God of War (2005)

2:29 God of War (2005) is the first God of War game: an action game for PlayStation 2 made by Sony's Santa Monica Studio, created and directed by David Jaffe, and released in North America on Mar 22, 2005. It introduced Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior who, after ten years serving the gods of Olympus, is given one last task: destroy Ares, the God of War. It holds a Metascore of 94 from 75 critics, won Game of the Year at the 2006 D.I.C.E. awards, and Sony counted 4,617,347 copies shipped by May 30, 2012.

The series has come a long way since: God of War Laufey, out on PS5 on May 20, 2027, stars Faye (Laufey) instead of Kratos, but Santa Monica Studio says its combat blends the modern system with "classic Greek-era elements" that this game began. Whether to play it first is on What to Play Before Laufey.

Quick facts

Sources: Metacritic, Nov 4, 2026; IGN's game database; Sony, Jun 5, 2012; HowLongToBeat, Nov 4, 2026; GamesRadar+, Nov 12, 2018.

What is God of War (2005) about?

8:49 The game opens with Kratos throwing himself off the tallest mountain in Greece, then jumps back three weeks to a battle on a wrecked ship in the Aegean against undead soldiers and a hydra. From there it is told in flashback. The gods send Kratos to stop Ares, who is laying siege to Athens, and since a mortal can kill a god only with Pandora's box, he sets out to find it, through sandstorms, sunken ruins and "a temple built on a cursed giant".

2:16 The flashbacks fill in why he serves Olympus: Ares gave Kratos his power and then tricked him into murdering his wife and daughter, Lysandra and Calliope. Their ashes, in the game's story, are why his skin is pale, an idea Jaffe took from a black and white illustration. It ends with Kratos on the throne of Olympus as the new God of War, the scene Sony later turned into a 29-inch statue. Where this falls in the wider story is on God of War Timeline Explained.

How it plays

Kratos fights with the Blades of Chaos, two blades on chains "seared into Kratos' flesh", swung in wide combos with a fixed camera. Square is the light attack, triangle the heavy, circle the grab and X the jump. Red orbs from fallen enemies and chests buy new moves and upgrades; blue orbs refill magic and green orbs health, and hidden Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers lengthen the two bars.

27:50 The gods hand out magic as the story goes: Zeus's lightning, Medusa's head that freezes enemies, Hades' army of souls, and Artemis's great blade, each upgradable to three levels. Its best-remembered idea was the context-sensitive finisher: when a big enemy is worn down a button icon appears, and quick presses or stick turns play out the kill. Between fights come climbing, ropes, swimming, zip lines and large lever-and-block puzzles. A hard mode is open from the start, and the Challenge of the Gods unlocks after the story.

Bosses and enemies

22:30 GameSpot counted "really only a scant few major boss fights": the many-headed hydra that ends the first stage, and Ares himself in a final battle of several stages. Ordinary enemies include cyclopes, gorgons, minotaurs, undead legionnaires and harpies. Every boss in the series is set beside its god on Greek Gods in God of War.

How it was made

God of War began in 2002 under the working name Dark Odyssey, the name Santa Monica Studio reused for a 20th-anniversary cosmetic set in 2025. Jaffe's starting idea was a game like Onimusha with Greek myth in place of Japanese; Ico and Devil May Cry shaped the camera after a short spell as a first-person game. The core team included Cory Barlog as lead animator, Stig Asmussen as an environment artist and Eric Williams as combat lead, three people who later directed God of War games.

Kratos took about a year and a half to design; concept artist Charlie Wen drew the chained blades on restaurant napkins, and the studio says "90% of Kratos's finished design" came out of that lunch. Lead programmer Tim Moss told GDC in 2006 that the team was about 45 people, roughly 7 programmers and 20 artists, aiming for 60 frames per second and no loading screens. It was costly: in spring 2004 Shuhei Yoshida gave the studio more money with the warning "your career is on the line". Jaffe later said he gained 40 pounds making it.

Reviews

Critics loved it at launch. Sony quoted Game Informer and 1UP.com at 10 out of 10, IGN at 9.8 and GameSpot at 9.3, and GameSpot called it "one of the best action adventure games on the PlayStation 2." Metacritic's 94 from 75 reviews, 99% of them positive, is the highest score of any Greek-era game. Every score in the series is compared on God of War Reviews.

Sales and awards

Sony put it at 4,617,347 units shipped worldwide by May 30, 2012, counting sales to stores: 2,881,524 in the Americas, 1,592,833 in Europe and 142,990 in Asia. Shannon Studstill said it became something of a hardware seller for the PS2.

At the 2006 D.I.C.E. awards it won Overall Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year, plus Animation, Original Music Composition, Sound Design, Character Performance (Male) and Action/Adventure Game of the Year. IGN made it its 2005 Game of the Year and GameSpot its 2005 PlayStation 2 Game of the Year. The series' totals are on God of War Sales and God of War Awards.

Where to play God of War (2005)

As of Nov 4, 2026 Sony sells no version for PS4 or PS5. After the PS2 disc, the game came to PS3 in God of War Collection in 2009, remastered by Bluepoint Games at 720p and 60 frames per second, and to PS Vita in 2014; GameSpot notes it has not appeared on a console since the PS3 era. A remake of the first three games was announced on Feb 12, 2026 and is "still very early in development": see God of War Trilogy Remake, God of War Collections and Remasters and Where to Play Every God of War Game.

Frequently asked questions

When did God of War (2005) come out? God of War (2005) came out on PlayStation 2 on Mar 22, 2005 in North America, Jul 8, 2005 in the UK and Nov 17, 2005 in Japan.

Who made the original God of War? The original God of War was made by Sony's Santa Monica Studio and created and directed by David Jaffe, with Cory Barlog as lead animator.

Can you play God of War (2005) on PS5? No. As of Nov 4, 2026 God of War (2005) is not sold for PS4 or PS5; its last releases were God of War Collection on PS3 (2009) and PS Vita (2014), and a remake of the Greek trilogy is in early development.

How long is God of War (2005)? HowLongToBeat put God of War (2005) at about 9 hours for the main story and 13½ hours to complete everything on Nov 4, 2026.

How many copies did God of War (2005) sell? Sony said God of War (2005) had shipped 4,617,347 copies worldwide by May 30, 2012.

Do I need to play God of War (2005) before God of War Laufey? It is not required: God of War Laufey follows Faye in the Norse era, from the start of God of War (2018). The 2005 game explains who Kratos was before he met her.

Sources

• God of War (2005), Metacritic, Nov 4, 2026
• God of War (2005), IGN game database, Nov 4, 2026
• God of War Review, Alex Navarro, GameSpot, Mar 21, 2005
• Rave Reviews Nationwide Spark High Anticipation for God of War as the 2005 Must-Have Game on PlayStation 2, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Mar 22, 2005
• GDC: God of War: How the Left and Right Brain Learned to Love One Another, Christopher Woodard, Game Developer, Mar 27, 2006
• God of War rolls D.I.C.E., GameSpot, Feb 10, 2006
• God of War II Review, Chris Roper, IGN, Feb 12, 2007
• God of War Collection Blu-ray Disc compilation available this holiday season, PlayStation Blog, Aug 31, 2009
• The House That God of War Built: Sony Santa Monica, Colin Moriarty, IGN, Mar 21, 2012
• Award-Winning God of War Franchise Sales Exceed 21 Million Units Worldwide, Sony Computer Entertainment, Jun 5, 2012
• God of War III Remastered Coming to PS4 on July 14th, Cory Barlog, PlayStation Blog, Mar 20, 2015
• The making of the original God of War, Leon Hurley, GamesRadar+, Nov 12, 2018
• 20 Years & The Art of God of War, Santa Monica Studio, Dec 19, 2019
• Celebrate God of War's 20th anniversary with God of War Ragnarok Dark Odyssey Collection, Santa Monica Studio, PlayStation Blog, Mar 14, 2025
• God of War Greek trilogy remake in development & God of War Sons of Sparta out now, Grace Orlady, PlayStation Blog, Feb 12, 2026
• God Of War Trilogy Remake Release Date Speculation, Trailers, And Everything Else We Know, Blair Marnell, GameSpot, Mar 30, 2026
• First look at God of War Laufey, Grace Orlady, PlayStation Blog, Jun 2, 2026
• All The Murdered Gods That Could Appear In God Of War Laufey, Alessandro Barbosa, GameSpot, Jun 7, 2026
• God Of War Laufey Delayed To May, Wesley LeBlanc, Game Informer, Nov 4, 2026
• God of War (2005), HowLongToBeat, Nov 4, 2026
• God of War - Longplay | PS2, Project Longplay, Oct 30, 2018 (video)
• The Complete GOD OF WAR Timeline Explained!, GameSpot, Sep 26, 2022 (video)