll touch upon further down the list, there was one in particular that stood out. One of the original concept designs showed a blindfolded Kratos wielding a katana and carrying a baby on his back. This concept was likely created before the Greek pantheon was decided on, but it does raise some interesting questions about how combat would have worked with an infant in tow. This concept could have also influenced the 2018 “God of War" in which Kratos is accompanied by his young, but far more capable than an infant, son Atreus.

Surrender Kratos

“God of War” 2005 has more than its fair share of Easter Eggs, but one of them feels like a message from the Gods of Olympus themselves. If players make their way to the Temple of the Oracle, there are specific areas they can interact with to trigger this message. Head to the area by the save point with a bunch of flies buzzing around it and push R2. Then make your way to the mound of dirt by the Gravedigger’s hole and press R2. Finally, move to the bridge with two pillars and press R2 again while standing between them. If done correctly, a message will appear written in the night sky that simply reads “Surrender Kratos”. Now knowing the fate of Olympus and all of Greece, it should have said “Have Mercy Kratos” instead.

Sacrificial Censorship

“God of War” 2005 is a notoriously violent game especially in the days of the PS2 and Kratos did some pretty questionable things to a lot of people during his pursuit of revenge. However, despite much of this getting past the censors here in the US, other regions were much stricter about Kratos’ actions. Along with some of the gorier elements including dismemberment, the sacrifice of the Spartan soldier in Pandora’s Temple raised quite a lot of eyebrows for its brutality, as the soldier screamed for his life as Kratos pushed his cage into the sacrificial fire. This act was so barbaric that Germany forced Santa Monica to change the event before the game could be released in the region, body swapping the Spartan for an undead soldier. The sex mini game was fine though.

Big Screen Kratos

Naturally as with any unexpected success in video games, it wasn’t long before Hollywood came knocking. A film based on the original “God of War" was quickly moved into production from Universal Studios with David Self writing the script and in 2008 Brett Ratner was attached to direct. However, after the project failed to begin production, Ratner left and in 2012 a new writing team was brought on to rework the script. However, this version would also end up stalling and while the “God of War” game franchise continued, Kratos’ days in Hollywood appear to be stuck in limbo as even the planned Amazon series based on 2018’s “God of War" has run into multiple delays and production challenges.

Grave Digger

The Grave Digger is one of the most mysterious allies Kratos has in the original “God of War", somehow able to dig straight into Hades and help Kratos escape at the exact moment he needed it and somehow knowing exactly where to dig in the first place. Besides some obvious clues to his true identity as one of the Gods, along with his otherworldly advice and demeanor, fans wouldn’t get confirmation of their theories until 5 years later in the sequel “God of War: Ghost of Sparta” on the PSP. By completing the game, players unlock the combat arena and after acquiring all the items in the Temple of Zeus can unlock the Grave Digger as a playable character. After selecting him, the Grave Digger will transform into Zeus complete with the Blade of Olympus and the Gauntlet of Zeus.

Interconnected

“God of War" was an ambitious title for the time, pushing the PS2 to its limits before the sequel would strain the aging hardware even further. A big part of this came from the team’s desire to create a “seamless” world, in which every area felt interconnected, minimizing the use of loading screens to create a more immersive experience. Because of this design, “God of War" had an almost Metroidvania style level of exploration, allowing players to revisit areas after unlocking new abilities or finding artifacts to unlock previously inaccessible rooms. This design concept would later carry over throughout the entire franchise, creating some of the most cinematic and immersive games in PlayStation’s catalog.

A Tiny Annoyance

“God of War” had quite a few elements planned in the early stages of development that didn’t make it into the final game. Originally, game director David Jaffe wanted Kratos to have a fairy-like companion accompany Kratos in the early parts of the game, but then for Kratos to become annoyed by the tiny creature and kill it before the end of the first level, in a clear nod to Navi from “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”. Navi is widely regarded by even the most die-hard Zelda fans as one of the most annoying companions in the series, until Fi later stole that title in “Skyward Sword”, but it would seem the devs couldn’t make this companion annoying enough for players to rejoice in its demise, so the idea was scrapped.

Up Close & Personal

“God of War” took a lot of elements from other titles, but one game almost completely changed the perspective of the franchise. Early on in development, game director David Jaffe was inspired by the Dreamcast game “Maken X”, a first-person hack and slash developed by “Persona” masterminds Atlus. However, this perspective was counterintuitive to the cinematic style of gameplay and narrative Jaffe and the team were aiming to create. Some of these elements of first-person combat would make a return in “God of War III" however, and considering the nauseating nature of these moments, it’s safe to say Jaffe made the right call sticking to third person.

Decided at Random

These days “God of War" is synonymous with the franchise, but according to creator David Jaffe, the title wasn’t decided on until late in the game’s development and even then, it was chosen at random. In 2019, “God of War 2” and 2018 game director Cory Barlog joked the original title was “Angry Man from Ancient Greece” and David Jaffe responded with the three real titles the team was choosing between. Those being “God of War”, “Dark Odyssey”, and “At the Hands of the Gods”. Because the team couldn’t agree, all three names were placed in a hat and the title was chosen at random. Even Jaffe himself said “Thank Zeus ‘God of War’ came up.” Can you imagine a franchise spanning 20 years titled “At the Hands of the Gods”? Neither can we.

Cover Art Chaos

Oftentimes, the cover art of a video game is just as important as the gameplay itself. It is the prospective player’s first impression of a game after all. “God of War” not only had its share of potential candidates for cover art, but some regions got entirely different artwork. While North America got the cover art of Kratos staring at presumably Mount Olympus with his blades already drenched in blood, PAL regions got the cooler but also a bit more generic version of Kratos fighting hordes of enemies using a decapitated Gorgon head. PAL regions did however get the substantially cooler disc design, whereas America’s was just the cover art again, PAL regions got Kratos facing down the Hydra. Absolutely epic. We were robbed.

Canonical Third

While 2005’s “God of War" is technically the first “God of War” game and the title that launched a franchise spanning two decades, canonically, it isn’t the first game in the series. It actually falls closer to the middle of Kratos’ Greek timeline. After the success of 2005’s “God of War”, Kratos’ backstory was fleshed out with the PSP entry “God of War: Chains of Olympus” and 2013’s “God of War: Ascension” both of which detailed the events of Kratos’ journey before his path of destruction through Greece to confront the God of War Ares. Thankfully, for those who stuck to only the mainline three titles, you would still get the complete story, and the rest just further fleshed out Kratos’ character and his backstory.

Shedding Armor

These days Kratos’ shredded abs are just as famous as his blades, but early on in development, we could have seen a much more modest Kratos raging across the Greek pantheon. Originally, Kratos was planned to don the full suit of armor he’s seen wearing in the CGI cutscenes during the flashbacks. However, at the time, the devs couldn’t get the armor to react realistically during battles and would continuously cause the Spartan to glitch when in combat, so the choice was made to ditch the armor and let Kratos show off his chiseled physique. Honestly, it feels like some of the ferocity of his takedowns would have been lost had he been shielded by a huge set of armor, so they made the right choice.

History Lesson

Originally Kratos’ backstory was going to be much more fleshed out in the original “God of War”. Through unlockable videos, the devs revealed that plans were originally for Kratos to search for his mother before the events of the game and discover that his brother still lived. While this would have given Kratos a deeper backstory, it also took away from the impact of the events that led him to become the Ghost of Sparta after mistakenly murdering his family. However, these story elements were later used in the PSP title “God of War: Ghost of Sparta”.

Speedrunning

2005’s “God of War” isn’t a beefy game by any means, certainly not like its sequels, but a standard playthrough will still take you roughly 7-8 hours. However, if you’re playing the remastered version of the game and somehow manage to keep your playtime under 5 hours, you’ll earn the trophy “The Speed of Jason McDonald”. Jason McDonald was the combat designer of the original “God of War” and held the office record for the fastest playthrough of the game. Once the collection was remastered for PS3, Bluepoint included a nod to this achievement with a trophy dedicated to his historic runtime.

1-800-Kratos

Just because Kratos ascends the throne at the end of “God of War” doesn’t mean the secrets end when the credits roll. If players manage to destroy the two massive and seemingly indestructible statues in the throne room, which can require hundreds of hits, a code will pop up on the screen for players to decode. These codes lead players to a phone number and if players call the number, they’ll hear a conversation between Kratos and God of War creator David Jaffe, which eventually ends with Kratos becoming angry at Jaffe and killing him. Another odd phone message players can unlock if they beat the game on God Mode is Kratos discovering a prison chamber with Ares’ soul trapped inside, tormented for all eternity for his actions. Neither of these have any significance on the series going forward but are fun Easter Eggs, nonetheless.

Classic Inspirations

While “God of War” inspired numerous copycat games after its release, the series took its own inspirations from several other titles. Game director David Jaffe was directly inspired by Capcom’s “Onimusha” title and its new approach to combat combined with “Resident Evil” style puzzle solving. Games such as the “Castlevania” series and “Devil May Cry" heavily influenced the game’s combat, platforming and exploration, while “Ico” was the main inspiration behind the camera movements and the more nuanced integration of puzzles compared to the often-obtuse nature of the RE series. This approach to combining elements and mechanics would become a series staple and influence countless other games to experiment with a combination of game mechanics.

Adults Only

No one could accuse “God of War” of holding back on its more risque elements, especially when it comes to the graphic amounts of blood, gore and even nudity, but would you believe what we ended up with was the tamer version of the original concept? Despite already receiving a “Mature” rating for all the elements already listed, “God of War” nearly ended up with an “Adults Only” rating by the ESRB for its overabundance of graphic violence and sexual content. The devs had to make numerous adjustments to the game just to secure the “Mature” rating, but would continue to push the boundaries with each subsequent entry.

Gladitorial

Kratos went through several concept designs before his iconic look was finalized. Originally plans were made to have Kratos encased in a set of Gladiator armor, along with a helmet that made his face barely visible, and even some depicting him with long dreadlock style hair and exaggerated proportions. Kratos also nearly had a blue tattoo inside of his now classic red. However, designers felt this was too close to the Barbarian class from Diablo, so his look was changed last minute. The final version of Kratos players eventually got was drawn on a napkin, blades and all, including some concepts of Kratos’ brutal fighting style.

Before the Blades

Just as important as perfecting Kratos’ now iconic look was deciding on his arsenal. Long before the Blade of Chaos, Kratos was expected to have weaponry more traditional to a Spartan soldier. Along with the originally planned set of armor, Kratos was going to battle with a plain sword and shield combo. However, this wasn’t fun and felt too similar to other games with similar combat mechanics and so eventually Kratos was bound to the now infamous Blades of Chaos which not only offered combat options for both long and short range but also looked a hell of a lot cooler.

Character Graveyard

Kratos wasn’t the only one to undergo significant changes to his character as development continued, numerous elements were scrapped or altered with some enemies not even appearing in the final game. However, the devs still included a way for fans to see these rejected enemies and concepts. By simply beating the game, players can unlock the “Character Graveyard” and get up close looks at multiple enemies that didn’t make it into the final game as well as specific concepts for existing enemies that were altered during development, with notes from the team as to why they were rejected. Fans can even get a look at some early in game models of Kratos himself.

Conflicted Development

Development on “God of War” was just as tumultuous as Kratos’ journey in the game. Game director David Jaffe was intensely passionate about the game and would often butt heads with the rest of the development team over his obsessive pursuit of perfection. Specific elements such as Kratos ripping off the Gorgon’s head were especially confrontational with Jaffee demanding more blood and chaotic elements be integrated into the takedown. Jaffe has gone on record stating that he believes that much of the anger and frustration he felt during the game’s development went into Kratos’ character and his brutality.

Living Single

It’s difficult to imagine Kratos without actor Terrance Carson bringing the character to life. Until 2018, Terrance’s performance as Kratos was synonymous with the character and while Terrance has had a prominent career in both video games and cartoons thanks to his voice, he actually got his start on TV. Specifically, Terrance starred in a 90’s sitcom with Queen Latifa called “Living Single”. Given Kratos’ rage fueled nature brought to life by Terrance’s performance, it’s hard to imagine the voice of Kratos cracking jokes in front of a studio audience in a comedy sitcom.

Kratos With a “C”

Although “God of War” notoriously takes quite a few creative liberties with their implementation of Greek mythology, Kratos really did exist in the Greek pantheon. Kind of. Cratos with a “C” is the god of strength, might, power and sovereign rule in Greek mythology. Given Kratos’ supernatural strength throughout the game, it’s clear where his inspirations came from. While there aren’t many stories about Cratos compared to the other Gods, he is known for convincing Hephaestus to chain Prometheus to a rock as punishment for stealing the God’s fire. Mythological Cratos is also a full god unlike his video game counterpart who is only a demi-god.

Retcon

Santa Monica Studio had no idea at the time of release just how well “God of War” would perform, so they created Kratos’ story as a self-contained adventure with sequel potential. However, some elements of the original game’s ending and unlockable content contradict the rest of the series. At the end of the game, Kratos is positioned as the God of War who watches over all conflicts for millennia, including all the major wars in humanity’s history. Another crucial element is an unlockable cutscene in which modern humans find the skeletal remains of Cronos in the desert, still carrying Pandora’s Temple on his back. So how did Santa Monica account for these moments in the rest of the series? Short answer: they ignored it. Rather than rewrite these narrative threads into Kratos’ continued quest for revenge, it was easier to simply retcon these moments out of the “God of War” canon.

What was your favorite piece of unknown knowledge about the original 2005 God of War?