This post has not been edited by the GamesBeat staff. Opinions by GamesBeat community writers do not necessarily reflect those of the staff.
Editor’s note: Kratos may very well be a gigantic jackass, but I give credit to Sony Santa Monica for sticking with such a contentious hero. Although, I hear that he’s got quite the sensitive side as well…. -Rob
I’ll just get it out of the way — God of War 3 is out and I can't wait to play. In the previous months, I viewed every screenshot and watched every video. When the demo released, I downloaded it immediately. I've since played it several times through, and it's only made me want the game more.
I have just one problem: Kratos is an irredeemable asshole.
I was totally with him in God of War; Greek deities screw him over, he loses his family, and he has to walk around looking like Powder. It's a pretty rough situation, and he responds appropriately. “Fine, then!” he declares. “I guess I'm forced kill an immortal and all-powerful being.”
And then he does. Kratos’s reward for killing Ares (who was a dick anyway, and nobody missed him) is to become the new god of war. The first game ends with Kratos defying all odds, emerging victorious, and receiving pretty much everything anyone could ever ask for. I was fine with that; it was an epic-underdog story and it worked.
My problem with our protagonist began at the start of God of War 2. Despite the fact that he is living the dream (by which I mean he is living every dream, ever), we learn that Kratos is still angry because the other gods don't like him. Do they dislike him because — as a former human — he disrupts Olympus' time-honored corporate tradition of promoting from within? Is he a loner, Dottie? A rebel?
No — they dislike him because he uses his newly granted power to wage war and lead Sparta in a campaign to conquer Greece. To be fair, this is pretty well in line with his job description; however, the other gods would rather he be a team player and stop short of burning their favored city-states to the ground and salting the earth so that nothing may grow there again.
He has proven to be no better for Olympian security than his predecessor. So, the gods have a conference call, examine their action-item lists, and decide that the best way to maintain synergy is to make some pretty drastic cuts in the war department.
Kratos spends the rest of the game pissed off at the gods for firing him. So, like any other insane and disgruntled ex-employee, he decides that the only reasonable thing to do is go back to the office and tear that shit down.
At this point, I fell completely out of Kratos’s camp, and I said as much on Twitter a few months ago.
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySTOdOXjZjo ]
Alex Cronk-Young brought up the above clip and asked if I didn't at least think that it was completely badass. I responded that my hatred for Kratos reached such heights that I was not likely to be impressed by anything he did. I’d still think Ted Nugent is a douche bag even if he could jump over the Grand Canyon on a flaming mammoth cloned specifically for that purpose, so why would I think any better of Kratos?
Jasmine Maleficent Rea offered that the act itself would still be pretty impressive, regardless of whatever negative opinions she might have of The Nuge. Alex then put all further debate to rest by suggesting that I have no testicles.
Regardless, my opinion that Kratos is a completely unlikable prick with the impulse control of an ape suffering from Tourette's syndrome will not stop me from buying, playing, or enjoying God of War 3. The bottom line is that these games are simply fun to play; however, I have mixed feelings about serving as the vehicle through which Kratos inflicts his special brand of ultraviolent dickery upon the world.
Does my role as a player constitute at least a tacit approval of Kratos’s behavior? Am I an accomplice to his acts of horrendous and fetishistic violence? Why do I feel bad when he rips that poor Cyclops's eye out?
These are questions I only ask myself while playing God of War games; I had no moral qualms about smashing hobos' faces into TVs in Condemned 2, and I didn't stop playing Bioshock to wonder if the Splicers I set on fire and 'sploded had families and loved ones who missed them. I wonder if Kratos would get a similar pass if I only liked him more.
Still, though…I effing hate that guy.