In a recently released video promoting the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive God of War, the title's Director of Cinematography, Dori Arazi, discussed the game’s visuals and design, and specifically elaborated on what is described as the “Single-Shot Effect,” where the game is depicted as a totally immersive experience without loading screens. Interestingly enough, this one-shot camera trick was originally pitched by GoW director Cory Barlog for the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, but the developer Crystal Dynamics actually passed on the idea.

This much was revealed in an interview with The Daily Star, in which the God of War director explained the point in time where he went to briefly work on the 2013 Lara Croft action-adventure title. Barlog detailed how the pitch went down, saying, "I wanted to do this [the one-shot camera technique] and I had pitched it to Crystal Dynamics when I was there working on Tomb Raider and everyone was like, 'that’s crazy, we don't want to do that'."

Understandably, Barlog was disappointed by Crystal Dynamics' response to his pitch for the "Single Shot Effect" for the Tomb Raider reboot, which led to his reaction being, "like 'yeah, you know, I don't know if this is the best place for me anyway'." Upon returning to Sony, however, the God of War director found that the company offered "a lot more creative support and faith", as the tech firm wholeheartedly stood behind his decision to implement the one-shot camera effect in the forthcoming action-adventure epic.

As Barlog has explained previously, though, it was no easy feat convincing the team at Santa Monica Studio to utilize the "Single-Shot Effect" for God of War, as the director was met with "a lot of resistance" for even suggesting the idea. As a matter of fact, he wasn't even entirely sure if those who relented and decided to see his vision for the game through with the one-shot camera trick were fully on board with the choice.

"In the beginning, I had to fight the fight with everybody on the development team. And eventually, one by one, you win them over, you show them something, you explain how it’s going to be.

"But, honestly, I think even then, they weren’t convinced."

Without a doubt, God of War is easily one of the most highly anticipated video games of 2018, and Santa Monica Studio's use of the "Single-Shot Effect" in the title only adds to the excitement surrounding the release, as loads of fans are eager to see just how fluid its lack of camera cuts during gameplay will be. And while many members of the development team were hesitant to implement such a feature at first, it seems as if they've come around on the notion after seeing it in action.

Barlog went on to explain how the last month of development has given the developers at Sony Santa Monica "a lot of free time," with team members having the chance to play the game more than they had before. Apparently, many of those who were averse to the "Single-Shot Effect" are now believers, as the God of War director stated, "I’m getting leads from various departments and animators and artists from the Studio coming into my office and saying, okay, I get it. Seeing the game as a whole makes sense, I see why you wanted this thing."

While this is definitely a good sign of things to come with God of War, we will simply have to be patient and see just how well the "Single-Shot Effect" is integrated into the title when it launches. Thankfully, though, the wait won't be much longer, as the game just recently went gold, with its release date just several weeks away from now.

God of War is set to launch on April 20, 2018 for PlayStation 4.

Source: The Daily Star