A God of War (2018) mod takes Kratos back to his younger, angrier days by reskinning him to look like he did in the original God of War trilogy. Sony's iconic bald, hotblooded Spartan warrior is certainly a changed man by the time players catch back up with him in developer Santa Monica Studio's critically acclaimed PlayStation 4 reboot, in which he’s traded his previous quest for vengeance against the gods of Greece for a quiet life with his son Atreus in the icy realms of Nordic lore.
This transformation can mostly be seen in Kratos’ temperament throughout the most recent God of War title, where the older, more withered demigod is now a lot slower to anger and only wishes to set a good example for his son as they journey to scatter his mother's across the highest peak in Jötunheim. That isn’t to say that the Ghost of Sparta has left his old monster-slaying ways behind completely. Even though he's since traded in his fiery Blades of Chaos for a frosty Leviathan Axe more befitting his much cooler demeanor, he still slashes and bashes his way through plenty of gods and monsters on his travels across the Nine Realms. Now, players can get a glimpse of what that slashing and bashing would look like if Kratos were a few decades younger thanks to the hard work of one dedicated fan.
Internet modder Speclizer, who has previously worked on God of War mods that remove Kratos' beard and switch the game to a first-person view, posted a video of their latest work on YouTube a couple of days ago. This ten-minute montage of clips consists of a reskinned Kratos, which now more closely resembles his younger self from the first three God of War titles, in a few of the 2018 game’s cutscenes - including his introduction and early hunt with Atreus and, more fittingly, retrieving his old Blades of Chaos later on. This is followed by some gameplay of the chained swords in action - or at least, that’s what should be happening, as a glitch with the mod renders Kratos’ weapons (and, even more bizarrely, Atreus's entire torso) completely invisible at times. Kratos also sports an odd, closely shaven beard and mustache that looks little like his old facial hair, but aside from that, the mod is extremely accurate to his appearance in the original God of War.
Kratos has been busy these past few months, with the battle-hardened slayer of deities recently appearing as a PS5-exclusive DLC skin for Fortnite, a cameo that featured him in rare form as he pulled off some smooth dance moves. Santa Monica Studio is also hard at work on the next chapter of Kratos and Atreus’s journey, which is tentatively titled God of War: Ragnarök and is rumored to be released for both PlayStation consoles at some point this year.
In the meantime, Speclizer’s reskin mod of a younger Kratos in God Of War (2018) is an impressive recreation of the Ghost Of Sparta from his earlier Greek adventures, even with the odd facial hair and vanishing torso glitches. The texturing used on Kratos is easily on par with the beautiful graphics of the base game, and the brief gameplay clip of Kratos wielding his iconic Blades of Chaos toward the end of the video is sure to evoke some nostalgic feelings from fans as they wait for more news of his future journeys in God of War: Ragnarök later this year.
Source: Speclizer