The Best Way to Play God of War on PC in 2023

As a passionate gamer and content creator always looking to maximize my gaming experiences, I‘ve done extensive research to determine the best way to play the classic God of War games on PC. After thorough testing and benchmarking, I can conclusively say that the RPCS3 emulator is the best option we currently have to enjoy God of War I & II on PC today.

Overview of RPCS3 – The Best PS3 Emulator for God of War

For those unaware, RPCS3 is an incredible open-source PlayStation 3 emulator for Windows and Linux that has matured tremendously over the years. It leverages the power of modern PCs to emulate PS3 games via highly optimized recompilers.

Here are some key facts about RPCS3:

• Actively developed and frequently updated
• Can run over 50% of PS3 library with good compatibility and performance
• Very customizable with abundant tweaking options
• Upscales games up to 8K resolution or higher
• Completely free and open source software

After testing various PlayStation emulators, I determined RPCS3 to be the best solution for running God of War smoothly on PC based on the following aspects:

Stability & Playability: God of War I & II are considered playable from start to finish in RPCS3 with mostly smooth frame rates throughout.

Performance: On mid to high-end modern PCs, RPCS3 can often run the games at up to 4K 60 FPS or beyond for an incredible experience.

Enhancements: With its robust customization settings, you can add enhancements like higher resolutions and aspect ratio changes that aren‘t officially available on PlayStation.

Ease of Use: Once set up with the optimal settings as I elaborate below, RPCS3 makes running God of War seamlessly on PC a breeze.

Simply put, this emulator can provide the definitive way to enjoy Kratos‘ original Greek-era saga on our powerful gaming rigs. Let‘s dive into optimizing RPCS3 specifically to run God of War flawlessly.

Configuring RPCS3 for God of War Gaming Goodness

Getting God of War going smoothly on RPCS3 involves some initial configuration, but I‘ll make the emulator setup process simple for you with some key optimal settings you need to tweak:

Step 1: Download and Install RPCS3

First, head over to the official RPCS3 website and grab the latest build. Install it like any other Windows application. I recommend installing it on an SSD for optimal performance.

Step 2: Obtain God of War PS3 Game ISO Files

Next, you of course need the actual game data. I won‘t link to ISO download sites directly due to legal concerns, but a quick Google search should enable you to find and download the God of War PS3 ISOs. Make sure they match your region.

Once downloaded, right click on the ISO files in RPCS3 and select "Mount ISO". This will mount them virtually as PS3 Blu-ray discs.

Step 3: Use Vulkan Graphics API

In Graphics > Renderer settings, I strongly recommended selecting the Vulkan renderer over OpenGL as it‘s significantly more optimized. Enable Async Shader Building for smoother performance.

Step 4: Crank Up Resolution Scale

One of the best aspects of emulation is being able to play at even higher-than-native resolutions. Bump the Resolution Scale under Video settings to your monitor‘s native res or even 4K for incredible graphics!

Note: Resolution scale is GPU intensive so lower accordingly if your frame rate tanks.

Step 5: Tweak Additional Settings

There are a ton of options you can tweak to further optimize RPCS3 performance for God of War. Some recommendations:

• Set SPU threads to your CPU core count
• Try disabling GPU texture scaling if your VRAM is over 4GB
• Under Performance > Thread Scheduler, set Hidden self refresh rate toTICKS_SX
• Limit framerate 2-3 FPS below monitor refresh rate to avoid screen tearing

Here is a snapshot of my complete RPCS3 settings optimized to run God of War at 1440p 60 FPS on my system with some minor resolution upscaling:

Use this as a baseline, testing values for your specific system hardware for peak stability and frames. Let‘s move onto getting your controller ready!

Step 6: Set Up Your Gamepad

To properly immerse yourself into this action epic, you need to play God of War with a gamepad rather than keyboard and mouse. The good news is RPCS3 offers full controller support and custom button binding.

Navigate to Settings > Input and bind your gamepad buttons to keys that match an actual PS3 controller for proper button prompts. Feel free to tweak deadzones and sensitivity too until it feels right.

With above steps complete, you are finally ready to boot up God of War through RPCS3 and start unleashing hell on mythological creatures at buttery smooth 60 FPS! Have fun 😉

How RPCS3 Performance Stacks Up with God of War

"These settings got the job done for me but how well will God of War actually run?", I‘m sure you must be wondering. Well I benchmarked installed multiple PCs to give you realistic performance expectations:

Test Systems

God of War I & II Performance

As you can see, with some basic tweaks both systems were able to achieve great performance consistently exceeding 60 FPS for superb God of War gameplay! CPU usage is also very reasonable.

Based on my testing, any modern 6 core+ CPU with a decent mid-range graphics card should suffice for smooth frame rates. Entry level GPUs can still hit 30 FPS if you lower resolution scale and settings accordingly.

RPCS3 vs Other Emulators for God of War

I‘m sure some of you might be wondering — "Why choose RPCS3 over other emulators out there for God of War?". Allow me to explain the key advantages:

RPCS3 vs PCSX2

PCSX2 is a popular PlayStation 2 emulator that‘s more optimized overall today. However, God of War was never released on PS2 so it cannot run the actual game properly compared to RPCS3. At best it may run the original mobile Java version of God of War poorly. RPCS3 emulates the native PS3 editions flawlessly.

RPCS3 vs Xenia

Xenia is an Xbox 360 emulator that also cannot run God of War whatsoever since those are PlayStation exclusives. So RPCS3 remains the sole emulator option.

When it comes to enjoying God of War I, II and future titles like Ascension or III Remastered on PC right now, RPCS3 emerges as the undisputed champion currently.

Closing Thoughts

And there you have it folks — everything you need to know to get that nostalgic God of War experience upscaled and smoother than ever before on your Windows PC! RPCS3 has ultimately delivered on that promise of high definition past gen gaming in remarkable fashion.

I had an absolute blast reliving those epic set pieces against mythic beasts and gods in buttery 1440p 60+ FPS. From the gripping epic story to tight responsive controls and graphics/resolution boosted well beyond PS3‘s limits, this is by far the definitive way any GoW fan should experience Kratos‘ Greek saga if you have a half-decent gaming PC!

As a bonus, you can even use RPCS3 to replay Sony‘s 2018 God of War reboot and the recently launched Ragnarok at higher graphic fidelity should they ever release officially for PC!

Let me know your RPCS3 God of War adventures in the comments, as well as if you need any other assistance setting it up. I‘ll try my best to help out fellow fans!

Happy god slaying 😁