God of War, the new entry in the series launching in around two months on PlayStation 4, is going to be a much different game than previous entries in the series, and not only due to the different camera view or setting. Director Cory Barlog recently talked about the combat, comparing it, surprisingly, to FIFA.

　　Speaking with the Official PlayStation Magazine, Cory Barlog stated that combat in God of War is like a FIFA match, with every game being different, despite every game being the same, highlighting how the players' relation to the characters is what makes them always want to win.

　　It’s the same game every time you play but it’s extremely sort of non-deterministic. Every game is different, despite every game being the same; there’s this drama that exists in every single match, even when you’re playing the same teams. There’s a magic to videogames encapsulated in the idea that I don’t ever want to lose even if I am making something that’s trying to tell a story, and we develop these characters to allow you to feel like there’s freedom here, and that is the joy of games.

　　Barlog further explains how this connection between players and characters is developed.

　　As you move through the game you make choices about what you, or Kratos, wants for Atreus, about how you’re going to develop each of these characters. When you really extrapolate, it’s like this is about sort of putting outfits and loadouts on characters, but when you divorce it from that, and you’re in the moment, you start to realise it’s very similar to that moment in Mad Max when he’s got the can of dog food and he’s determining whether he’s going to eat all of it and get the energy, or if he’s going to give some of it to the dog, and he’s going to do that because he wants to be able to sleep, and if he has the dog and he’s well fed he can sleep and the dog will warn him if danger approaches. It’s kind of like, you know, it’s sort of, again, like parenting. This idea of making choices for yourself and making choices for your kid, how you’re going to sort of load balance.

　　In the same interview, Cory Barlog also talked about Kratos' evolution from the previous games, making a connection between how players have changed since the first game, especially in the way they see the world, and how Kratos' himself has changed, having all eternity to reflect on himself.

　　He’s a guy who’s done some horrible things in his past and he’s had an infinite amount of time to cope with that, and for me he is kind of in recovery, if you will, he’s accepting this rage he has is never going to go away so he has to figure out how to control it. And that external source, that motivation of, ‘I want to make tomorrow better because I want to show this kid that there is a better way’, that doesn’t mean he’s going to go out and ride the horse and valiantly save the kingdom or anything like that, it just means that every day is a struggle and a war with tiny victories that to the outside observer may not mean anything, but to the person struggling with the problem it means a great deal.

　　God of War launches on April 20th in all regions on PlayStation 4.