Did 'God Of War' Rip Off An Old Ps2 Title?

The original God Of War rocked the video game world for providing a take on the action genre that somehow managed to feature more cerebral gameplay without having to sacrifice any of the genre's required brain bashing. It kicked off a franchise that still hasn't stopped growing, but doubt has just been cast about its origin. Despite being a breath of fresh air so powerful it likely inspired filmmaker Zack Snyder to make an unofficial adaptation, there's the possibility that God Of War might not be as original as we think. A man who goes by the name of Tactical Bacon Productions has just unearthed Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, an oldie PS2 title that would be completely unremarkable if not for the fact that it does look a lot like God Of War, a game it preceded for nearly 3 years. 

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure for the PS2 is a reimagining of the retro 1986 Rygar for the NES that takes place in ancient Greece instead of the original setting of bizarro arcade pre-history. And sure, both games sharing the same setting isn't much. Like, we're not talking about how both games feature a boss called Hydra.

The Hydra from God Of War doesn't even have cute baby faces and arms, which leads us to believe it was likely based on a monster from Greek Mythology that has the same name. How curious. The thing here is that what made Kratos from GOW so fun to play is that his sword was attached to a chain, and that allowed for him to face off various enemies at once.

… and that was Rygar's thing, too.

And not just ‘00s Rygar. That’s even in the original game from 1986.

David Jaffe, the creator of the original God Of War and person who later pivoted to saying dumb stuff online, claims he didn't rip off Rygar, but he does admit he was terrified that Rygar would be very similar to God Of War – the game he was making. Jaffe, however, claims it only took him playing Rygar once to cast all fears aside. That happened probably not because the games weren’t similar, but because Rygar wasn’t very good. 

Video games have never been about who does it first, they’ve always been about who does it better. Check out Tactical Bacon's cool video below for a more detailed analysis on the subject.

Top Image: Sony