God of War – the 2018 sequel for PlayStation 4 – has finally received a patch for PlayStation 5, and in common with similar updates for Days Gone and Ghost of Tsushima, it opens the door to a classic game running flat out at 60 frames per second – and in common with those other Sony first party juggernauts, the impact is indeed transformative. It’s almost like the final piece of the puzzle: the original release was hugely impressive with its 4K graphics, extreme detail, phenomenal lighting and excellent performances. A nigh-on flawless 60 frames per second is the final flourish for a game that pushed PS4 and PS4 Pro to its limits.
In fact, before we talk about the raw performance numbers, we should probably address what you might call the quality of life improvement. In extracting so much from the last-gen silicon, Santa Monica Studio inadvertently ran head-first into another issue – the cooling design of PS4 and PS4 Pro. God of War actually became our title of choice for testing power draw, acoustics and thermal performance of PlayStation hardware. On the noise front especially, this game caused the fans to spin up to an obtrusive degree, depending on which iteration of the hardware you have. Beyond what’s happening with the software, God of War on PS5 is a much more pleasant experience simply because a nuanced story of profound loss and parenthood plays out without high-pitched fans running at max speed in the background.
And in returning to God of War, what struck me was just how risky this title would have been for SIE and Santa Monica Studio. A number of gambles here pay off spectacularly. A series that began life as a technologically state of the art arcade brawler with set-piece bosses has slowed down, there’s a genuine story here and fully fleshed out characters. By comparison, the older God of War titles almost feel like exaggerated word-of-mouth legends. Regardless, Santa Monica Studio has moved on, the story has moved on and maybe the audience has moved on too.
The point is, the franchise is re-invigorated – not rebooted. I say that because everything that made God of War so epic in prior instalments is still there in 2018 – the fantastical environments, the gigantic beasts, the visceral, ultra-violent fighting – and of course, Santa Monica Studios’ state of the art rendering. But while the studio has clearly moved on, God of War 2018 is a game that respects its technological legacy in extracting the most from its generation of console hardware. The 1.35 patch for the game is fascinating – the 4K and 1080p modes of the Pro version (targeting 30fps and 60fps with varying degrees of success) are gone, replaced with straight 30fps and 60fps modes still using 2160p checkerboard rendering. Not surprisingly, the 30fps mode is totally locked from start to finish, tidying up some relatively minor slowdown exhibited on PS4 Pro, but the revelation here is just how solid the 60fps experience is.