There seems to have been quite a mixed reaction to God of War: Ascension in this week’s WeView. Some said it was amazing, some said it was poor, and some were neither enamoured or disappointed by the title. While I’m of the opinion that it was the worst entry in the series to date, there was a lot of variety in the opinions shared in the comments. So let’s get to them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyW6QXqI3H8
The first comment came from regular WeView participant Eldave0, who described it as “a forced entry to the series” which “adds nothing to the God of War formula.” He noted the “terribly frustrating camera” issues and said that it’s worth picking up God of War 2 and 3 over this any day.
While 2ofclubs described the combat as “tight”, he shared similar thoughts to Eldave0 on the rest of the game, saying that “the motivation to drive forward just isn’t compelling enough.” He also stated that the “back and forth narrative” didn’t work for him, despite some superb set-pieces.
Despite being the self-proclaimed “biggest GoW fan” Taylor Made said that the game was “not needed” while Nate abhorred the “game breaking camera angles” which were “more concerned with showing off some big set piece” rather than Kratos himself, with tactical20 agreeing, saying that he “can’t really remember any of it” despite only playing it a month ago.
Continuing on with the common theme, Pritchie101 described it as a “pointless” entry into a “great franchise”, like “the third game’s annoying little brother” despite having “decent gameplay”.
There was plenty of love for the game, too, with Ole_Gunner describing the game as “ultimately the tightest god of war in terms of combat” while also praising the “beautiful graphics” and the way the game “still ups the ante with regards to the staple boss battles”, while also saying the story was good as it “finally provided justification for [Kratos’] rage.”
rama26285 enjoyed it too, saying “It has the best graphics of any GoW, the combat system has been tweaked to be even better and the boss fights/set pieces are still as memorable.” Despite the story not being as memorable due to it being told before in the other games.
JR. asked “what’s not to like?” since it plays and looks great, before saying that “the story does feel a bit forced” and there were “a few tough parts on hard” but it was nothing too difficult in comparison to the other games, so he “enjoyed it a lot.”
It was our own Gastos84 who really managed to sell it as a good game with his lengthy appreciation of the game. He actually preferred it to God of War III because he “felt it gave personality and purpose back to Kratos other than anger and hate. I felt more inclined to complete it because of this and the inclusion of another “good guy” was also a breath of fresh air.”
He went on to say:
GoW has always lead the way in terms of level design and scale, in my opinion, and Ascension, for me, is the best of the best. The sheer size of the environments are amazing and exciting to play.
The boss battle isn’t overly difficult but the game (especially on Titan) was, overall, very challenging and rewarding.
I’ll agree that it wasn’t necessary to create this game but they did, and, as a massive fan, I think they did the franchise justice and I loved how they managed to still include lots of mythology that hasn’t already been covered.
Overall, God of War: Ascension received four Buy It ratings, one Bargain Bin It, four Rent It verdicts and just one Avoid It, so a very mixed response this week.
I think that covers this week’s Verdict, we’ve got Dead Space 3 on for the new WeView tomorrow as it was the highest voted in our poll, so replacing it this week is Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Resident Evil: Racoon City received the lowest number of votes, so has dropped off the list to be replaced by the perhaps more worthy Resident Evil 6 – you can vote for those along with Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Injustice: Gods Among Us in the poll above.
philzy85
I’ve only just started Dead Space 3 after blasting my way through the Ishimura and then the Sprawl. Very much enjoying it, not sure what to make of the crafting bench though, it was ok the way it was!
Youles
Hopefully you’ll get to love it. I didn’t like it at first (and I missed the excitment of finding a node), but now I really like the new system.
Dan Jones
Only just been playing Ascension in the last hour and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. Having never played GoW before the other game that comes close in terms of the combat is Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, but I never completed that because I wasn’t very good at it. Loving the set pieces so far in Ascension though.
philzy85
God Of War 3 on titan or chaos mode will literally ruin your life, and just thank your lucky stars that Ascension doesn’t have anything like Challenge of Olympus.
If you have a spare controller or three, then I highly recommended playing GOW3 after you finish Ascension….
philzy85
I have 5 of the 6 available God Of War platinums (still working on Ascension) and I believe that my abundance of grey hair may be due to this fact.
Very good games though, just do yourself a favour and play for fun (muhahahahahahaa!!!)
Dan Jones
Haha! I’ll just keep to easy or normal, I’m not looking to fight with my controller.
Nate
I’d recommend playing through them in chronological order rather than jumping straight to GOW3. You’ll miss all the build up from the story otherwise. The end of GOW2 is pretty epic!
TSBonyman
I guess i’ll have to play it for myself sometime but only if i can find it cheap somewhere.
Youles
I thinks it £15 new on Zavvi and ShopTo….I picked up the Special Edition steel tin version from GAME for £23 last week!
Ole_Gunner
Thanks sixth axis for including my two cents worth! Appreciate the mention! Hopefully more peoe get to sample the game as a result. Sure it’s not the greatest GoW, but it’s still a spectacle for any fan of the series :)
jimmy-google
I didn’t have issues with ascension, God of war is just a bit tired now. It needs either a refresh or to give kratos a rest
seanobi
I got this a while back cheap from shopto and still can’t get into it. My biggest problem is i keep losing Kratos amongst all the enemies,a lot of distance camera work,never found that an issue with older games, its also pretty glitchy, stuck levers and doors and the like. I’d say: rent it,bargin bin it.