GP Q&A: Cory Barlog spills God of War II secrets, deleted features (page 2 of 2)

GP: Are there features in God of War II that you wanted to include in the first game but couldn't?

Cory Barlog: The Icarus Wings that Kratos uses to fly. They were actually in early development for God of War that predates me.

GP: So what was the biggest problem that you overcame in making this game?

Cory Barlog: Well, there were so many hurdles. I think the initial hurdles just figuring out what the hell to do, since it was really my first directing gig. I thought: I know what I'm doing. Everybody else seemed to have some confidence in me, so I had them fooled! [Chuckle] Definitely the biggest hurdle was figuring out what the game was going to be. It was easy to get it rolling but getting it rolling in the right direction was the hard part. I didn't just fully understand what it was to do this job. From the outside, it looked soooo easy! And then I get into the job and discover I had no idea.

GP: Were you ever at some point where you said, "I can't beat this one. This problem is too much!"

Cory Barlog: Oh yeah. We were going to have to cut a level and people suggested cuts, and I was just losing sleep over the fact that I didn't want to cut it. But I couldn't find a better solution. Everybody was 100 percent right. The only thing to do was to get rid of the insurmountable task.

I could push everybody and force them to try and go down this road, but then maybe later that affects other things and then you fall behind on all of this other important stuff. So I decided to compromise. I kept it in and only cut a part of it and then figured out how to make that one part really cool. So in the end, I think it made that part of the game much better. But I was ready to give up and say, fine -- just cut it. It was definitely a decision that I toiled over.

GP: Were you like the lone holdout? Did this become "Cory's level?"

Cory Barlog: Yeah. It was in the palace of the Fates. There was another boss fight in there that was a two-parter. You were going to fight him earlier in the level and then he would reappear much later. I liked the emotional moment of having the concluding boss fight at the end of the level. But the two-parter was just too much. It was going to be this drawn-out thing and we would have had to shrink the whole level down in order to accommodate it. Plus everybody hated the name of the boss.

GP: What was the name of the boss?

Cory Barlog: "Pelops." The story behind Pelops is that his father, Tantalus, tried to trick the gods. He didn't believe they had all seeing power so to prove it he had the gods over for a dinner party. He killed Pelops, his son; cooked him in a stew, and fed him to the gods to prove that they didn't have a clue. As the story goes, the gods kind of knew what was going on except for Demeter, who ate a little bit of stew. They realized this was not good so they put Pelops back together, but because Demeter had eaten some he was missing his shoulder. So the gods give him this fake ivory shoulder blade.

I thought it was a cool story and an interesting concept, imagining this big character with this huge ivory shoulder blade. But in the end, it didn't really work out. It required too much of a back story to tell people. Whereas with a character like the Kraken everybody immediately knows who that is, so it's easier for them to get involved.

GP: The Kraken has the Clash of the Titans angle working, too, speaking of which...

Cory Barlog: Yes, Harry Hamlin is reprising his role as Perseus. He's doing the voice and the image.

GP: You mean he looks like the "Harry," too?

Cory Barlog: He doesn't look exactly like Harry from Clash of the Titans, but when you see him you know who it is. Pretty cool. That was a big thing. I really wanted him in the game. I was inspired by that movie. It was awesome! Pretty brutal the way you finish him off, too.

GP: You have to fight Perseus? Perseus is a hero, right?

Cory Barlog: Yeah, he even has that cloak and the helmet. He seeks out the Sisters of Fate on this island, and everybody else from the mythological world seems to be seeking them out, too. They all want to change some event - change the fact that everybody doesn't pay attention to them anymore because new heroes are in town or the fact that Kratos had killed them or that he killed their sister or something. In fact, everybody who runs into Kratos on the island has some connection to him, like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. It is like this huge web of people that you've made all these connections with from the first game.

GP: What is your response to people who say God of War is too over the top?

Cory Barlog: Well, I mean, that was our goal: to really push that sort of semi-stylized over-the-top action. For some people it's not their thing. With God of War 1's fire sacrifice, for instance. A lot of people felt that sacrificing the captive was a tough decision, but other people said that they wanted to do it. I kind of enjoy the fact that we made people make that kind of moral decision, but I think that it's not entertainment for everybody. God of War II is definitely an M-rated title, and we are very proud of that!

GP: So what do you say to people who say, "God of War II, this is the last great PS2 game, after that I'm leaving. I'm moving on."

Cory Barlog: I think that really is an awesome compliment, but you know people haven't played the game, yet, so I hope they say that after they play it. [chuckles] But I think there are still going to be a few surprises coming from that hardware.

GP: As a developer, though, are you looking to leave PS2 behind and move on to the next technology?

Cory Barlog: You know, I don't really have ties to any [particular] technology. I don't really care what I develop for, but I do want to get some PS3 experience so I can figure out what's going on with that system. In the end, all I really want to do is make a great game no matter what system it's for.

GP: And finally, is there anything in God War II that you would change now?

Cory Barlog: I'm basically waiting around until other people play it to get feedback on that, but I would say there isn't anything major in the game that I would change. It's all little things like a sound that I'd love to be 3 or 4 decibels louder, or an action triggering an event a couple of seconds later, or an animation where the an arm should move a little bit more. It's all the little refinements and nit-picking things that I get crazy about that make everyone want to smack me and kick me out of the office.

GP: So you're the only guy around who's going to notice them then?

Cory Barlog: Probably. That's what everybody continues to tell me.

GP: Such a critical eye.

Cory Barlog: I'm definitely my own worst critic.

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