Among other awards and nominations, God of War was awarded Game of the Year by numerous media outlets and award shows. It received variety of perfect review scores, tying it with the first God of War (2005) because the highest-rated game within the series, also together of the highest-rated PlayStation 4 games on the review aggregator Metacritic. Many reviewers felt it had successfully revitalized the series without losing the core identity of its predecessors. God of War received universal approval for its story, world design, art direction, music, graphics, combat system, and characters, especially the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus.
Along their journey, they encounter monsters and gods of the Norse world. Kratos keeps his troubled past a secret from Atreus, who is unaware of his divine nature. Following the death of Kratos' second wife and Atreus' mother, they journey to satisfy her request that her ashes be spread at the very best peak of the nine realms. For the primary time within the series, there are two protagonists: Kratos, the previous Greek God of War who remains the sole playable character, and his young son Atreus. Unlike previous games, which were loosely supported Greek mythology, this installment is loosely inspired by Norse mythology, with the bulk of it set in ancient Scandinavia within the realm of Midgard. Released worldwide on April 20, 2018, for the PlayStation 4 (PS4), it's the eighth installment within the God of War series, the eighth chronologically, and therefore the sequel to 2010's God of War III. God of War is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE).