God of War walkthrough, guide and tips for the Norse mythology adventure

Our walkthrough of God of War's epic story.

Guide by Chris Tapsell Deputy Editor

Updated on Jan. 14, 2022

God of War has arrived on PC, and as with the original PS4 release, we have a full God of War walkthrough to help you along the way.

Start here if you want to be covered on every important angle on the game, be it the step-by-step walkthrough or solutions to a specific problem.

God of War's story takes place across various regions. We've split them up accordingly below, in chronological order as you encounter them through playing the main story of the game.

You can also find the main hub of our God of War guide on this page, with links out to all of our individual pages on specific parts of the game, as well as a collection of God of war tips for getting started, too.

Cover image for YouTube video — 8 Things We Wished We Knew Before Playing God of WarWatch on YouTube

God of War walkthrough for PC and PS4

God of War is really quite strangely structured. There are moments that are purely linear, areas that open up to give you a fair bit of choice on where to go next, and many, many places that you'll need to return to a second time much later in the game when you have new abilities and powers.

As a result, our walkthrough here is exactly that: a walkthrough to the main story, in order, if you simply go from one objective to the next without branching off. We'll note anything you can pick up along the way - a tucked away chest, collectible, or Shrine, say - but we won't take you off down long and winding dead ends. You can explore them on a whim, or alternatively we'll cycle back to cover all the optional areas once the main narrative walkthrough is complete.

In other words, for a story-specific walkthrough that covers all the main things you find along the way from start to finsh, this is right here is where to start:

God of War walkthrough

Midgard:

Alfheim:

Back to Midheim and the Mountain

Thamur's Corpse

Helheim

Return to Midgard again

Return to Helheim

Escape from Helheim, Helheim Landing, Helheim Ship and Skies of Helheim

The final missions

Other God of War guides

God of War tips

God of War is a simple game: it's about hitting things in the face. But even hitting things in the face can get tricky at times, so here's a handful of good-to-know tips for your journey.

Don't forget to stop attacking - Yes, sometimes it's better to dodge and block. Actually, most of the time you should be doing this: you're going to be frequently attacked by crowds of enemies, or big one's who's attacks you need to stick well clear of. All-out button-bashing attack isn't really an option, so keeping on the move really is key. A well-timed dodge is perfect for setting up some counter attacks, too.
Vary your attacks - Just using your axe, or just using your fists, isn't going to work out well. Some enemies are immune to certain attacks, whilst others will go down much faster if you mix it up than if you just whack away at them. Use the full range of what's available to you.
Set up your runic abilities well - God of War's abilities aren't hugely distinctive, but on close inspecting you can set them up to cover a variety of situations. Having one that stuns or staggers enemies is good for buying breathing space. Another that does heavy area of effect damage helps clear them out. Switching them before boss fights is smart too - we equipped one that grants a burst of health that really made the difference in some battles.

Pay attention to the Beastiary book - It's normally the sort of thing you can easily gloss over, but it actually contains some useful tips for tackling certain enemies - like freezing flying ones so that they can't recover when you knock them up in the air for a combo.
Smash things into things - It feels great! But it's good to do because it can one-hit-kill enemies that would normally take several. Knocking a frozen enemy into a wall with a kick (heavy attack whilst bare-fisted) will shatter it. Better yet, knock them into another enemy.
Smash things off of things - Similarly to the above, kicking enemies off of ledges is a very handy way to get rid of them. Even flying ones are dealt with if you freeze them with a heavy throw of your axe first.
Most puzzles are solved with your axe - Throwing your axe at something, throwing it at something whilst doing something else, throwing it at multiple things in one hit, or throwing it at one thing then moving somewhere else to recall it so it hits another thing are the main ways you solve puzzles. It sounds simple and inelegant, and it sort of is, but it can also yield some surprisingly complex solutions!
Atreus is actually useful - Your interactions with him may stick mostly to you shouting "Boy!", but Atreus is very handy for distracting, stunning, or otherwise bothering difficult enemies. Make use of his presence!

Smash everything you see - There are pots (which reward a handful of Hacksilver, your main resource) dotted all over the place, but other smashable items can occasionally hide better treasure, healing orbs, or secrets.
Use Spartan Rage often, but wisely - Spartan Rage can be the difference between victory and defeat, but not using it until the end of a battle can mean only using it that one time, rather than mutliple times as it builds up during the fight. If there's more than a couple of enemies, and you know more will follow, it's normally worth popping it. By the end of the fight you'll have built that rage bar up again for another use, anyway. He is a very angry God-man, after all!