David Jaffe, lead designer of God of War, and Sony are both named in a lawsuit alleging that God of War stole ideas from a screenplay sent to Sony back in 2002.
The plaintiffs, Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog, claim that their work, entitled The Adventures of Own: Owen's Olympic Adventure, has a number of strong similarities to the story, characters, locations, and events depicted in God of War.
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The plaintiffs, Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog, claim that their work, entitled The Adventures of Own: Owen's Olympic Adventure, has a number of strong similarities to the story, characters, locations, and events depicted in God of War.
- Plaintiff's works tell the original story of how a champion saves Athens from destruction by the invading Spartan army that has been sent by Ares... [GoW]... is the story of how a champion chosen by Zeus and Athens saves Athen from destruction by an invading army sent by Ares...
- In plaintiff's original work and God of War, the Champion's family is hacked to death in a one-room building in a small peaceful village. In both stories the Champion feels partially responsible even though he is not really to blame...
- In exchange for Kratos' pledge, Ares gives him... the Blades of Chaos... two massive, glowing, sword-like blades fastened to chains fused to Kratos's wrists... These Blade of Chaos are taken directly from a scene in Bissoon-Dath's work... "As Zeus strides forward... his hands MORPH into two massive swords that glow like light sabers..."
- ...Owen must cross the Bottomless Valley over a long, sagging suspension bridge, shown on Barrette-Herzog's map... in God of War Kratos must cross the Bottomless Chasm on a long, sagging suspension bridge...
Both the game and the story have a strong basis in Greek Mythology to begin with. Sony is making a point of this and claiming that any similarities between the two are purely due to both stories having these deep roots tied to Greek Mythology.- In plaintiff's original work and God of War, the Champion's family is hacked to death in a one-room building in a small peaceful village. In both stories the Champion feels partially responsible even though he is not really to blame...
- In exchange for Kratos' pledge, Ares gives him... the Blades of Chaos... two massive, glowing, sword-like blades fastened to chains fused to Kratos's wrists... These Blade of Chaos are taken directly from a scene in Bissoon-Dath's work... "As Zeus strides forward... his hands MORPH into two massive swords that glow like light sabers..."
- ...Owen must cross the Bottomless Valley over a long, sagging suspension bridge, shown on Barrette-Herzog's map... in God of War Kratos must cross the Bottomless Chasm on a long, sagging suspension bridge...
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