God Of War Doles Out Dragons, Brutal Beatdowns, And A Release Window

Sony's God of War series is coming back in a big way, but not quite as you remember it. At E3 2016 Sony revealed the next God of War will be a reboot, which takes the series in a more grounded, dramatic direction. God of War's debut trailer was amazing, but the game has been missing in action ever since, with rumors flying the game may suffer a significant delay. Thankfully, Sony finally gave fans another look at God of War at their E3 2017 press conference, but it seems those delay fears were well-founded.

The new God of War trailer opens on Kratos and his young son Arteus in a boat, waiting for…something. The trailer doesn't initially make it clear what that is. The two then have an uncomfortable heart-to-heart about whether Kratos sees his son as weak. He probably does – most people are weak compared to Kratos.

We then move onto to a snowy locale and see Kratos deftly destroy numerous enemies with axe and shield. The action definitely isn't as over-the-top as in past games – even the gore seems to have been toned down, with most enemies bleeding rainbow-colored blood instead of the red stuff. Make no mistake though, combat still looks impressive. Kratos may be a bit older now, but he's still somebody to mess with.

Finally, we return to the boat. It turns out Kratos and Arteus were there to awaken the massive World Serpent, who's impressive and freaky-looking in equal measure. Turns out the serpent wants to help Kratos! Is our hero going to learn he doesn't have to murder every mythological creature he meets?

As we learned previously, God of War will be a more down-to-earth experience, both in terms of storytelling and gameplay. Kratos will be less powerful, which forces him to fight more strategically. Thankfully, his son Atreus is able to assist him in battle, shooting arrows, or helping to find an enemy's weak spot. Story-wise, God of War is heavily based on Norse, rather than Greek, mythology, and tells an emotionally resonant story about Kratos learning to embrace his role as a father. That said, you'll still get to kill gods and monsters in horrifying ways.

God of War storms exclusively onto the PlayStation 4 sometime in early 2018.