REVIEW – God of War: Ascension
God of War: Ascension is a third-person action adventure video game developed by Santa Monica Studio, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game was released on March 12, for the PS3 console. It is the seventh installment in the God of War series, and prequel to the entire series. One thing that makes this God of War title stand out from previous titles is that this game implements multiplayer, a first for the series. The multiplayer is fun; however let’s go over the story first.
The player assumes control over Kratos, former servant to Ares the God of War! Ares tricked Kratos into killing his wife and child, afterwards Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath. Because of this, Kratos was imprisoned by the three Furies, the guardians of honor, and enforcers of punishment. He is helped by Orkos, the Oath keeper. Kratos then learns that Ares along with the Furies plan to overthrow Mount Olympus. Learning this, Kratos escapes his imprisonment, and goes on a quest to defeats the Furies.
The action is there and it sticks to its amazing, bloody, and gory combat that the previous games are known for. Kratos uses his blades, along with other weapons on the battlefield, to absolutely obliterate his opposition. A nice touch is the elemental powers that give Kratos some new attacks and abilities that are really useful. Visuals in this game can rival that to God of War 3, which had the best in the franchise. Watching Kratos facial animations in cutscenes, his brutal enemy kills, and action sequences are all visually stunning.
Music in this game once again fits the tone. I love it when music picks up during fighting sequences, and epic boss battles. Not to mention during calmer scenes. Voice acting in this game is just as amazing. However, I have to say the story of the Furies don’t quite match up to previous titles. I was more involved in Kratos story in the original trilogy then this title. The story of Ascension is not bad at all, it’s just to me, the story doesn’t stand to previous titles. However story aside, the main focus of this game was the multiplayer.
You can see the the amount of wok and detail they put into making the multiplayer. The multiplayer has the player picking a god to align with, depending on the god of your choice, you receive certain powers. The more you play the more favor you earn, which allows you to level up, unlock new armor, weapons, and build up your skills. It takes time to fully master but once you learn the multiplayer, playing can be a lot of fun. Playing the multiplayer made me feel like a child again, getting super excited over some of the action that can go on in these matches. I can’t help but scream in pure excitement.
God Of War Ascension might not match up to the awesome storytelling of previous God of War titles, but it is definitely worth checking out, even more so if you need a multiplayer game for your PS3. I give God of War Ascension 3.5 out of 5
