I have been spoiled by Mad Max, Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassin’s Creed Origins. I have come to expect that I can unhook the camera in the beautiful game I’m playing and take some shots. I am impatient for God of War to get its photo mode.
What we know of the photo mode is merely that it’s coming. The game’s developers reiterated that last night in a post that promises that the photo mode and “global increase to text size in all menus and subtitles” will be in “upcoming patches.”
Kotaku Game Diary
Daily thoughts from a Kotaku staffer about a game we’re playing.
A few years ago, I wouldn’t have cared that the latest gorgeous game I was playing didn’t have a photo mode. I’d tell you I like playing my games, not pausing them so I can turn the camera around and frame a dramatic shot.
More recently, however, I couldn’t help but stop in the midst of a session of Horizon Zero Dawn and do something like this:
Or, if I’m playing Assassin’s Creed Origins, I just have to do this:
Or this:
Or this:
As I’m playing God of War, I’m just wishing I could do that, instead settling for basic behind-the-back screenshots or snatching better-framed moments from cutscenes. I wish I could have shot this area from a better angle:
I just know there’s more potential here:
And then there’s all those scenes full of very surprising spectacle that, sure, I don’t want to spoil for anyone, but wouldn’t it be so cool to take custom shots of those, too?
I haven’t finished God of War. Even after I wrap the main story, I’m sure there will be more to do. I will not start a new game just for photo mode, but I certainly will use it during the final portions of the game I play.
Over just a few years, I realize, I’ve become a photo mode fan. I want it in my games more than I want achievements or—mind you, this is my taste—multiplayer. I wasn’t expecting this. And perhaps I wasn’t expecting games to look this good.