God of War II recently celebrated its 14th anniversary, and to mark the occasion, game director Cory Barlog has shared his own history with the project. In short, he said he had “absolutely no idea” what he was doing with the game, praising his team for helping complete the game.
“I had absolutely NO IDEA what the hell I was doing pretty much the ENTIRE time,” Barlog wrote. “Every day I felt like I was thrown on stage opening night to perform a musical that I had never even heard of, much less rehearsed.”
Thankfully for Barlog, and to his credit as a team leader, there was a strong team around him. “Fortunately, I was inspired at every turn by a brilliant team,” he wrote.
When the game finally did release, Barlog remarked that he “only KIND OF understood the MECHANICS of being a director.” It took many years get better in this respect, Barlog said.
I had absolutely NO IDEA what the hell I was doing pretty much the ENTIRE time. Every day felt like I was thrown on stage opening night to perform a musical that I had never even heard of, much less rehearsed.
Fortunately, I was inspired at every turn by a brilliant team.❤️ https://t.co/kR50HNFOfE— Cory Balrog 🖖 (@corybarlog) March 14, 2021
And when I finished that game, I only KIND OF understood the MECHANICS of being a director.
Actually KIND OF understanding what it really means, as a whole, to direct…that came many many years later.
NARRATOR: He means like only a week ago. Sadly, he has already forgotten it.
— Cory Balrog 🖖 (@corybarlog) March 14, 2021
2007’s God of War II was Barlog’s first time as a game director, according to his profile on MobyGames. He would later hold creative director positions on God of War Chains of Olympus and 2008’s God of War reboot. Barlog was also the creative director for Happy Feet Two: The Video Game.
Barlog is returning to the God of War series once again with the new God of War–dubbed by fans as “Ragnarok”–which is in development for PS5.