God of War 2018 Vs The Last of Us

“God of War” (2018) vs “The Last of Us” Both of these PlayStation exclusives deliver a captivating experience, but only one will come out on top. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today, we’re pitting two of the PS4’s biggest titles against each other; Santa Monica Studio’s recently released “God of War” and Naughty Dog’s legendary hit, “The Last of Us”. For the sake of a fair comparison for this matchup we’re not going to be taking the original God Of War trilogy into account, nor will “The Last of Us: Left Behind” DLC be factored in. It’s just the two games as they are standing on their own merits. Keep in mind that there will be some major spoilers for both games in this comparison, so you’ve been warned.

Round 1: Story

After his wife has passed away, Kratos, along with his son Atreus, must journey to the highest point in the realms and spread her ashes. As the duo progresses, they’ll encounter different monsters and gods from Norse mythology. Many of these characters are aware of Kratos and his past, but we learn early on that Kratos has not told his son. This leaves us wondering throughout the rest of our adventure how Atreus is going to handle it when the Ghost of Sparta does tell him. The Last of Us is quite the emotional roller coaster. Civilization has been pushed to near extinction following a fungal outbreak that has turned a chunk of the population into zombie-like monsters. And in this world where resources are extremely scarce, smuggling duo Joel and Tess are tasked with transporting a teenage girl named Ellie who is immune to the infection to the base of the Fireflies. Joel is apprehensive at first about transporting Ellie but is kind of left as the only option when Tess goes out too soon. From there, it's an emotional roller coaster as Joel and Ellie are forced to survive this bleak and depressing world with dangers around every corner, with their surrogate father-daughter like relationship really driving the main theme of the story. Both have very strong fatherhood stories, but it’s their end goals that end up deciding this round, as they both require our heroes to travel to a distant location across dangerous territory. The Last of Us’s one makes sense considering the vast distance Joel & Ellie have to travel, but God of War does suffer in this regard due to the fact that it feels like the goal posts are constantly being pushed further back, and this is evident from the start when you can see the mountain in the distance, only to get to the top to discover - whoops, Wrong Place. And unfortunately, that’s just one example, so as tight as both stories are, The Last of Us takes this round. WINNER: The Last of Us God of War 0 / The Last of Us 1

Round 2: Lore

While God Of War 2018 is a sequel to an established franchise, the lore in this game ends up holding up entirely on its own, mostly due to the new location of Midgard and the Norse Gods that inhabit it. This game borrows from the real world Nordic tales, from the ever-present and visually stunning World Serpent to a series of shrines, each of which tells a fascinating story thank to Atreus’ translating. Of course the biggest depository of lore dropping is Mimir, a reanimated severed head who on occasions will provide Kratos and Atreus with stories about the Norse Gods and how they came to be as they are. The Last of Us is a bit more grounded in realism due to the fact that it’s based on our world. But even then, Naughty Dog went to great lengths to bring the lore of their world to life. Notes, journals, and personal belongings you find scattered everywhere tell you a bit more about the world with many providing their own mini-stories as they a glimpse of the apocalypse from a different perspective. Perhaps the most iconic example of this is a scene in a sewer, where a group of survivors had tried to survive underground and even had built a working community, only for it to come crashing down. Even though we can appreciate the different stories told in “The Last of Us”, we gotta give this round to “God of War”. The Norse mythology goes deep, and with every shrine and story sharing something about the world, you can tell the developers did their research in crafting this fully fleshed out world. WINNER: God of War God of War 1 / The Last of Us 1

Round 3: Characters

Obviously, this isn’t the first time we’ve met Kratos, but he’s an entirely different character here than what we're used to. You can tell he has a lot of regrets and only wants what’s best for his son. In many ways, he’s very relatable character, especially for those who are or have acted as fathers. As for Atreus, he’s an excellent addition to the series. There’s something about his naive and curious behavior that help us relate to Kratos more...even if he is talking too much or making mistakes. However, we can’t help getting excited whenever we see Atreus improving his skills in battle. Even as their adventure progresses, the way both characters develop is incredibly compelling - especially Atreus, who goes through various mood phases as a young child would, and eventually coming to his own as a remarkable fighter. Seriously, how epic was Kratos and Atreus’ mid-air team-up against Balder? With a compelling story comes captivating characters. As young as “The Last of Us” might be in comparison to the “God of War” franchise, Joel and Ellie have become one of the most iconic characters in video games. Right from the start, you learn a lot about Joel’s history with one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever in Video Games. Whereas Ellie’s character is developed a lot more slowly throughout the game, which does strike a very interesting difference between the two. You’ll notice that even through their occasional conflicts, these two are almost like a father and daughter. Of course, we aren’t kidding when we said this game is an emotional rollercoaster. Their relationship will have many happy moments, but there will be just as many tense moments in between. This is best shown in the Winter Chapter of the game, where the two characters roles are reversed after Joel is badly injured, and we get to see Ellie shine more as she starts to take after her new adoptive father figure. “God of War” boasts an equally strong duo of heroes as “The Last of Us” does, but Joel and Ellie take the point for this round. As pieces of their backstories start coming together, you really start caring for these two, which makes everything else so emotionally resonant. The character development is fully-fleshed out, and it's heartwarming to see their father-daughter-like relationship blossom. WINNER: The Last of Us God of War 1 / The Last of Us 2

Round 4: Graphics

Now we know what you’re thinking, how can this possibly be a fair comparison when The Last of Us was first released a whole console generation behind God of War? While horsepower is nice, its how you use it that counts. And the Last of Us pushed the PS3 to its absolute limits that it still remains to be a visually stunning game. The game gives the player many views to stop and take a breather, even through the decimated buildings, dark environments, and areas submerged in water. Despite the beauty of the scenery, it quickly reminds you of how bleak everything really is. The attention to detail is really incredible. God of War doesn’t hold back in its visual department either. It sports a much more vibrant color palette than The Last of Us to really capture its mystical world, even if it’s anything by whimsical. The detail in the game’s lighting is worth a special mention alone, as the contrasting weather effects you encounter throughout your adventure makes no two area’s feel the same. Furthermore, the architecture of some of the ancient temples and structures you come across are breathtaking, thanks once again to an incredible attention to detail, as a result, these fantasy locations feel very believable, an incredible accomplishment considering the design team had few real-world references to go off. These are both visually stunning games. Even when not taking into account the polygon count difference between the two games, God of War still comes out on top, mostly because of its vibrant and diverse environments and characters, and how beautifully they’re realized. WINNER: God of War God of War 2 / The Last of Us 2

Round 5: Gameplay

One thing The Last of Us makes very clear to the player is that ammunition and resources are very limited in this world, so attempting to go for a frontal assault will often lead you without a weapon quickly. As such the game pushes a heavy emphasis on stealth as you work your way around enemies to distract them end eventually take them out. You’re given a lot of options with different weapons and expendable supplies like shiv’s and bombs to plan your route of attack, which can lead to incredibly tense moments. It’s far from the most in-depth stealth system in gaming, (Thanks Metal Gear) but it does offer the player with plenty of variety. Gameplay outside of combat is, unfortunately, The Last of Us’s biggest weakness, as puzzle variety is sorely limited, and the strict linear A to B path offers little in the way of freedom. God of War, on the other hand, goes for a more direct approach with its combat, It opts to go for a faster Dark Souls style combat system, though not quite as in-depth as those games, mostly due to a shortage of weapon variety. That being said, what it does it does well. The combination of light and heavy attacks, combined with the special runic attacks and the ability to command Atreus in battle ends up making every single encounter fun while remaining challenging and rewarding. Outside of Combat God of War offers a bit more variety, while puzzles do suffer from the solutions nearly always revolving around throwing your axe at something, things do get far more creative especially when you’re able to go off the main path and attempt one of the many side quests the game offers. When it comes to combat between the two games, it’s really an Apple to Oranges comparison over whether you like indirect or direct action, or if you’re into guns or axes. However, “God of War” gets the upper hand by offering so many different things for us to do with its semi-open world gameplay and the encouragement to thoroughly explore every area for collectibles and side quests. WINNER: God Of War God of War 3 / The Last of Us 2 To be honest, this one almost ended in a tie due to both game’s vastly different approaches to Combat where such a thing would come down to personal preference. But God of War just snuck ahead thanks to it offering so much more with its world, not just in things to do but in its lore and level design. That being said, once The Last of Us Part II is out, chances are God of War will be up for a rematch, but we’ll have to wait and see