One of the Biggest Moments in 'God of War' Almost Never Happened

God of War was filled with picturesque moments, but the late-game stage of the game brought [...]

God of War was filled with picturesque moments, but the late-game stage of the game brought players one of the game's most memorable scenes. After using the Leviathan Axe throughout the entire game while trying to leave his violent, revenge-fueled past behind him, Kratos is forced to revisit his demons by picking up the Blades of Chaos once again. It was a culmination of the emotions and struggles Kratos experienced throughout the game, but God of War's director Cory Barlog said it almost never happened.

In the video above that comes from GameSpot, Barlog breaks down everything leading up to this scene and discusses the work that went into it. He gives insights into the animation tricks that helped propel Kratos back home and what it was like for Kratos' actor Christopher Judge to take up the blades again, but the most interesting detail was that the blades themselves almost weren't in the game. Barlog said that so much time was spent working on Kratos' Leviathan Axe, the studio at one point wasn't sure if the blades could be finished in time.

"We did not do the blades until probably the last year," Barlog said about the Blades of Chaos. "We worked on the axe for so long that there was a possibility the blades were gonna have to get cut because they were just taking so long to get online. Everybody said 'Look, if you took three and a half to four years to do the axe, you're never gonna be able to do the blades in time.'"

A year's worth of animations yielded many results that didn't feel right, Barlog said, with part of the challenge in getting the blades right attributed to the new camera angle. Since players have a much more up-close, detailed view of Kratos and can always see the weapons on his back, it wasn't as simple as past games where the blades could be whipped out to the sides of Kratos.

For anyone who's beaten God of War, you'll know that the blades were a critical part of the end-game phases and were instrumental in Kratos' ability to save Atreus. It would've been quite interesting to see where God of War went without this scene and this weapons, but it's hard to imagine a better outcome than the one players already got.

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