HBO’sThe Last of Ushas been highly regarded as a video game adaptation and its own series. Of course, being an adaptation it will always have comparisons made to the source material to assess what was done better, similarly, or worse. Few episodes have been as faithful as the pilot was, though key story beats between Joel and Ellie are still intact throughout. However, now thatThe Last of Us’ first seasonis on the cusp of conclusion, it is clear that a decision was made early to not include nearly as many infected or human enemies as there are in the game. While this works for HBO, Amazon’sGod of Warcan’t do the same.
Many more video game adaptations have been announced since from multiple different streaming services, such as Peacock’sTwisted Metalor Netflix’sHorizonseries. Amazon Prime is set to develop aGod of Warseries, rounding out yet another first party PlayStation exclusive, and there is a huge caveat to it that will need to be considered. HBO has been able to beat around the bush when it comes to action sequences or special effects for the most part, mainly due to the nature ofThe Last of Us, butAmazon’sGod of Warcannot shy away from big-budget CGI or action in its own show.
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How HBO’s The Last of Us Dodges CGI and Fight Scenes
HBO’sThe Last of Usrepresents a dystopian fungal apocalypse, but aside from dilapidated cities and ruinous buildings with fungi growing along throughout them, the environment is largely grounded and not fantastical. This gives the series some leeway in terms of where to film it, especially in its latter wintertime episodes. There is obviously still CGI used to show locations and their draw distances, but it is still nowhere near the kind of spectacle that aGod of Warshow would need.
Moreover,The Last of Ushas gotten away with not including many of the numerous combat encounters players normally wade through in the game. The infected were changed to a hive mind in the show, which means that seemingly even more would need to be on-screen at any given time due to their connective mob mentality. Fans of the show exclusively will be none the wiser, but certain encounters are made much more anticlimactic because of their lack of a gameplay-centric design.
There are far more instances of combat in the game. That was made obvious inThe Last of Us’ University of Eastern Coloradoscene, where one man attacks and stabs Joel with the broken end of a baseball bat. In the game, Joel and Ellie make their way through a handful of enemies, and Joel’s impalement comes from rebar he lands on after falling from a balcony while grappling with an enemy.
God of War is a Much More Action-Oriented Spectacle
God of Waris much more fantastical thanThe Last of Us, and that inherently will demand much grander vistas. It is still unclear whether Amazon’s show plans to adapt the entirety of Kratos’ narrative and start with his Greek origins, which it will certainly need to touch upon to contextualize Kratos’ demeanor and place in Norse mythology.
Even if it begins with the Norse mythology and offers illustrative flashbacks from the past, the only times thatGod of Warcan get away with having full episodes that are not jam-packed with special effects are whenKratos and Atreus are at home in their remote cabinin the snow-blanketed wilderness.God of Wardoes not have many human enemy types that Amazon can rely upon for ease of production, and almost all of its environments are enormous landscapes with unique architecture.
BecauseGod of War’s earlier installments are wall-to-wall hack-and-slash romps, it would be ludicrously misrepresentative to not have spectacular fight scenes with Kratos’ Blades flailing around as hordes of enemies swarm him. If Amazon plans to only adaptGod of War’s Norse saga, it could have a bit more leeway with how much combat is needed. Nonetheless,God of Warwould deserve the same amount of effects and CGI as seen inThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerin order to sufficiently represent Midgard and all the Nine Realms.This adaptation could be more representative of actual gameplay than HBO’sThe Last of Usis.
A live-actionGod of Warseries is in development for Amazon Prime.
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