War Gods (video game)

War Gods is a 1996 fighting video game developed and published by Midway for arcades. Ports for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Windows were released in 1997. Players control one of ten fighters who have been given great power by a mysterious ore that crashed-landed on Earth from outer space. The object of the game is to defeat all the other fighters to become the most powerful warrior on the planet.

The game was heavily influenced by Midway's Mortal Kombat series, and features controls similar to that series, as well as its signature fatalities. Unique to War Gods is the "3D" button, allowing players to use the background/foreground for additional attacks and evasive maneuvers; in other words it lets the player dive around the ring in a circular arc as part of their attacks and defensive moves. The orbiting camera smoothly follows the fighters, working to maintain the left/right "fighting line" needed for coherent two-player joystick control on the arcade cabinet. The game's graphics were created using a technology by Midway called "digital skin", which mapped photographs onto 3D models.

War Gods received mixed reviews, with particular criticism being directed at the game's character design and animations.