God of War: Ascension

After the first 3 games was buried, but for me the best of both multiplayer mode fun and story mode to tell the beginning really well I would recommend you good games

'God Of War: Ascension (2013)' is a prequel to its main series, the only console game in the franchise to be so. It feels like filler, ostensibly, because it is. However, its still a decently entertaining hack 'n' slash adventure. It adds some new elements to its gameplay, changing up its magic and weaponry while also introducing a ranged grapple. Sadly, the title has a fair few glitches and generally doesn't feel too refined. At its best, it's visceral and engaging; at its worst, it's frustrating. The story focuses on Kratos' time in a type of living jail, shortly before he sets out on the quest for vengeance seen in in the series' main entries. It's relatively pacy and it has all the brutality you'd expect. In fact, it's perhaps the most brutal in its franchise. While that does make for some painful combat, it doesn't really add anything to the story. The game is relatively straightforward, really. It's fun filler but it doesn't live up to the rest of the series (at least, those on consoles). 7/10.

For all you Kratos fans out there, the big man is back and yes, he is still in need of some anger management therapy. The game creators at Santa Monica Studios have spun the wheel of time and have taken us as far back as we have yet been in Kratos' journey. Chronologically speaking, Ascension takes place before all the other existing titles in the series. Before the game was released, I was excited when I heard that the next God of War installment was going to be a prequel and that it was to be called Ascension. I immediately assumed that this was going to be the playable origin story of Kratos that we have been introduced to time and time again in the previous games. Unfortunately not long after getting into the story, I realized that the unfolding tale was not so much the origin of Kratos that I had hoped for.

Yes, throughout the game there are glimpses of Kratos' origin and reference to what happened to his family, but no more than what we've been shown in the previous games. Instead we are given a story about a blood oath that Kratos has broken with Ares, the god of war. Ares then sends the three Furies after him to uphold his oath and punish him for what he's done. The Furies are three immortal sisters who each possess a unique power to help them with their task of enforcing honour.

Being a long-time fan of the franchise, I couldn't wait to get back into the fast, fun, and fluid combat that each God of War title has brought forth thus far. I was extremely pleased to see that this has not changed in Ascension. With the ability to string painstakingly long combos together to completely obliterate the enemy, I spent hours enjoying the process of trying button sequence after button sequence to figure out which of Kratos' moves I liked best. Of course, battling an opposing boss the size of a sky scraper wouldn't be complete without the signature QTE that encapsulates the player and helps to show the scale of the ginormous creatures Kratos goes up against. The QTE in Ascension are perfectly planted and provided me with enough challenge to have to retry them every once in a while but at the same time never feeling unfair or unresponsive.

Even though the precision of the combat was equally as impressive as its predecessors, Ascensions fails in a couple areas that the other titles did not. The adventure that we are sent out on in this game feels really unnecessary in the scope of the series as a whole. It feels as though the outcome of the story has no real bearing on what happens in Kratos' future. Most of the cut scenes are presented in a silhouette style and we don't get the same visually appealing experience as we are used to. These two mistakes caused me to really show a lack of interest in the story itself and only continuing on because of the satisfying combat. In regards to the combat, I felt that the lack of physical unlockable weapons in the game (such as Hercules' Nemean Cestus) which are replaced by magical abilities of the god's, is rather unsatisfying compared to the other games. The introductions of world weapons (a club, spear, sword, etc.) tries to make up for this but these generic weapons do not successfully replace the imaginative weapons that we are used to unlocking and upgrading. It felt somewhat lazy on the developers' part to use the god's of Olympus magical abilities that we have already seen and used so often, as the upgradable abilities for Kratos. It would have been nice to see a little bit more creativity from Santa Monica both in the storytelling and with the unlockable abilities they give to us.

If you are like me, a well versed God of War veteran having played through all previous titles in the series, then God of War Ascension is a must play. Even though a lack of creativity exists in comparison to what we are used to, you will no doubt been pulled in by the same entertaining, and precise combat that God of War fans have come to love and expect. For those who have not yet taken the plunge into Kratos' universe, my recommendation is to start with the original God of War title and play through the rest in the order that they were released. This will give you a better understanding of the story of Kratos and will captivate you in a way that only the best video games can. I know the story of God of War isn't finished yet and Ascension, although did not fully satisfy, has left me hungry for more.

Thoughts: Ahhh! God of War, the prime example of grand button mashing goodness, none will ever compare. The game is easily the second most graphic in the series, it wasn't shocking like GoW 3, but it is more detailed than the other four games. This game is really pointless, I don't care about whats happening or whats gonna happen, since I know how it all ends. This really is a game only die hard fans will thoroughly enjoy, everyone else could care less. But I'm not complaining, the more GoW, the more better.

The Game: The story is made up of present day situations and flashbacks, throughout the game I started to forget which was which. The opening level pits you in a prison built on top of a titan, that was a pretty cool idea, but you don't get to fight the titan, but instead another monster that offers little to no excitement. Lets just say none of the boss's I have played so far are worth any thought. Nothing will ever beat those awe inspiring boss's in GoW 3. Here's a little content advisory: The brunt of the nudity is in the first stage when you walk into a room with at least 5 nude women with over-sized you know whats, but it is just an illusion. Kills include slicing an enemies head vertically in great detail and tearing open a Cyclops's abdomen exposing organs and the rib cage. The rest is nothing you haven't seen before for experienced players. And then there is the over abundant force of bare cheated female enemies, even more so that previous games. I thought I'd put this here since no one has updated the actual content advisory.

A little of the same old, same old but still a worthy entry. I acquired this for free during a month when I had PS+ and I certainly don't regret playing it. It's pretty far from being the best in the franchise, though, and dare I say it's a little disappointing in some areas. Still worth the time of any God of War fan, though.