Eight years after the release of God of War III, developer Santa Monica Studio is reviving the series. Likewise, two years after releasing a God of War III Kratos figure, NECA is giving the character another go with God of War 4.
Kratos comes packaged in the standard window box packaging featuring a brief bio, a list of his accessories, and a few glamour shots of the figure. A PlayStation “officially licensed product” sticker also adorns the front of the box. Following God of War III Kratos, Uncharted 4 Nathan Drake, and this Kratos, you have to wonder if PlayStation’s relationship with NECA is more of a trend than a fad. (Let’s hope so, I need an Aloy stat.)
Out of the box, Kratos is a sight to behold. The sculpted detail and paint are nothing short of incredible at this price point. The varying textures, weathering, and layers of paint are stellar. Details most companies would be eager to overlook, like Omega symbol sheath on Kratos’s back, the wood feel of the horn on his belt, and the golden pattern sewn into his burgundy pouch are all gloriously realized. NECA has made a name for itself in these areas, and with good reason. Kratos blows most statues out of the water.
Unlike most figures, the closer you look on Kratos, the better he gets. I can spot at least three colors in his James Harden beard. The patchy white paint that covers his body is perfectly rendered, as it is not Kratos’s skin that is white, but the ashes of his loved ones that he was forced to wear as punishment.
The detail doesn’t stop on the figure, either. Kratos comes with three accessories: his Leviathan axe, a dagger, and a shield.The intricate carving on the axe and shield are as good as you’ll get in this scale. The small part pictured below the dagger is part of Kratos’s wrist gauntlet that pops out to attach the shield to his arm.
As nice as those pieces are, though, I wish NECA had splurged on an extra set of hands and another head. The axe hilt is considerably larger than the hilt of the dagger, so the dagger doesn’t fit in the hand once it’s been stretched out by the axe. I would’ve liked to see an extra right hand to hold the dagger, an extra left hand to two-hand the axe (the left hand is permanently sculpted in a fist), and an extra left hand posed in an expressive/grabbing pose. The lack of a spare head is the figure’s real downfall, though. The stoic look works well for when Kratos is standing next to his son. It doesn’t work as well for when he’s splitting a God’s head in half. I understand why those extras can’t happen at this price point, but I’d be happy to pay $29.99 for those pieces.
Kratos stands at about 8″ tall, but I think he scales well with NECA’s Nathan Drake figure if that’s any consolation. Hell, if you’re comfortable with the Return of Marvel Legends Terrax wave Thor, you may be able to fudge him into your 6″ display.
NECA has been steadily improving its articulation for years now, and Kratos is no exception. Kratos has a ball-jointed head, ball-jointed shoulders, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, a ball-jointed torso, ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles.
My one disappointment is with the figure’s ankles because they don’t hinge forward or backward nearly as much as I’d like. I expected the hips to be limited by the skirt piece, but surprisingly, it’s the ankles that hinder the leg articulation. If NECA can fix that and add butterfly joints, its articulation will be on the same level as the best domestic brands. When you factor in the paint and sculpt, that’s damned impressive.
Ultimately, I highly recommend this piece. The new game hits on April 20 (blaze it) and it’s probably worth renting even if you didn’t like the original titles. It’s exceedingly different than the other games and you’ll enjoy the figure more if you’ve played the art it’s based on.
In any case, I paid $26.99 for this figure and it’s well worth every cent. The intricate, unique sculpt and impeccably applied paints make this figure a stand-out on any shelf.
