PS4 God of War Preorders Come With PS Now Rentals

To encourage people to preorder the upcoming PS4 version of God of War III, which you can now do ahead of the game's release in July, Sony is offering some bonuses, including free streaming rentals of the earlier games in the series.

Anyone who preorders God of War III Remastered at retail or on PSN will receive the Fall of Olympus dynamic theme alongside the game at launch. If you're in North America, a preorder will net you that theme on May 26 alongside 90-day PlayStation Now rentals of God of War and God of War II.

Although it's not specified in the PlayStation Blog post announcement, the only versions of those games available for rental through Sony's streaming service are the PS3 HD remastered releases. 90-day rentals of those games ordinarily cost $10 each.

Given the story of God of War III is a continuation of the first two games, it makes sense to have played them first--and these rentals seem like a decent way to do so, provided your Internet connection is capable of adequately streaming them.

Beyond that, this is an interesting new style of preorder bonus that Sony is uniquely equipped to offer, at least on consoles.

God of War III Remastered was announced back in March. It will release on July 14 for $40 and runs in 1080p at 60 frames per second. It also features a photo mode where you can control the camera and add various effects, allowing you to make the moody Kratos look even more brooding than usual, as in the screenshot above.