Here’s Why Kratos Can’t Jump In The New God Of War

As you may recall from previous God of War games, Kratos is quite visceral when it comes to combat. He can pummel enemies not only on the ground, but also in the air, launching them upward with his Blades of Chaos and striking them multiple times before sending them careening back down to Earth.

However, don’t be expecting to do the same in the new God of War, as it sounds like Kratos will be grounded this time around, since he won’t be able to jump.

This was a decision made by the team, and game director Cory Barlog spoke with Game Informer this week about the development progress behind the game. Although he didn’t talk too specifically about that, he did note, “it’s a ‘rip the band-aid off’ kind of moment. At first…I told the core team that nothing is sacred, and literally the first thing that (designer) Eric Williams talks to me about is like, ‘Okay, what about the jump?’”

It all comes down to the closer camera angle that’s applied within the game, and how jumping could’ve gotten in the way of that. Barlog noted that you can’t have “double-jumps all over the place” with that set-up, and he had to make a decision to pretty much get it taken out.

Now, Kratos will still have defensive moves so he can avoid certain attacks and counterattack like only he can, so don’t worry about the lack of getting vertical. Besides, it also makes the combat a little more visceral and up-close than previous games.

God of War will release sometime this year on PlayStation 4.