PlayBack: God of War Ascension

Since its debut almost a decade ago, the God of War franchise has consistently produced hit after hit for Sony’s PlayStation consoles. Carrying the torch two years later, a sequel took the series to new heights before the amazingly brutal spectacle that was God of War III.

Since then, and in the years between, there have been a number of spin-offs and prequels, two of which were developed by The Order 1886 studio, Ready At Dawn. A third, set before the events of the entire series, was released last year by series creators, Sony Santa Monica.

Ascension, as it was to be known, came at an odd time in the PlayStation 3’s life cycle. Though it had been announced the year before, gamers were already expecting the grand unveiling of next-gen hardware. Therefore, when Kratos was wheeled before punters in yet another blood-soaked episode, worries began to crop up that he would miss the PS4’s grand debut. And he did.

Worst Bit

Unusually, we’re going to look at the low point first, this week, and while God of War: Ascension is fundamentally a good game, one of the common criticisms is that it was just unnecessary. With God of War III still fresh in most people’s minds, many of us thought the Grecian gorefest would be put on hold until Sony Santa Monica came forward with a proper idea for a sequel.

Announcing a title to sit ahead of the rest of the series, then, seemed like a step backwards straight off the bat. Any fan would have already played a progression that saw Kratos go from Spartan fighter, to God, then from a fallen Olympian to king slayer. All the “good” bits from the trilogy’s narrative arc had already played out, so how could Ascension possibly set the bar higher?

Put simply, it couldn’t. As much as fans might enjoyed exploring some previously-unseen character facets, the story dissolved into a predictable A to B murder-fest with a bunch of mythological cameos for good measure. It simply wasn’t able to reach some of the highs that the rest of the series managed.

After finishing the game, I just didn’t feel that same sense of reward I did upon completing previous titles in the series.

Best Bit

Ascension still got plenty right, though. For a start, the game looks absolutely stunning, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with The Last Of Us in terms of visual fidelity. Kratos was now even more detailed and the set pieces even more immense. This was all while retaining a solid framerate that failed to dip once, keeping the action fluid from start to finish.

Combat, as one might have guessed, was fully preserved from previous iterations. Combining light and heavy attacks, as well as a myriad of other abilities and special moves, Kratos could rip through entire hordes of enemies in his own, trademark fashion.
To spice things up a bit new weapons were dropped into the game, encouraging players to experiment, even during combos.

These new additions also fuelled Ascension’s step towards a higher overall sense of challenge. Though not everyone’s cup of tea, certain special moves required filling a gauge without being struck, something that’s easier said than done.

All in all, it looked and played like a God of War game, but came across as a collection of ideas that hadn’t made it into the original trilogy. One of the ideas I appreciated more than many was the inclusion of competitive multiplayer.

When it was first unveiled I honestly couldn’t see how it would fit in with such a rapid, brutal game like God of War, but it did. Combining multiplayer staples such as loadouts, challenges, and experience points, Santa Monica creating a rich 4-on-4 experience that more people should have given the time of day.

God of War: Ascension is certainly recommendable, but it’s not one those 2013 hits I’d immediately tell people to go and buy. As an action game it’s one of the best in recent years, yet it felt like Santa Monica had snookered itself in terms of where the story could go.

Ultimately, Ascension was a stopgap, albeit a good one; filler to keep fans happy while – hopefully – the team beaver away on that much-anticipated follow up for PS4.