Just when you think that crossover madness in videogames has hit bottom, Sony comes along and somehow manages to set the bar even lower with news that Kratos, the God of War, will be appearing in Hot Shots Golf.
“Weather reports signal dark ominous clouds forming over Okinawa Golf Resort,” Chris Hinojosa-Miranda wrote on the PlayStation Blog. “Other strangeness reported: Disemboweled elephants in the Great Safari, pillaged villages around the Euro Classics course and loitering Spartans around the great Oceania lobster.”
“Yes, all the rumors are true,” he continued. “Kratos, the one and only, has made his way to Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds… and he’s looking to claim his rightful seat as the God of Golf!”
Beginning today, the character will be available as downloadable content for the game. Hinojosa-Miranda failed to mention the cost, but a 1Up report says other Hot Shots Golf characters have typically gone for 99 cents, so it’s reasonable to expect Kratos to sell for the same. The dev team “paid a great deal of attention to all of Kratos’ characteristics” while getting him ready to play golf, he said, and original voice actor T.C. Carson reprised the role for the DLC.
“In all honesty, integrating Kratos into Hot Shots Golf was by far one of the best experiences, as we got to work closely with the God of War team and the cast of characters (voice-over, animators, etc.) that created Kratos in his original form,” Hinojosa-Miranda wrote. “If I had to pick one of the most fun parts, it would have to be our VO sessions and watching (listening?) to T.C. Carson jump into the Kratos role in a completely new environment… Trust me, there were plenty of eye-watering-side-splitting laughs that day.”
It’s nice the gang had fun putting it all together, but does this kind of novelty-act crossover really add value to the game? Or am I just being stodgy?
