Before its reinvention in 2018's PlayStation 4 reboot, the God of War series carved out such a niche for itself that it became a sub-genre. The original PlayStation 2 God of War's combination of cinematic presentation, over-the-top action and hack and slash gameplay spawned a legion of imitators looking to recreate the style and feel of Kratos' epic adventures.

Like any gaming sub-genre, there have been great highs and disappointing lows. However, for every licensed title (like Conan and Thor) that took God of War's gameplay and plopped it onto an existing IP with no innovation, there were others that took Santa Monica Studio's formula and pushed it in some interesting directions.

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

While Symphony of the Night offered a blueprint for the rest of the sidescrolling Castlevania games, the series struggled in its attempts to create a successful 3D game -- so much so that Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima was drafted to reboot the series. His efforts, alongside Spanish developer MercurySteam, culminated in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

A marriage of Castlevania's gothic aesthetic and hack-and-slash gameplay, God of War's influence on Lords of Shadow could be clearly seen in the game's gigantic bosses, called Titans. It was also felt in the game's upgradable weapon, the Combat Cross. For fans without older hardware, Lord of Shadows is available via backward compatibility on Xbox consoles.

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Dante's Inferno

Made by the developers of Dead Space, 2010's Dante's Inferno set its carnage in the opening canticle of The Divine Comedy instead of Greek mythology. A hack-and-slash take on classic literature, EA's publicity campaign for the game (which included a fake religious protest at E3) overshadowed Visceral Games' efforts, as did its proximity to God of War III. Still, The Divine Comedy can be judged on its own merits as a solid hack and slash with a unique setting.

Interested parties can check Dante's Inferno out via backward compatibility on Xbox platforms. Longtime Games With Gold subscribers may already have it, as it was offered for free in November 2018. It's also available for Xbox players via an EA Play subscription, either by itself or with Game Pass Ultimate.

Darksiders

The first Darksiders game took enough cues from God of War that it's fair to call it a clone, but that wasn't its only influence. Comic book artist Joe Madureira and his studio Vigil Games' first title paid homage to Prince of PersiaThe Legend of Zelda and even featured one segment heavily reminiscent of Panzer Dragoon. As many ingredients as there are in this particular stew, the God of War elements still stand out the most, and not just because you play as a character called War. Darksiders' Biblical apocalypse allows for as much spectacle as God of War's take on Greek mythology.

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In 2016, Darksiders' current publisher Nordic Games released a remastered edition called Warmastered Edition for consoles and PCs. Xbox players can play the original edition via backward compatibility, and they may already have it from Games With Gold.

Heavenly Sword

Heavenly Sword was positioned as the heir apparent to God of War and a PlayStation 3 system seller upon its 2007 release. While it didn't quite work out that way, the game is still a solid hack-and-slash title that has style to burn. Heavenly Sword leaned heavily into cinematic presentation, with Andy Serkis playing main antagonist King Bohan and serving as a writer and dramatic director. It's also one of the few God of War clones with a female protagonist, with Nariko (played by Fringe actress Anna Torv) standing out in a genre still dominated by male characters.

Unfortunately, Heavenly Sword is hard to access these days, as it can only be played on PlayStation 3. It's not available to stream or download on PlayStation Now, and considering the fact that developer Ninja Theory is now owned by Microsoft, the odds of Heavenly Sword getting a rerelease are low.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Uncaged Edition

It's rare for a video game to be seen as better than the movie it's based on, but the game based on the worst Wolverine movie is actually pretty good. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a rare movie tie-in game that nails its title character. The Uncaged version, released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in 2009, captures the visceral thrills of watching Wolverine do what he's best at. It's a game that fans are hoping Insomniac Games will take notes from as it develops a PlayStation exclusive title starring the canucklehead.

Sadly, X-Men Origins: Wolverine missed the cut for the Xbox Series X|S' last backward compatibility update, presumably due to licensing issues. The game was delisted from online stores including Steam in 2014, so the only way to play it is to have a physical disc for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

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