Two days ago, director Cory Barlog shared an immensely emotional moment on YouTube as he reacted to the predicted reviews for his finely directed game. He anxiously stalled to discover the rating the of the game, but eagerly mustered the courage to reveal the number that would determine how far his hard-work has come. Barlog experienced a range of emotions as he was shocked, relieved, and moved to tears by the 94% rating given by Metacritic for God of War.

Before its actual release, God of War was forecast to become PlayStation’s highest rated exclusive,  and that prediction has held true. The game is currently sitting triumphantly as PS4’s number one game for the year with a 95% rating, according to Metacritic. Since the release of God of War, the consensus for its current rank has remained steadfast for both the Metascore and User score categories of Metacritic.

In his video, Barlog modestly praised himself for not screwing up. He expressed that during the five year project he’d “put in a lot of work and a lot of faith.” Following that statement, he expressed his gratitude for being able to work alongside his fellow developers. As the feat of the game truly set in, Barlog humbly shed more tears when he thanked his partners Shannon Studstill and Yumi Yang for believing in him when he himself did not. Studstill gave her thanks and shout-outs to her team as she proclaimed these weeks to be “The most satisfying & emotional last few weeks of my career”.

God of War is an incredible cinematic game that shows the stunning amount of love and dedication put into it from beginning to end. The long wait for the game was unarguably worth the time, as players excitedly venture into the intense upheaval of the father-son journey. Barlog wrapped up his video by thanking his team once again from the bottom of his heart, concluding that “sometimes a crazy idea can make something special”.