God of War Walkthrough Chapter 1
You'll start the God of War franchise in control of Kratos on a ship in the Aegean Sea. The entire time you spend on this ship works more or less as a tutorial for the game, you'll be coached about how to chain attacks on Kratos and about the various buttons and their functions. For most of this walkthrough I will leave the fighting up to you and I won't go into a lot of detail about how to perform certain combo chains. With the exception of the tip I give below!
Chain Combo Tip: Press Square 2 - 4 times then follow it up with Triangle. This will perform combos that typically result in the enemy being knocked down and they are easy to remember/perform.
Once you've defeated all enemies that appear on this ship you'll want to go over to the nearby trap door which you can open by spamming the R2 button. Sometimes when opening doors you'll have to spam the R2 button, other times you just hold it in. Usually it depends if the door is stuck or not, when it's stuck you typically spam R2 instead of hold. Treasure Chests that you find will typically always be opened by simply holding R2.
Another important thing you're taught here is that a few of the objects you see in the environment are destructible. You'll have to destroy some barrels/wreckage in your way to proceed to the next area. When you destroy things in the environment you'll typically be rewarded with Red Orbs which is the currency you'll need to upgrade your Magic/Weapons.
The next area will have your first mini boss fight! During this fight you'll get a tutorial on how to do the Minigame that takes place during many of the boss fights in God of War. What happens is a Circle will appear over the boss or enemy and you'll have to press a series of buttons with the proper timing. If you're successful you'll typically deal a lot of damage to the enemy or defeat it and you'll be rewarded differently than if you'd just defeated the enemy normally.
What I mean by rewarded differently is sometimes defeating an enemy normally will get you Red Orbs - defeating them through the Minigame will get you Health or Mana Orbs. Or that may be reversed, it all depends on the enemy you're participating in the Minigame with. My advice to you is pay attention when you defeat regular enemies with this Minigame because it can give you a type of Orb that you may not want.
After you defeat the Hydra you'll have to navigate across narrow wood beams with a bad camera angle. Get used to doing this because you'll be navigating across many thin beams with bad camera angles all throughout the game. When you make it to the other side jump through the hold in the boat and you'll find yourself in the next area.
Follow the linear path, talk to the guy in the cage if you'd like and open the chest. You'll encounter another hallway that's blocked by wreckage, destroy that and you can proceed to another ship deck. This time you'll be fighting various flying enemies (pictured below).
On this ship deck along with the various Harpy enemies you'll also have various civilians running around screaming. Any time you see civilians running around like this screaming you should keep in mind that they're free health for Kratos. Each time a civilian is defeated you'll get one Green Orb that heals you! Remember this for future levels.
Your goal here is to defeat all of the Harpies and to open the 2 doors on this ship deck and collect the Treasure Chests from inside of the small rooms. When you've done both of these things another Hydra boss will spawn and attack Kratos. His attacks are slightly different than the previous Hydra boss but you'll use more or less the same strategy to defeat this guy.
After you've eliminated the Hydra you'll want to fall down into the hole that it created and swim to the netting down the nearby hallway. You'll have a battle with some Undead Legionnaire enemies after which you'll want to cross a long and narrow pole to get to the new area.
For this next part you'll have to move a box up the ship deck and into one of the corners near the Archers. This will allow you to jump ontop of the box then reach the netting that is next to the Archers. While you are moving the box you'll have to keep an eye out for the Archers, you don't want them hitting the box and breaking it because then you'll have to start over.
What I recommend is kick the box when you gotta move it forward and when you have to move it side to side pay attention to the Archer's attacks and move away from the box before the majority of them fire. Once the box is stuck in the corner you'll be able to reach the netting by performing a double jump. You can double jump by pressing the jump button twice in a row.
Defeat the Archers, grab the chest and go through the nearby door to complete this area. You'll come across a locked door that you can inspect for more information, it's a door that leads to the Captain's Quarters. Remember this location because you'll have to return to this door at the end of the level once we've acquired the key.
After the Captain's Door you'll have to climb a ladder then a net, during which you'll do battle with various undead enemies. The game will give you another tutorial during this time since it's your first time doing battle while climbing a surface. At the top of the ship you'll find a very large pole that stretches out in two different directions. If you walk towards the screen along this pole you'll find a chest with Red Orbs inside of it.
To continue with the story you'll want to return to the center platform and ride the rope down onto the ship in the distance. Here you'll find 2 chests that you can access by smashing the wooden boards blocking them, one of these chests contains a Gorgon Eye. If you collect enough Gorgon Eyes you'll get a maximum health upgrade - I will point out a bunch of them throughout this guide.
When you're ready to continue go down the central hallway and you'll meet Poseidon who will give you the first Magic skill in the game, Poseidon's Rage. You'll be able to use this skill to summon lightning around Kratos.
Follow the linear path and it'll lead you straight to the boss of this place, 3 Hydra heads. At first you'll fight the two smaller heads, they'll use the same attacks as the previous Hydra that we fought. During this battle each Hydra head will bounce you back and forth between them until you lower their health enough to actually eliminate them.
To eliminate one of the Hydra heads you'll need to jump onto the boxes that it crashes into and lower the harpoon onto it. You can lower the harpoon by jumping onto the platform from the boxes. Perform this same event for both of the small Hydra heads - after which you'll want to climb the netting in the middle of the boat up to the big Hydra head.
Really there isn't much advice I can give you for this fight, attack the Hydra head until the Minigame begins that allows you to smack it into the middle column. Do this a few times and then you'll get another Minigame that will allow you to impale the Hydra on the broken column. This will conclude the fight.
With the Hydra defeated you'll want to run inside of its mouth and take the Captain's Key from the Captain. Once you've got the Captain's Key you'll want to climb the boxes near the Hydra you battled on the right side of the ship and grab the newly appeared chests. One of the chests will have a Gorgon Eye inside; once you've gotten both slide down the nearby rope.
You'll find yourself back in the same area as before where you pushed the box up the ship deck while you were shot at by Archers. Defeat the enemies in this area (or don't) and continue to the Captain's Door where you'll want to use the key we just got to complete this level.
There will be a cutscene after which you'll regain control of Kratos in the bedroom with 2 naked women on his bed. You can join them by pressing the button it prompts you to press and you'll be rewarded with a large amount of Red Orbs if you successfully perform the 'sex scene'. If you make the vase fall of the pedestal then you'll know you did it correctly.
If you'd like you can technically perform this scene a second time but you'll get a lot less Red Orbs the second time around. There will be no reward for the third time performing this sex scene. When you're all done here exit the ship and follow the only path forward. The path will eventually split and give you the option of jumping over a small gap or through a hole in the wall to your right - choose the hole in the wall.
Jumping through the hole in the wall will lead you back to where we are now but you'll also find a Phoenix Feather on your way back. This item is similar to the Gorgon Eyes but instead of increasing your health it will increase your magic. When you want to continue with the story ride the elevator up to the next floor.
Up top you'll be introduced to a new enemy type, a Minotaur. These guys are super annoying and will be a reoccurring fight throughout the game. Once you've defeated them you'll meet another new enemy when you ride the next elevator up! This big guy uses a spiked ball to attack, he can extend and retract it so keep an eye out for those attacks.
Combat Tip: Use the right analog stick to dodge attacks. I recommend you get good with using this analog stick since there are many enemies in the game that require you to dodge using it. For really big enemies like spiky-ball guy you should also consider tapping him 2 or 3 times then dodging instead of going for a long combo. You won't be able to knock him down either so long combos won't be as useful on him. Magic is an option too for tough enemies like this.
Defeating all of the enemies that use the spiky-balls will clear the red barrier blocking your way to the north. To the right of this door tucked away in the back corner of this area you'll find a chest with Red Orbs inside of it, after you've collected that go through the doorway.
Wooden Box at the top of the screen and bottom that need to be destroyed
In the next room you find yourself in you'll have to destroy some wooden boxes (pictured above) to clear the way forward. There will be two wooden boxes for you to smash, once they're both smashed you will be able to jump across the metal boxes throughout this room and through the hole into the adjacent room.
This room will introduce you to another magic skill called Medusa's Gaze as well as another enemy, Medusa. You'll have to defeat the Medusa enemy in order to acquire the Medusa's Gaze magic. Once you've defeated Medusa and acquired the magic you will be tasked with using Medusa's Gaze to defeat a bunch of Minotaur enemies.
Medusa's Gaze is one of your most powerful magical attacks, to use it simply hold down the L2 button and press Square. If an enemy stays in the aura that's created long enough they'll be turned to stone and you'll be able to very quickly eliminate them if you smash the stone before they break free.
After you defeat all of the enemies climb up the nearby ladder and you'll find yourself in a room with a giant crossbow (pictured below). Note: While climbing the ladder your camera will pass by a dead body lying on a steel beam. You can actually jump to this beam and collect a hidden chest of Red Orbs near it.
Room with a giant crossbow & crack in wall
The first thing you'll want to do with this crossbow is turn it to face the crack on the wall to your left. In order to turn the crossbow you'll want to use the nearby lever, simply walk up to it and press R2. You can use the crossbow by getting behind it and pressing R2 as well. Shoot an arrow at the crack in the wall and you'll reveal your second Phoenix Feather. Turn the crossbow back towards the wooden door after you've done this and fire it again.
Firing the giant crossbow at the wooden door will destroy it and you'll reveal a hallway, inside the hallway there is an intersection that splits right and left. Left will take you down a ladder and to a Gorgon Eye item whereas going right will go up a ladder and will take you to the next part of this level.
During this next part of the level you'll be doing a lot of climbing again. There will be fighting enemies during this climbing event and one thing to note is that grabbing them with circle and defeating them this way will earn you Red Orbs. You'll probably end up taking a lot of damage by doing this though so be careful.
The whole climbing part is pretty linear, you'll be lead directly to a statue which Kratos will push down as you spam the R2 button. When the statue falls it will break apart and the head will be in a position that allows you to reach a new ladder. For this next part there will be a big fight on every new platform you reach.
At the second to last level you'll have to attack 2 columns that look weak to lower them, this will allow you to jump on them. On the next floor you will have to fire an arrow across the large gap then use the rope to climb across. During this ordeal you'll be attacked the entire time so defeat the enemies bothering you and keep climbing across.
Once you're across follow the linear path that leads you straight back to the room with the giant crossbow. This time you'll have to fire the giant crossbow down the hallway again to smash through the wooden door at the end of it. Minotaurs are the enemy you'll be fighting, you can either fire the crossbow at them for easy kills or fight them in the hallway if you want to collect their Red Orbs.
Follow the linear path and you'll hit the next map, Road to Athens. You'll be greeted with a cinematic and big man Ares attacking the town. There will also be two routes you can go, one leads to the right near the Save Point and the other goes left. You'll want to go to the right first as this path will lead you to a Gorgon Eye located next to a really large gate.
Keep this gate in mind because we'll be coming back to this location in the future when it's time to visit the desert on the other side of it. Technically you can get the Gorgon Eye at that time too but getting it now gets us more health faster! When you're done here backtrack to the Save Point and take the opposite path. The left path will lead you into an ambush with some Minotaurs and the first difficult puzzle of the entire game.
This is the first real puzzle of the game. Minotaurs will keep spawning no matter how many you defeat and the chest in this room will replenish no matter how many times you grab it. I recommend you stock up on Magic from the chest because you'll want to have a full Magic Bar for this next part.
What you need to do is freeze the Minotaur on the button in the back of the room using Medusa's Gaze, the magic skill we learned earlier. Once the Minotaur is frozen you'll want to use the right analog stick to roll on Kratos - this allows you to move faster than regular movement speed which is needed if you want to get out in time.
You should make it with time to spare so long as you roll, to see an example of me solving this puzzle check out my God of War Minotaur Button Puzzle (Trapped on Road to Athens) Youtube Video. Those of you who prefer watching a video over a text guide for this sort of thing should follow the link.
After completing the Minotaur puzzle you'll find yourself on the road to Athens, quite literally. I strongly recommend you go slower than normal during this part and search every single building as you pass it by. There is a lot of loot for you to collect during this part including 2 Gorgon Eyes and 2 Phoenix Feathers!
I have included the locations of all 4 of these items below. You should still explore every building because there are a couple of chests with Red Orbs for you to find throughout the area too.
Gorgon Eye 1: Second floor of the fourth house on the right.
Gorgon Eye 2: Ninth house on the left.
Phoenix Feather 1: The fourth house on the left.
Phoenix Feather 2: Ninth house on the left.
The road is pretty linear outside of the optional loot you can find in the surrounding buildings. It will lead you straight to a hanging rope which goes overtop of a pit (pictured below). When you jump onto this rope you'll get some instructions about swinging on ropes in this game. Pay attention because we'll be doing this a few times in the future as well.
Tip: When you are hanging from the second rope turn to your left, there will be an opening up top which you can swing and jump into. Inside you'll find a chest full of Red Orbs!
After you swing across both ropes there will be a large set of stairs for you to run up - on either side of these stairs you'll find numerous doors that you can smash. Sometimes the rooms will be filled with barrels/crates etc that you can smash for Red Orbs and sometimes you'll find a chest inside which will also be filled with Red Orbs. Either way it's worth your time to collect all of these goodies.
There will be a battle against a few Cyclops Brute enemies at the top of the stairs - thankfully there will be plenty of citizens running around that you can take Health from during this fight. As always, Kratos will be healed when he eliminates one of the citizens who are running around yelling.
Once you've defeated the Cyclops Brute enemies make sure you search the left hand side of the Athens Town Square; you'll find 2 doors you can destroy which will expose some chests that contain Red Orbs. When you're ready to proceed with the story continue through the newly opened door.
Destroy the weakened plaques like you see in front of Kratos
In the hallway you'll see a lady who shouts to you, follow her and you'll find yourself in an Art Gallery of sorts (pictured above). While you're in the Art Gallery I recommend you keep an eye out for the plaques on the wall that appear to be breaking apart - like what's shown in my screenshot above. These plaques can be destroyed to reveal chests behind them.
Behind the plaque in my screenshot above you'll find a Gorgon Eye. Head upstairs and keep following the lady that we've been chasing - she will lead you across a small gap and up another set of stairs in a narrow hallway until you finally reach a balcony above. Get close enough to her on the balcony she'll fall off and get herself killed.
When you regain control of Kratos run to the left past the Save Point and you'll find a Phoenix Feather inside of a chest. To the right you'll find a trap door which can only be opened with a key, the same key that the lady who just fell off the balcony had. So what you'll need to do now is jump down to the ground level and loot the key that the lady dropped.
Pick up the key and start heading back up the stairs to the balcony above. You'll encounter a new type of enemy inside of the Art Gallery - Undead Legionnaires with shields! To destroy the shields on the Undead Legionnaires you'll want to use a very basic combo of Square + Square + Triangle. In english, Normal Attack, Normal Attack, Heavy Attack.
When you reach the balcony jump across the gap to the trap door and unlock it using the key - open it and go inside to advance to the next level.
Continue to Walkthrough Chapter 2