As the game industry enters the ninth generation of game consoles, the interconnection between different devices has gradually become a trend, and the threshold barriers between various platforms are also being rapidly broken, and the past "exclusive" games have engaged in "cross-platform" - Sony, which has always been known for its high-quality exclusive games, has recently moved its first-party works "Horizon", "Detroit" and "Once Upon a Time" to the PC platform, and the latest work they released on the PC is the word-of-mouth explosion of "God of War 4".
Image credit: Steam
The console version of God of War 4 was released in 2018, and after nearly four years of waiting, it finally landed on PC on January 15, 2022. Four years may not seem like a long time, but in the fiercely changing game and hardware industry, it can double the game generation. So, compared to the original game on the console of the previous generation, what are the special optimizations for the latest hardware in the new version of God of War 4 that lands on PC? How can this masterpiece, which won the "Game of the Year" award, maintain good quality and re-attract players' attention after nearly four years of release? Let's explore together.
Plot experience: a knife has not been cut and a word has not changed, and the original plot is wonderful even if it is "two brushes"
It is believed that senior players are deeply disgusted by the game manufacturers' operation of dividing different platforms into "superior platforms / inferior platforms" - due to platform characteristics restrictions or commercial considerations, some games often modify the content of the game when they carry out cross-platform porting operations, so that some content such as equipment, plots, etc. are exclusively owned by a certain platform, which is called "exclusive content". However, for pc version of "God of War" players, there is no need to worry about this at all - in terms of game plot content, the PC version of "God of War 4" that landed on the non-Sony platform four years later has not made any modifications in the game content, and the entire plot flow has not been cut, which can be described as the "original" interpretation to the fullest.
In terms of overall story experience, the PC version of God of War 4 is no different from the original PS4 game, telling the story of "Quétay" Kratos and his son Atreus traveling in the magnificent Nordic land to find the highest mountain. The game plot is based on Western Norse mythology, the entire main line begins with a small battle, but slowly brings out a big drama that discusses human nature, growth, family, marriage and other elements, from pressing the "Start" button to the final play of the production staff list, the whole process is full of ups and downs, which can be described as magnificent and evocative. In addition, in addition to telling the story well, the screenwriter also did not forget to leave blank space in the story: the game created several unsolved mysteries and also stirred up a wave of discussion among players. Such a wonderful story, whether it is the first time for new PC players to experience or the host old players to carry out the "second brush", the ups and downs of "God of War 4" are worth playing.
Control experience: keyboard and mouse + gamepad full support, with xbox controller to play "God of War" is not mistaken about anything?
Compared with console games that only use the gamepad as the main input method, a major feature of PC games is the flexibility and diversification of input methods, and as an action game that attaches importance to the control experience, the PC port of "God of War 4" has also been fully optimized in input control.
According to the media trial review and player reviews, the PC version of "God of War 4" not only natively supports the most popular keyboard and mouse input on the PC, the key settings of the game itself are also quite reasonable, and there is basically no "counter-intuitive" key that has a particularly awkward sense of operation, of course, players can still customize the key. In terms of controller peripheral support, the PC version of "God of War 4" is adapted to the mainstream controllers currently on the market, whether it is Sony's own two-generation controllers DualShock 4 and DualSense 5, or Microsoft's Xbox controller, can easily and happily control Kui Ye to fight with the gods boxing - the feeling of seeing the Xbox controller "ABXY" hint in Sony's first-party studio game is also too wonderful!
Configuration, picture quality experience: DLSS/Reflex/FSR next-generation technology bonus, and ultra-widescreen support to meet hardcore PC players!
Compared to fixed, uniformly configured consoles, gaming PCs have different performance, which means that the performance limits of gaming PCs are much more extreme than those of consoles. In order to meet the requirements of low-configuration mass players to run the game and the high requirements of high-configuration hardcore players for the game screen, Santa Monica Studios has also specially optimized the picture quality and performance when porting "God of War 4".
Image source: God of War 4 official website
Play God of War 4 game configuration recommended
God of War 4, which has won multiple game awards, is now on PC, have you also "chopped" your hands and entered the magnificent norse mythological world? As a cross-platform port work, the PC version of "God of War 4" brings higher image quality performance at the same time, but also puts forward high requirements for the player's computer performance, in order to allow players to fully experience the charm of the Norse mythological world with high quality, we recommend the following configurations for you players.
Let's analyze the reasons for the recommendation one by one.
Reference price: 1199 yuan
The newly released Intel 12th Generation processors have made significant performance improvements and are the only choice for gaming installations in 2022; to match the powerful i5-12600K processor, in terms of motherboards, we use the equally powerful MSI MAG B660M MORTAR motherboard. As a B660 chipset motherboard, the MSI MAG B660M MORTAR mortar can be used with the i5-12600K processor, and supports the PCIe 4.0 bus, equipped with a DDR4 memory acceleration engine, supports 2.5G wired networks, and the comprehensive performance is quite excellent, so that different parts of the computer can fully perform. In addition, this motherboard is also quite solid in terms of workmanship materials, which not only has 12-way 60A intelligent power supply, the third-generation titanium inductor and 6 layers of PCB enhanced design, but also is cleverly equipped with M.2 frost armor and extended heat sink in heat dissipation, which is heavily guaranteed, only to protect the lasting and stable operation of the computer.
Recommended Graphics Card: Sapphire AMD RX6600 8G Platinum Edition
Reference price: 3499 yuan
As a cross-generational port game, Santa Monica Studios has specifically upgraded the graphics performance when porting God of War 4, and if you want to fully experience the charm of the Nordic world in the game, a high-performance graphics card is essential, so in terms of graphics card configuration, we chose the powerful Sapphire RX 6600 8G Platinum Edition. Sapphire RX 6600 8G Platinum Edition features the new Navi 23 core based on AMD RDNA2 architecture, with 1792 stream processors and 8GB of GDDR6 memory, which is more than enough to run God of War 4 with high quality and high frames. In addition, in terms of heat dissipation, Sapphire is equipped with a high-performance Dual-x cooling system for this graphics card, the graphics card has two blade-edge axial fans and a fully nickel-plated reinforced heat pipe, with fan intelligent control technology, the graphics card can quickly discharge the heat generated during operation, even if it is a long time to play large games at full capacity, it can also control the temperature at a good level, so that your gaming experience is not interrupted by the frequency reduction frame.
Recommended memory: Zhiqi DDR4 3600 Flame Halberd
Reference price: 719 yuan (8G×2)
Large AAA games generate a lot of data exchange when running, and if the memory capacity is insufficient and the rate is too low, it will cause performance bottlenecks and result in a decrease in the number of frames, so memory performance is particularly important. In order to keep the game experience from being affected by the data bottleneck, in terms of memory, we selected two Zhiqi Flame Halberd 8G DDR4 3600 frequencies to form dual-channel 16G memory to clear the read and write bottleneck obstacles for game operation. In terms of performance, as a high-frequency memory with a frequency of 3600, the operating frequency of the Zhiqi Flame Light Halberd is much higher than that of ordinary memory, thus bringing excellent read and write rates. In addition, both the name of the "Flame Light Halberd" proves that this memory also supports MSI Mystic Light and other lighting effects, and players who like to build "light pollution" desktops can show their fists.
Recommended heat dissipation: Xingu Bingku 240RGB smart collar version integrated water cooling
Reference price: 299 yuan
12th generation processors have made significant progress and powerful performance, but high performance is often accompanied by high power consumption, and if you want to give full play to the performance of the processor, excellent heat dissipation is essential. In order to create a set of configurations with efficient heat dissipation and stable performance output, we chose Xingu Bingku 240RGB Zhiling Edition integrated water cooling to undertake the heat dissipation task of the computer. Compared with ordinary fan-type radiators, Bingku 240RGB water cooling uses liquid as the heat dissipation medium, its heat dissipation efficiency is higher, with the help of 8-pole motors in water cooling, metal-textured cold heads and braided mesh hoses, water-cooled liquid can quickly discharge processor heat in the circulating flow. It is worth asking that this water-cooled model is also equipped with RGB lighting effects, and RGB light strips are designed at the cold head and fan, and the visual effect is quite cool when running.
Recommended monitor: HKC PG27P3
Reference price: 1799 yuan
The PC version of "God of War 4" has further upgraded the graphics technology, bringing players a fantastic and gorgeous Norse mythological world, such an excellent picture, of course, to use a monitor with excellent picture quality to fully present. In terms of displays, we chose hkC PG27P3, this 27-inch 1080P monitor is not only simple and bright, but also quite eye-catching in terms of picture quality - the monitor has a high color gamut of 90% DCI-P3, while covering 100% sRGB color gamut, the color is vivid and accurate, which can perfectly restore the magnificent beauty of Norse mythology. In terms of graphics fluency, this monitor also performs quite well, its refresh rate can reach up to 144Hz, the response time is as low as 1ms (MPRT), with such excellent image quality and response, whether it is a mainstream large-scale game, or an e-sports game with high screen response requirements, the HKC PG27P3 can be very impressive.
Players have been waiting for nearly three years, winning multiple game awards "God of War 4", has officially landed on the PC platform, have you already purchased the game, are you playing? Don't wait and see, save yourself a high-spec PC to enjoy the game!