'God of War' goes gold, promises one-shot camera experience

“God of War” for the PlayStation 4 has gone gold. This means that development is officially complete and that the game is pretty much ready to be shipped to stores.

Writing for the PlayStation Blog, Creative Director Cory Barlog expressed excitement over the news, calling it “an important milestone for a game.” The upcoming title, developed by Sony’s Santa Monica Studio, is now ready for manufacturing and shipping.

“Going gold means so much more to me with this game,” Barlog wrote. “It has been a long and exhausting journey filled with laughs, arguments, and a healthy dose of fear – with a side of doubt.” He also praised his team for being “the best damn team a director could ever hope for.”

The new “God of War” serves as a sort of a reboot for the series. Whereas the previous instalments focused on Greek mythology, the upcoming game has been confirmed to be loosely based on Norse mythology.

And since this is Kratos’ first-ever exclusive adventure in the PS4, the developers have decided to step things up. The entire gameplay will be presented in a single, uninterrupted shot.

In an interview with The Daily Star, Barlog said that he pitched the idea of a single camera shot to Crystal Dynamics. The proposal, however, was turned down. “I wanted to do this [the one-shot camera technique] and I had pitched it to Crystal Dynamics when I was there working on Tomb Raider and everyone was like, ‘that’s crazy, we don't want to do that.’”

“And, my reaction was like, ‘yeah, you know, I don't know if this is the best place for me anyway,’” Barlog added.

In a recently uploaded video (see below), Dori Arazi, Director of Cinematography, explained the process behind the one-shot technique. “I thought it was impossible when I read the script,” Arazi began. “I thought it was impossible when I looked at our equipment. I thought it was impossible when I looked at the reality of our production pipelines.”

The video continues by saying that the team was able to accomplish what they thought was impossible. And once “God of War” releases worldwide for the PS4 on April 20, players are promised to experience the one-shot technique that would immerse them in the game’s world.

It should be noted that this isn't the first time a video game has at least attempted long uninterrupted shots. “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes” and “Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice,” both critically acclaimed titles, also tried to utilise one-shot illusions, albeit inconsistently.