God of War Developers Recognize Violence Against Women Is A Problem

Kratos meets Aphrodite. Like any good Greek deity she’s naked under her Ettas.

The God of War series is one of the most violent, bloodiest, crazy set of games ever. They’re insanely fun, hedonistic with abandon and they feature a fresh take on Greek mythology that also includes a really fun and heroic Athena.

There is also a lot of murder. Kids and adults get wasted. The first games starts with the murder of the hero’s family (because a hero with a family in a video game would tear apart the fabric of reality) and the third game features a naked woman being chained up as a doorstop just because THAT’S HOW KRATOS ROLLS. It’s…outrageous in a mildly pleasing fashion. Alarming. Annoying. Take your pick.

And the developers realized that! They realized that in their quest to make the ultimate personification of war they maybe went a little too far from entertaining and into uncomfortably exploitative.

I think where this has been an issue is with violence against women — the team’s pulled back from some of that and assessed that a little more carefully.

You know what’s refreshing? A game company realizing there is a line between Russ Meyer exploitation and Cannibal Holocaust exploitation and opting not to go with the latter.

Bravo Sony Santa Monica and I’ll see you in March 2013 when God of War: Ascension comes out. (Athena will be in it right? Because she’s my favorite and I love the relationship you formed between her and Kratos.)

Source [IGN via Escapist]