Joining the ranks of other big Sony exclusives like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Detroit: Become Human, and Days Gone, God of War finally received a PC port in early 2022, and, with it, a mouse and keyboard control scheme. Of course, the game launched with controller support as well, but that then begs the question: which one should players use?
Having originally been a PS4 title, the game was created with the DualShock 4 in mind, but the mouse and keyboard experience in God of War actually works surprisingly well too. With this in mind, fans without a gamepad or controller can rest easy, though that's not to say that using a controller isn't still the ideal way to play.
By nature of its design, God of War is at times a tight and claustrophobic experience, and it is in moments like these that mouse and keyboard controls kind of miss the mark. Given the lack of accessibility options for the camera, the player is going to be locked into that tight over-the-shoulder point of view. If it were possible to increase the FOV (without mods) this wouldn't be so bad, but, due to this narrow field of vision, players may have trouble finding a consistent sensitivity. God of War is also a very cinematic experience, and so having the quick, jerky movements of a mouse darting around the screen can be a little distracting, especially when compared to the smooth, sweeping pans produced by a joystick.
With all that in mind, most players will probably decide to go with the controller, however, the game's button inputs are going to be based on an Xbox pad by default. Players who have an Xbox and PC will no doubt find joy in this as they won't have to consider other button layouts, but anyone coming from Playstation may feel a little disgruntled. Fortunately for those people, it is possible to change the button layouts without too much stress, but only if they're using a wired connection.
Players wanting to switch to PS4 controls can simply right-click the game in their Steam library, and then select properties. One of the menus available will be titled "controller," which players should select. Next, there is a dropdown by the "Override for God of War" option, from which the player should select "disable Steam input." With all this in place, they should then be able to launch God of War and have the face button icons on the screen correspond with the ones on their controller.
As a general rule of thumb, games that are more orientated towards shooting will inherently be better for mouse and keyboard controls, but, considering God of War was originally intended for controller use, and its heavy focus on melee combat over ranged, most players will probably prefer using a controller to play it rather than a mouse and keyboard. This isn't to say that the PC controls are bad or anything, more that they're just not quite as good.
God of War is available now on PS4, PS5, and PC.