“Kratos doesn’t punch; he pulverizes,” Chris Plante wrote in Polygon’s review of God of War. “The way his ax zips into an enemy’s skull, then back to his hand, is so smooth and natural that it’s easy to overlook how challenging it must have been to animate such a thing.”
When God of War director Cory Barlog visited New York for the Tribeca Film Festival last month, we didn’t just ask him his best dad advice. We asked him what makes Kratos’ Leviathan Axe tick: Why does it feel so heavy, so meaty, so powerful to use?
It’s a puzzle with many pieces, and in this video, we take a deep dive into the animation tricks that make the Leviathan Axe such a beast of a weapon.
If you liked this, there’s more on the way! Drop me a comment about what your favorite overlooked, feel-good game mechanic is. We’re going to spend the next few weeks, with a break for E3, discussing some of our own favorites.
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