I did this piece early in the God of War 1 production, which means we knew Kratos will jump off the cliff at the beginning of the game. What a depressing start of a game! I also remember we tried to emphasize how emotionally beaten he is leading up to this point. I remember they (probably design team, David Jaffe) were telling me Kratos could barely drag himself up to the top which was the original plan. (I did not know what event took place before this. Which was the final Zeus battle at the end of the game!) That’s why you see a narrow trail leading up to the top on the left side of the cliff in my artwork. The set of images for PlayStation Experience were special for me. Specifically, this one, as it aimed to capture the boy in a fading moment of solemn beauty and inevitable death.

The Art of God of War is an intimate chronicle of the years-long odyssey to bring Kratos and Atreus’ beautiful and brutal world to life. Step into Midgard and explore beyond, as Dark Horse Books and Santa Monica Studios are pleased to offer the quintessential companion to the enormously anticipated God of War. This is a tome unlike any other, including an expanse of gorgeous art and in-depth interviews that set readers on an exhaustive behind-the-scenes journey to witness the creation of an epic of tremendous scale.”

Buy God of War Ragnarök

To play this game on PS5, your system may need to be updated to the latest system software. Although this game is playable on PS5, some features available on PS4 may be absent. See PlayStation.com/bc for more details. During pre-production for God of War: Ascension, the concept team had a month of “blue-sky” design time where we would toss around crazy ideas. With the mysterious fate of Kratos at the end of God of War 3, we knew we wanted to give him a successor — a new hero who would go looking for him. Not unlike the most recent entry in the series, we imagined that he had a hidden daughter and began sketching ideas of what she would look like. Other ideas we tossed around were using Artemis as the focus with similar rage and vengeance as Kratos — even concepting her to be a Centaur with magical powers! The game is one of the best games out there, and this artbook is one of the best video game artbooks this year. I had been struggling to get a look and feel for Helheim until this pivotal piece. The brief was that it would be extremely cold and icy but it wouldn’t be a frozen wonderland. The walking dead that were infused together on the bridge, the stormy look, the towering columns/gates. Some of the elements in the painting were inspired by Zdzislaw Beksinkski and how he paints bony super structures.

Ultimately I’ll have to go with Icarus. One: it is always fun to design a crazy character and show it in their features and pose. It may not have been a big character but he was fun to do! Two: I was satisfied with the outcome of the illustration. For sure, some things could have been done better on it, but for time I had on it, I was pleased. Three: it is hard to see and it did not make it into the game I do not think. As part of his craziness, I originally thought of him holding a deceased cat all the time as a pet (it must have been a late night when I thought of it)! I would like to add, my time as a concept artist on God of War was a blast! Of course I loved the game! But would the extra money spent on buying the art book worth it? Every cent, sir. Every cent. Y por último el cuarto capítulo se titula "Producción"(Production). En este último capítulo, es cuando realmente se aprecia el resultado de la obra con ilustraciones finales que se ven en el juego.

Success!

I still remembered playing God of War for the first time many years ago and was just mesmerised by the worlds and characters created by Santa Monica Studio. I'm still reminded of that feeling of awe each time I see art or video clips of the game. The art direction is just amazing. The artworks are absolutely beautiful and there is a lot to see. The 3D sculpts are amazingly detailed, as are most of the artworks. The text is quite sparse and just enough to give you some insight to the designs. I did this concept eight years ago when I first joined Santa Monica Studio on God of War: Ascension, I was so proud of it and felt like I was finally starting to understand what makes something work in a God of War game. Flash forward to today and this image is hung on the wall as you enter our internal space. I walk by it every day. When I look at it now years later I see how much I have grown as an artist at Santa Monica Studio and it’s fun to see how our games have changed too. El primer capítulo es "Pre-producción" (Pre-Production), que recopila y muestra parte del material que se utilizó a modo de ideas para el desarrollo del juego.

El segundo capítulo se titula "First Playable", es un capítulo interesante que trata sobre la dificultad de reunir el material de pre-producción, es decir, lo que se reveló en la ceremonia de inauguración de la Conferencia de PlayStation E3 de 2016: que fue cuando se hizo una demostración práctica por primera vez de God of War acompañada de una orquesta sinfónica y un coro. The game itself is fantastic, one of the most beautiful games yet to be produced in my opinion (more amazing graphically than even Horizon Zero Dawn on a PS4 Pro which is saying something) and that’s what this book focuses on - the stellar visual design. If you’re a fan of the game, this book touches on the production itself, inspirations, and insights on various character and level designs. Norse mythology is not as well documented as for example Greek or Roman as used for inspiration in previous games in the series, and the book talks about the challenges of starting with very little in terms of source materials which was interesting considering how well it turned out.The Art of God of War is an absolute masterpiece. As a fan of the God of War franchise, I was blown away by the stunning artwork and detailed commentary that this book offers. The illustrations are breathtaking, with incredible attention to detail and a real sense of mood and atmosphere. The concept art and sketches give a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, and it's amazing to see how the characters, creatures, and landscapes of the game were brought to life.