<P> I knew I didn't want to simply reboot the franchise, starting over with a retelling of the origin story . I wanted to reimagine the gameplay, give players a fresh perspective and a new tactile experience while delving deeper into the emotional journey of Kratos to explore the compelling drama that unfolds when an immortal demigod makes a decision to change . </P> <P> Barlog explained that Kratos had to change his cycle of violence and learn how to control his rage . He said that Kratos had made many bad decisions, which led to the destruction of Olympus, and wanted to know what would happen if Kratos made a good decision . The birth of Barlog's own son influenced the idea of Kratos' character change . The canceled live - action Star Wars television series was also an influence . The bond between Kratos and his son is at the heart of the game and Barlog said "This game is about Kratos teaching his son how to be a god, and his son teaching Kratos how to be human again ." Referencing the Marvel Comics character Hulk, Barlog said that in regards to Kratos, "We've already told the story of The Hulk . We want to tell the story of (Bruce) Banner now ." One of their goals was to make Kratos "a more nuanced and interesting character ." In changing the narrative focus, Studstill said "I think we inherently knew the franchise needed to evolve in that emotional beat and be something meatier for the older generation of gamers ." </P> <P> Christopher Judge, best known as Teal'c from Stargate SG - 1, replaces T.C. Carson as the voice of Kratos; Carson had voiced Kratos since the original God of War . Commenting in response to the change, Carson said, "Sony went in a new direction ." Barlog explained that the way the previous games were made, they were able to have someone else do the motion capture instead of the voice actor . Although Carson had done the motion capture for Kratos in Ascension, Barlog said the actor change was made because of the type of camera work they wanted to do . The new camera work required the voice actor to also do the motion capture for their character, and they needed someone who was closer to Kratos' size to do the motion capture along with a child . Carson was unsuitable for this because he was much shorter than Kratos, who is over 6 - feet tall: "Offsetting (Carson's height) for the size of a child, it turned out it was going to be almost impossible to try and actually shoot them and go in and redo the animations ." Judge was chosen because he was 6 - foot - 3 and had the body of a professional football player . He was also chosen because of the chemistry with his then - 10 - year - old co-star, Sunny Suljic, who plays Kratos' son Atreus; Suljic's opinion was also sought in making the decision, and out of all the auditions, he liked Judge the most . The two bonded well, and Judge described his time with Suljic as time he had missed with his own children . In stepping into the role of Kratos, Judge took it as an opportunity to add something new to the character . He researched the character and Carson's performance, but decided not to imitate it . Since Santa Monica were going in a new direction, he decided to start with a blank slate and go from there . Judge was thrown off when he first read the script, stating it "was a real script", and not just "a way to get into battles ." He said "it was really this great story of this relationship and this crazy mythology ." </P> <P> During E3 2016, GameSpot mistakenly reported that Kratos' son's name was Charlie, which Barlog laughingly denied . In January 2017, after a fan downloaded the God of War overture and saw the track's details that said "An introduction to Kratos and Atreus", Barlog confirmed on Twitter that Atreus was in fact the son's name . Barlog said that Atreus was aware that Kratos was a demigod, but did not know about his past . In regards to Atreus' mother, Barlog said they were not talking about her yet, as she is a critical part of the story . Barlog stated that during gameplay, Atreus would be "like magic, an additional combat resource, and (the player is) training him and teaching him ." The developers stated that Atreus would not be a burden during gameplay . The team experimented with several different approaches for Atreus to ensure that he was an empowering presence . Barlog said he did not want the game to be an escort - mission where the A.I. caused a problem for the player . Their goal was for Atreus to enhance Kratos' capabilities without Atreus becoming a liability . This resulted in the developers designating a command button for Atreus as well as for him to act freely . During combat, Atreus was also designed to call out enemy locations, as due to the camera being closer to Kratos, some enemies may be difficult for the player to see . Jason McDonald said it took a lot of iterations with the enemies and Atreus to make it all work together . </P>

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