In my opinion, God of War 3 is still the best God of War ever made. But I don’t actually think “which one is better” is the right question, because God of War 3 and the 2018 reboot are fundamentally going for different things. It really comes down to what you want out of a game and out of a story, right?
Quick bit of context if you’re newer to the series. GOW3 came out on PS3 in March 2010 and finished off Kratos’s war with Olympus (God of War III). The 2018 game took him to Norse mythology, gave him a son, Atreus, and slowed everything right down (God of War (2018)).
Why is 3 still my favourite?
Because it’s the purest version of Kratos. Him, the world around him, like all of it just fits who he’s meant to be.
And the story doesn’t mess around. It’s rage and it’s vengeance from start to finish, and it never gets watered down. Don’t get me wrong, the Norse games with his son have their own thing going on, they’re just going for something else, and you can feel that the anger isn’t the same.
Do the Greek bosses make you feel small?
Yeah, and that’s the part I love. To be completely honest, I think the Greek version had way more climactic fights than the Norse one. You’re in these multi-phase battles against gods and titans that are massive next to you, and they don’t just look huge, you actually feel how small you are against them.
The only thing I can really compare it to is Shadow of the Colossus, the 2005 game where you’re one small guy climbing creatures the size of buildings (Shadow of the Colossus). That game made you feel tiny, and 3 is the one that got that same sense of scale. Hands down.
The combat goes with it too. It’s flashy, you’ve got a good spread of weapons to switch between, and some of it is low-key brutal. Everything’s just turned all the way up.
So what does 2018 do better?
The story, for sure. The writing and the character work go so much deeper, and the whole world is more built out. That’s the main thing.
The combat’s different as well. It’s slower and more deliberate, there are deeper systems underneath, and Kratos swaps his chained blades for an axe for most of it, so it’s not just flashy hack and slash anymore. Critics rated it higher too: 2018 got 94 on Metacritic and GOW3 got 92 (Metacritic: God of War, Metacritic: God of War III).
What you give up is those climactic god fights. The Norse one doesn’t really have the massive boss battles, and for me that’s a big part of why the Greek one is still my pick.
Where does Ragnarok fit in?
Ragnarok came out in November 2022 and wraps up the Norse saga, and it builds on a lot of the character stuff from 2018 (God of War Ragnarök). Critics loved it just as much, it landed the same 94 (Push Square).
There’s more variety in where you go, and there’s a nice amount of it. But fundamentally you’re still Kratos in the middle of all that, hacking and slashing whatever’s in front of you, so it’s mostly the scenery that’s changing. I’m not knocking it, I say that in the nicest way possible, that’s just how it plays.
Which one should you play first?
If you’re new, start with 2018. It was made so you can jump in without playing anything before it, and then you go straight into Ragnarok. Those two feel a lot more like the games people are playing now.
After that, if you want the old-school style, go back to the Greek games. If what you’re after is the power fantasy, Kratos angry and out for revenge, then 3 is the original vision. Epic, brutal, gritty. You can still play it on PS4 as God of War III Remastered (games.gg).
FAQ
Is God of War 3 better than God of War (2018)? In my opinion, yeah, it’s still my favourite. But it depends what you want. The Greek one has way more climactic fights and more intensity, and the Norse one has the better story and deeper combat.
Do you need to play God of War 3 before God of War (2018)? No. 2018 works on its own, so start there and play Ragnarok after it.
Which God of War game scored highest? The 2018 game and Ragnarok both got 94 on Metacritic, and GOW3 got 92. You can find all of them on the God of War hub.
