There’s not much else I can say about the Capture the Flag mode. It plays like any other Capture the Flag mode does in other video games. Match of Champions is the game’s fancy way of saying “free for all”. This was my personal favorite mode in the game because I could unleash hell on anyone that stood in my way. The four player free for all was fun, but the eight player one was even better.
The last mode is a 2 player co-op session called Trial of the Gods. This is the hardest mode in the game because you have a time limit to defeat as many A.I. enemies as possible. The longer you survive, your time increases. The one thing that made this mode so hard is that you only have one life. If you happen to fall off a ledge, it’s game over. Not to mention the enemies get progressively harder, too.
Not
Too Familiar Gameplay
Not much has changed in the overall gameplay in God of War: Ascension. The controls are the same and the game still has a fixed camera. The fixed camera works in some levels, although it’s still annoying in places where Kratos needs to do a lot of jumping on numerous platforms. I died multiple times just because I was unable to see a gap between the two platforms I needed to jump from. Some people might say the familiar style of gameplay is a good thing, but this is the seventh title in the franchise and the series started back in 2005. I guess we won’t be seeing any true innovation to the gameplay mechanics until the series is released on the PS4.
Multiplayer Mode Needs More Levels and Players
As much as I loved the multiplayer offering of God of War: Ascension, I do feel that the mode needs more levels. I played the multiplayer for several hours and cycled through the same three or four levels countless times. Some of the modes offer different levels, although you will play through a lot of the same ones if you are playing this mode for a long time. The maximum number of players is only eight people. It would have been more fun if 16 players were able to fight to the death. Hopefully this is something to consider when a God of War game is to be released on the PS4 in the future.
Story is Not Memorable
From the five previous entries of the God of War games, Ascension is the one with the weakest story. Since we all know the fate of Kratos at the end of God of War III, Ascension is a prequel that takes place before the events of the first trilogy. From the very mad and angry Kratos that we’ve known for years, Ascension’s portrayal of Kratos is quite different this time. Months following the murder of his family, Kratos is in search of truth and redemption to what he did as he tries to break his bond from Ares. The Furies hunt people that try to break their bonds with the god will now follow Kratos to try and bring him to justice. Familiar characters will be appearing in the game, but there will be new ones as well such as the Furies that he will be chasing around for answers. Throughout the eight hour campaign, I did not view a memorable scene that emotionally captured me. This time, Kratos is very mellow and seeing him in this new persona is weird. Though the story is not memorable, I doubt people many will care since they’ll be too busy ripping off heads and limbs.
Verdict
God of War: Ascension is a solid addition to the popular hack-n-slash franchise. The single player mode may not be as epic as the previous games, but fans of the series will still not be disappointed by the amount of gory action the game provides. The multiplayer mode was a huge surprise and was more fun than I ever anticipated. Santa Monica may have played it safe this time around by not adding too much to the core gameplay, but that does not mean that God of War: Ascension isn’t a fun game to play. If you’ve been a fan of the series since the beginning and don’t mind the same style of gameplay, there’s hours of “bloody”’ good time to be had here.
[Editor’s Note: God of War: Ascension was reviewed on the PS3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes. Mark Fajardo, Editor-in-Chief and I reviewed this game together.]
Nosgoth1979
March 12, 2013 at 4:09 PMBy this review, it sounds like Ascension is a good game overall, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m a big fan of the franchise; in fact, I’m just finishing up replaying the first three GoW games all over again because I had to do something while waiting for Ascension. So I rented the first 3 GoW games through Blockbuster @Home from DISH to get my fix. Trying out the range of services we release is one of my favorite parts about working for DISH, and I’m particularly grateful for Blockbuster @Home because previously I’d always end up buying all my games, but that gets expensive. And considering how rare it is that I play through a game more than once, they just don’t usually seem worth $60. Fortunately for me, I rent my games through Blockbuster @Home now; with its flat-monthly rate has allowed me to keep up with my gaming habit without going broke.
Derrick Skinkis
March 19, 2013 at 1:15 PMHow do you praise the Multiplayer in the ‘Pros”yet turn around and kick it in the Cons?
Damian Antony Seeto
March 19, 2013 at 5:19 PMHere at Just Push Start, we try and review games from all different opinions and angles. Although most of our reviews are written by one person, we don’t try and get too personal. Yea, I liked the multiplayer in GOW and I thought it was fun, but I did feel there were a lack of maps in the mode. The gameplay itself was fun. Other people may think otherwise. Anyway, I hope this answers your question.