When game demos arrive for download or are shown off at media events like E3, they tend to be cherry picked from a specific part of the game. Either the developer decides on content from somewhere in the middle of the game to show some juicy action or something more towards the beginning in order to not spoil too much. However despite the demo shown at E3 2016 being at the very beginning of the game, what gamers will actually experience whenever God of War arrives will be vastly different.

Game director Cory Barlog:

 It’s the beginning of the game. The events that transpire here are very specific to the demo. What actually happens on that hunt is very different. It sets up the call to action and the remainder of the story. But we wanted to tell a complete story in this demo, to have a beginning and a middle and an end, so you could see the development of the kid. By the end, Kratos’ influence has changed him. 

This might be a first in the game industry – a demo like this was specifically created for the event despite being taken directly from the game, and that’s kind of cool. For Sony, a lot was stake at the game’s reveal and by creating a very specific narrative, the team at Santa Monica Studios was able to convey everything they wanted. If they had to instead choose from a specific portion of the game, as I mentioned before, they likely wouldn’t have been able to convey every new aspect of the game or would have given too much away.

It’s worth noting that this is no small undertaking for Cory and his team, showing once again how much was at stake for them where they had to direct resources from the game’s development to a demo that outside of E3 would likely never see the light of day.  As someone who has kept his mouth shut about this game for the past 3 years, I’m extremely excited for Santa Monica Studios to unveil more and more over time as I think we’re in for something truly unique.

Discuss:

Did the E3 God of War demo pique your interest?

[Via VentureBeat]