“Try this one, it’s pretty good,” the employee behind the counter of my local video game store told a 15-year-old me when I asked if there were any new PS2 games available. He handed me a plastic cover – a bootleg, like most PS2 games were where I grew up – with an angry bald dude with two tiny blades looking at a temple. “Guess I’ll try whatever thisGod of Warthing is then,” I thought, having no idea of the ride I was in for.
Performing my first execution kill and tossing that poor captain into the abyss of a Hydra’s gaping maw made me realise that this was going to be a big boy game, but it was only when the sea beast reared its ugly heads that I understood the sheer scale of what Kratos was going up against. The opening Hydra boss fight has gone down as one of my all-time favourite gaming moments, not because of how engaging or fun it was, but because it felt like I was fighting a mythical beast.
Over the next two games, God of War would keep on topping itself, pitting a mortal with two ancient blades chained to his wrists against larger-than-life foes. These were all household names to a fantasy lover like me, and the games brilliantly depicted what it would feel like to fight literal gods and the myriad creatures that call the Greek pantheon home. This, along with the ruthlessness and gore, was one of the main pillars of the experience, a pillar that was unfortunately largely missing when the Norse reboot came along.
God of War (2018) was fantastic in almost every way. The character building, narrative, visuals, and gameplay were all spot on. However, I couldn’t help but miss the diverse and massive boss fights of the original series. The Baldur, Thor, and Odin fights looked great, but I felt they were only made to feel cinematic thanks to the cutscenes, with little interaction from the player where it really mattered.
The Valkyries, Trolls, and Berserkers were Santa Monica Studio’s way to fill the gap, but they felt more likeFromSoftwareoptional dungeon bosses more than earth-shattering battles against a god. They lacked the spectacle that came with the Colossus of Rhodes or Chronos the Titan. The Garm fight was pretty close, but the game needed more of these encounters.
It’s only recently that this void has been filled, thanks to a rather popular game calledBlack Myth: Wukong. I’ve only just reached chapter four, but I still have no idea what godly or ungodly being is going to show up around the next corner. Every battle, every boss, and every encounter is a thrilling and unpredictable spectacle in which I’m challenged to take on unimaginable beasts that would feel right at home with Kratos.
God of War and Black Myth: Wukong are action-adventure games that can’t be compared to Soulslike games like Elden Ring, so defeating the likes of Rykard and Radahn cannot be equated to fighting Poseidon or The Yellow Wind Sage.
Going up against everything from a dragon, to an anthropomorphic scorpion, to a giant rat holding the head of a Buddha brought back the feelings I had while brutally murdering Gods, especially since my only weapons were a stick and a handful of tricks. The sheer onslaught of boss fights feels like Wukong is making up for the lack of them in God of War. Add to that the fact that both are based on mythologies of great cultures, and the comparison is even more stark.
Not all the boss fights in Wukong are memorable. Some of them are absolute pushovers, but the diversity and the scale of the flagship bosses more than makes up for the weaker ones. Where God of War gave us more boss fights that were cast in the same mold, Black Myth: Wukong pits us against an entire diverse pantheon, while also making them a spectacular treat.
If we do get another God of War – perhaps based on Egyptian mythology, as it has been hinted at – it could take a cue from Wukong’s varying mainline boss fights. Instead of having Kratos fight seven slightly different mummies, let him tip the scales of Anubis, snap the jaws of Sobek, or feed a bunch of catnip to Bastet.
