Episode 590: This is not God of War

It's the summer of the delay. This week Raz and Jake break down two tactical shooters moving in opposite directions — Hell Let Loose: Vietnam getting pushed back to August after a rough beta, and Wardogs pulling its early access UP (something you basically never see) — and what each move says about a studio's confidence. Then it's Summer Game Fest: the turn-based Star Wars Zero Company that's right up Raz's alley, the surprisingly good-looking Lords of the Fallen 2, and the story everyone's actually arguing about — God of War: Laufey, where Sony takes Kratos out of the lead and hands the axe to his late wife Faye. Creator David Jaffe called it live: "this is not God of War." We get into whether dropping your icon is a bold swing or brand suicide, why the shooter genre feels stale and dead right now, and why most video games — yes, even in your favorite genre — just suck. Two friends, real takes, no script. 0:00 - Intro & the Summer of the Delay 1:27 - Hell Let Loose: Vietnam beta — what's broken 7:00 - Why the HLL: Vietnam delay to August is the right call 10:02 - Wardogs pulls its date UP (you never see this) 13:49 - Plot twist: Team17 publishes both games 15:57 - The shooter genre is stale and dying 20:14 - "These devs actually play video games" 26:30 - Summer Game Fest & why most games suck 29:59 - Keighley, Highguard & the single-player pivot 39:35 - Star Wars Zero Company — turn-based tactics 53:50 - Lords of the Fallen 2 reaction 57:23 - God of War: Laufey — they took Kratos out 1:04:23 - A 20-year fan: "I wanna play as Kratos" 1:23:04 - DMZ tomorrow on Patreon + shoutouts _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #DropshotPodcast #GamingPodcast #GodOfWar #GodOfWarLaufey #Kratos #StarWarsZeroCompany #LordsOfTheFallen2 #Wardogs #HellLetLoose #CallOfDuty #SummerGameFest #SGF2026 #GamingNews #GamingCulture #HotTake #PodcastClips #Shorts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices