Here's What God of War Looked Like As a Prototype Before it Was Greenlit

God of War from developer Santa Monica Studio is one of the best-looking games, ever. I mean, just look it, it's undeniably beautiful and an impressive technical showcase. But apparently it was a bit of a late bloomer.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has revealed what the game looked like three years ago, back in 2015 before it was greenlit by the publisher. And while it looks good, it's certainly far from the finished product of today.

It's worth pointing out that this isn't that surprising. At the point of 2015, the game was nothing more than a mere prototype that Santa Monica Studio had been working on, and hoping would get the thumbs up from Sony. Thus, it obviously doesn't contain all of the final version's bells and whistles. It's basically a skeleton version of the game.

Despite looking drastically different, it's still recognizable and quite good looking within the context of it being a prototype. Because it is prototype footage, some stand-in assessts can be seen, such as different menus and enemies.

Rarely does prototype footage of a shipped game ever get revealed, so this is a neat to see, and further illustrates the stages of games development, and just how much a game can change in a few years. I mean, Atreus is bald here for pete's sake.

You can see said footage for yourself, below, courtesy of DualShockers:

As of today, God of War is available exclusively on the PlayStation 4, starting at $59.99 USD. If you haven't already, be sure to peep our official review of the game where we dive into how it evolves the classic series, and how it is amongst the best games this generation. Praise for the title didn't end with us though, it is notably the highest-rated new PS4 release, ever.

In other recent and related news, God of War is dominating Twitch, topping even Fortnite in viewership. Meanwhile, a new photo mode for the game has been revealed. It includes a seagull and rare-sighting of a smiling Kratos. And if you can't get enough God of War right now, there's even a free and official mobile game, which stealth-released earlier this week.