Releasing only a week before what is now the biggest movie debut ever, God of War holds a pretty cool Easter egg for Avengers: Infinity War. There are a number of items in Sony Santa Monica’s game that are clearly references to the Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet. Six enchantments in God of War correspond with each of the six Infinity Stones.

Andvari’s Soul is the Soul Stone

is the Njord’s Temporal Stone is the Time Stone

is the Eye of the Outer Realm is the Space Stone

is the Ivaldi’s Corrupted Mind is the Mind Stone

is the Asgard’s Shard of Existence is the Reality Stone

is the Musphelheim Eye of Power is the Power Stone

The perks and bonuses that each stone grants to Kratos while equipped is equivalent to its theme (the time stone slows enemies, etc.) There is also a talisman called the “Shattered Gauntlet of Ages,” which is a reference to the infinity gauntlet wielded by none other than the mad titan Thanos. The description of the gauntlet reads “An ancient relic of Hel deemed too powerful to remain whole, fragments of its former strength lie scattered throughout the realms.” There is no other description of what the item actually does when activated, and trying to use its power seemingly doesn’t do anything.

Simple Easter eggs and references weren’t enough for Santa Monica Studio though! They actually made the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages functional. Equip any three of the six “Infinity Stone” enchantments into God of War’s Infinity Gauntlet and you can shoot purple projectiles out of your fist. Check out the video below to see it in action.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a lot of ties to Norse mythology, with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor being one of the main Avengers and much of its mystical mythology rooted in Asgard, the nine realms, and other Norse legends. There are many other less obvious ties between God of War and Infinity War, but for fear of spoiling either the game or the movie, I’ll leave those for you to discover.

This isn’t the first secret to be found in Sony Santa Monica’s lauded game. Last week, players discovered that the physical map included in the Stone Mason Edition contained secret runes that led to a hidden item in the game. If you’ve been playing God of War and want to make sure you get to see the full ending, check out our spoiler-free guide on how to see that. We’ve also talked about how God of War proves old gamer habits die hard.

What do you think of the God of War Avengers: Infinity War Easter egg? Have you equipped Kratos with the Infinity Gauntlet and found all of the Infinity Stones yet?

[Source: Reddit; Via: Mashable]