God of War: Ascension Review

Puzzles also make up a notable portion of the game as expected. There is nothing particularly difficult here, but a few good head-scratchers definitely help break up the pace. A time-manipulation mechanic returns from GoW 3 in a simpler form, and you’ve also got time slowing mechanics and an ability to great a ghost of yourself to help solve puzzles where two simultaneous actions are required. All of these abilities can also be used in combat, further adding to your arsenal.

There are a few concerns with the campaign experience, however. The game seems motivated to throw cinematic set pieces at the player, and while those based on Quick time events work out fine, others require the player to keep full control of Kratos while the camera goes for a cinematic swing. It looks nice, but leads to many untimely deaths because you almost lose sight of the character and jump off in the wrong direction. Abovementioned set pieces also feel very strict on timing with little room for error, sometimes requiring a trial and error approach which further adds to the difficulty of the game overall. And finally, while retracing one’s steps is nothing new to the series, Ascension seems far too same-y, with extensive reuse of locations and that’s even without backtracking, down to the same chest placement and enemy spawns.

After completing the decently long but sometimes repetitive campaign, players can move on and experience what it’s like to play God of War in multiplayer for the first time ever. And in truth, it turns out to be a bit too chaotic to take seriously. While the design is top notch with the expected character customization, experience, and ability upgrade system of any modern online title, the actual gameplay feels underwhelming. All of the stages are designed well but spawning right near an enemy player is far too common. Actually fighting against others is often a roll of the dice, as everyone attempts to execute their most powerful attacks at first sight and things become a mess very quickly. Again, the design is in place with many viable support and defence abilities, but most players usually go for Ares or Hades skills because of their superior abilities. So while possible in theory and outfitted with most modern features, Ascension’s multiplayer still needs some balancing work and perhaps a re-evaluation of how viable the gameplay is in a competitive setting.

Being an exclusive franchise, God of War was always a showcase for the power of the PlayStation consoles, and Ascension is no different. Even after the great looking God of War 3, Ascension steps up to deliver some fantastic vista views and detailed textures, once again combined with violent and brutally detailed enemy takedowns. The static camera does its best to offer panoramic pans and swing around Kratos as he climbs some huge structures. Although only visible during cutscenes, characters are also quite detailed and showcase great attention to detail as we watch our hero’s body become scarred during the course of the game. But even in the presentation, Ascension isn’t perfect. The game’s sound design is a surprising step back, offering none of the adrenaline pumping orchestra previously heard in the series. Outside from boss fights, much of the game is in near dead silence, without much background music or ambient effects to set the atmosphere. Not to mention some audio glitches and a bit of lag that exist.

In the end, God of War: Ascension is a solid experience. It’s not up to par with the usual high standards that the franchise has been known to deliver, but as a standalone adventure you could do much worse. The story is mostly forgettable and won’t do much for fans of the series, but it chugs along at a nice pace and a good running time. Action is as spectacular as ever, but the game’s difficulty will require most players to scale down on the mayhem and focus on being a smart fighter rather than a powerful future God that brings devastation with every strike. Franchise first multiplayer features are well designed but the gameplay itself proves perhaps too chaotic for competitive play, with balancing issues hanging over the battlefield. The game looks as great as usual, but some sound design missteps take away from the atmosphere. Ascension is a good action game that’s worth checking out for fans of the genre, but fans of God of War who expect nothing but excellence should approach with subdued expectations.