The Furies set about their task, and, believing death to be too kind for one who had broken an oath to a God, transformed Aegaeon's humongous body into a stone prison for all who would dare follow his example in the future. The first victim of the Furies was the Hecatonchires, Aegaeon, who had broken a blood oath to Zeus himself. If you’re looking for a hack-and-slash game and haven’t tried DmC or Revengeance yet, your choice is clear… and it’s to give Kratos’ average adventure a miss.In a war between the astronomically large deities known as the Primordials, the madness and rage of the war took form, becoming the three guardians of honor, the Furies, who were tasked with exacting retribution onto any oath-breaker or betrayer. Fans, if you’re filling with rage –just like your hero, Kratos - take some deep breaths rest assured, God of War: Ascension is exactly what you’re expecting and what you want.įor those of us on the fence, Ascension will merely be a placeholder a game that’s filling the gap until its PlayStation 4 equivalent is ready. God of War fans will flame me for saying that instead of giving the game a glowing rating, but it’s so very true. The problem with Ascension is that it’s a technically sound game that’s simply more of the same.
Nor do I believe it will keep players coming back for more. The sad truth is that multiplayer doesn’t have enough gusto to change Ascension‘s sideways progression. Multiplayer has its moments of fun, but much like Tomb Raider before it, doesn’t add nor detract from the experience it’s simply there to try to prolong play and show some further innovation in the title. Moreover, I feel that I had to trade off camera control for gorgeousness… and to be very blunt, I’d have been quite happy if the game looked a little more drab so I could just move the bloody camera where I wanted to. Sure, the scripting in the quicktime events mean that the game looks absolutely gorgeous, but I just wish it had a bit more depth. In a new world where button-mashing would destroy you in DmC. Ascension is a literal exercise in button-mashing to get from quicktime-filled cinematic to cinematic. Finally, the game’s magic system has changed so that you won’t be able to max out powers until well until the game, ensuring combat stays fairly challenging as you move from sequence to sequence.ĭespite the innovations listed above, they’re basically inconsequential when you find you can just spam the same combos over and over to get through the game. Kratos’ Blades of Chaos have been infused with new, elemental-based powers such as the Lightning of Zeus, and using those powers changes up the orbs you’ll receive when besting baddies. You can use a revamped combo system to mix-up encounters. The result is a game that’s competent, but nothing to write home about.įans of the franchise will notice the subtle changes to the mix you can grab enemy weapons and pummel opponents. At the same time - despite the polish - I couldn’t help but feel like this prequel was merely a sideways step for the God of War franchise, whereas DmC and Revengeance, two other hack-and-slashers of 2013, were giant leaps forward. I could see the level of care and detail that Sony Santa Monica had put into the game, and I could easily appreciate it.
Playing through Ascension, I could see how pretty it was. Kind of makes it hard to continue the story along, eh? You know, the one in which Kratos practically killed everything ever. The only difference between this game and the previously aforementioned button-mashers is that God of War: Ascension isn’t a reinvention or a different take on a franchise, but merely a prequel to its original trilogy.
Yep, it’s time for another hack and slash game review, and yep, it’s another in a long running franchise. Well, it must be a Tuesday, because I’m about to do a review and mention games like DmC: Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance again.