Bit of War

Bit of War is an 8-bit God of War de-make developed and created by Holmade Games. It is available to download for free on the PC.

Story[]

Bit of War follows Kratos' assault on Olympus and is quite similar story-wise to David Jaffe's version of God of War III. Kratos' journey begins when he is scaling Mount Olympus and fighting off the hordes of enemies that serve Zeus. Eventually, the Ghost of Sparta reaches the top of the mountain and faces the King of Olympus, after a furious battle, Zeus is killed and Kratos takes the God's thunderbolts to use for his own needs.

The Spartan flies down from the summit of Olympus using the Icarus Wings and spots a large number of ships heading for Greece. Kratos, thinking that the fleet belongs to Poseidon, lands and prepares for battle. To his surprise the invaders are actually an army of Vikings who are being lead by the Norse God of Thunder, Thor . After cutting his way through the invaders, the Spartan comes face-to-face with Thor. They fight and Kratos comes out victorious, earning himself the god's hammer Mjolnir from the fight.

The Viking ship that The Ghost of Sparta fought Thor on crashes into the coast and Kratos finds himself in Egypt. He is greeted by Bastet who is calling for her brothers and sisters of Egypt to aid their country in combat. Kratos carves his way through the Egyptian forces and eventually comes face-to-face with the Cat Goddess who is standing atop of The Great Sphinx.

She asks the Spartan for a truce and allows Kratos to have sex with her (in the form of a sex mini-game) whilst the Sphinx watches with wide eyes. After this Bastet asks for Kratos to rule over the world with her but the Ghost of Sparta rejects the offer.

Enraged, the Goddess leaps upon the back of the Sphinx and a battle commences. The beast is eventually weakened and Kratos gets to petrify it, this is identical to what happens in David Jaffe's version of God of War III. Bastet falls from the statue and is promptly cleaved in half. Upon the Goddesses' death, Ra, Odin, and Poseidon wish to avenge their fallen comrades.

The sky turns purple and the worlds of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse gods fuse together creating a mismatching chaotic void where all monsters reign terror. A citizen runs up to Kratos and tells him that the gods have abandoned all humanity. The Spartan soldier march on through the hordes of monsters that the gods send, and eventually finds an old man who explains that Hope is the only gift that the gods gave to man.

The man says that without hope the gods are nothing, as they need hope and faith to survive, with this the man leaves. Kratos suddenly feels that all of the gods of Olympus have disappeared as mortals have stopped having faith in them. The mismatched world loses its Greek touch and The Ghost of Sparta presses on through mainly Viking hordes.

A group of citizens wait outside of a Viking ship and cheer Kratos on, wishing to worship him as the new God. It becomes clear that the Norse gods have faded. Now the chaotic world only contains Egyptian features and Kratos presses on through them, cutting any monsters down in his path. The Ghost of Sparta eventually comes to the end, he feels that all of the gods have been vanquished and the world lays in silence with a thick grey fog hanging over it.

Kratos stands alone in a godless world, amidst the nothingness, he hears the voice of the old man echo inside of his mind. The voices of the cheering citizens then appear inside his head, he wonders why they cheer as he thinks of himself as a monster. At that moment, a voice speaks inside of his mind with a venomous tongue, it reveals itself to be the evils that grew inside of him after every murder he committed.

It says that it would happily accept the people's hopes of him becoming the new god and then leaps from Kratos' head and manifest itself into a being similar in appearance to Kratos; it challenges him to a battle to the death. It uses the powers of Zeus, Thor, and The Ghost of Sparta himself. Kratos eventually defeats his dark half and it plummets down from the mountain, gradually disintegrating into a bright light.

A picture of the Three Wise Men of Judeo-Christian theology suddenly appears and the star that they follow is shown to be Kratos' conscience. The screen then flashes back to Kratos, it is revealed that he starts to become weaker without the evil in his mind. The mountain falls in on the Spartan and he dies.

Soon after, he is shown to be in a pitch black place that he deems cannot be the underworld as the gods are dead. After pondering a plethora of ideas he hears Calliope's voice. He becomes confused but does not respond as he thinks it to be a hallucination considering his daughter is in the Elysium Fields, his wife then speaks, asking him why he does not respond to his daughter's calls.

He answers her and is quickly lifted from the rubble of the mountain. Kratos' ashes disappear from his body and he is left clean with his wife and daughter, he is told that they are not in the underworld and are instead in a place that they can create with their own hope.

Gameplay[]

Kratos uses the Blades of Athena to take on the armies of Olympus. Instead of performing skilful combos, the blades can only jab forwards to damage enemies. Kratos also has a Gorgon head that can freeze enemies where they stand, this however uses up magic. The health and magic bars are set up almost identical to the canon titles of the God of War series as they are displayed in one of Kratos' blades.

Items and Abilities[]

Weapons[]

Blades of Athena : Kratos can use them to jab forward to damage enemies.

Magic[]

Head Of Stheno: Much like Medusa's Gaze and the Head of Euryale, this magical ability allows for Kratos to turn an enemy to stone, the petrified enemy can be shattered instantly.
Zeus' Fury: Used by Kratos in the first God of War, this magic is obtained by killing Zeus and gives Kratos the power to damage foes from afar. It can only hit things directly in front of the Ghost of Sparta.
Mjölnir: Kratos takes Thor's hammer from him after the God's brutal murder, it gives the Spartan the ability to throw arching hammers at enemies from afar.
Blade Storm: Formerly called 'Desert Wind', it is the newest ability acquired in Bit of War. It is obtained by Kratos after he defeats Bastet and the Sphinx. When used, Kratos does a spin attack similar to the Cyclone of Chaos move for the Blades of Athena. This is quite interesting as the icon shows a blue tornado.

Relics[]

The Golden Fleece: This magical piece of armor usually grants Kratos the power to deflect and parry incoming attacks, however, it does not have this ability in Bit of War. It does, however, give Kratos the power to block weak attacks such as arrows.
Icarus Wings: The wings ripped from the back of Icarus, they are only seen in a single cutscene and are not used in gameplay.

Enemies[]

Common Enemies[]

Undead Legionnaire: Undead legionnaires make a brief appearance in Bit of War, they can be killed in one hit.
Undead Archer: These undead fiends shoot arrows from afar, they can be killed in one hit.
Minotaur: Minotaurs make an appearance, they charge when they spot Kratos and can be killed in four hits.
Harpies: These winged monsters fly down and attack Kratos when disturbed, they can be killed in one hit.
Viking Soldiers: These warriors come from the east to seize Greece, they are about as powerful as the Undead Legionnaires.
Viking Brutes: More powerful than their counterparts, they charge at Kratos when spotting him and take many blows to kill.
Viking Archers: The weakest part of the Viking horde, they launch arrows from afar and can be dispatched in one hit.
Dragonlings: Flying monsters encountered in Viking ships, they can be killed in one hit.
Mummies: These undead monsters attack The Ghost of Sparta when he flies to Egypt.
Anubises: Based off the Egyptian god Anubis, they attack like Minotaurs and Viking Brutes.
Scorpions: The Egyptian equivalent on an archer, they fire small bolts of solid poison.
Scarabs: Similar to Harpies and Dragonlings, can be killed with one hit.

Bosses[]

Zeus: The King of Olympus and the Greek God of Thunder.
Odin : The King of Asgard and the Norse God of the Sky, Wisdom, War, Death, and Creation.
Poseidon: The God Of Sea
Ra: The King of the Egyptian Gods. Egyptian God of Order, Creation and the Sun.
Thor: The Norse God of Thunder.
Bastet and The Great Sphinx: The Egyptian Goddess of Cats riding upon a huge lion like beast.
Fear Kratos: The evil that grew inside of Kratos, it has the power of Zeus, Thor, and the Spartan himself.

Reception[]

Bit of War has received positive reception, mainly for its unexpectedly sophisticated story and its gameplay mechanics.

Trivia[]

Keeping in with the tradition of the God of War series, Bit of War does actually contains a sex mini-game, complete with a quick time event.
The game starts with the same speech that Zeus gives at the beginning of God of War III.
Bit of War was originally meant to follow the 'unfinished' story of Morpheus but was later changed to mirror David Jaffe's version of the final game.
The Gorgon head used in Bit of War could possibly be Stheno's as it is used to turn the Sphinx to stone, an action intended in David Jaffe's version of the game.
The music that plays during the opening menu is an 8-bit version of 'The Rage of Sparta'.
Originally as of v1.00 release, Bit of War shows Kratos wielding the Blades of Chaos. However, as of v1.10 update, they were replaced by the Blades of Athena.
- v1.10 update also introduces a new 'Gauntlet mode'. Basically it is Bit of War's very own Boss Rush Mode. This mode gives Kratos a fast forward preview of all the bosses in the games, while challenging him to finish them at a specific given time.
The Mjölnir appears in God of War: Ascension's multiplayer.