Meg
Well-known Member
God of War: Ascension review
God of War: Ascension is the latest game in the series. It starts of with a prologue explaining the origin of the game’s antagonists: the Furies. Series star, Kratos, has been captured and imprisoned by the Furies after he breaks his oath to Ares. The gameplay starts with Kratos breaking free and trying to escape the prison while one of the Furies pursues him.
After some intense, cinematic fights, the game flashes back three weeks prior where Kratos is being tormented by hallucinations. A mysterious man approaches him with a way to break Ares’ hold over him: by killing the Furies who act as Oathkeepers. Kratos begins his journey by seeking out the Oracle who will show him the way to complete his goal.
I never played a God of War game before, so I was a little confused by what was going on, but I thought the game’s story did a good job of explaining things. However, I still found it hard to care. I wasn’t really interested in any of the characters or the story. Fortunately, the gameplay makes up for that.
Gameplay is divided up between combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. Combat is quick, fluid, and brutul. Kratos is devastating with his Blades of Chaos (swords with chains). The swords are one of the most satisfying weapons I’ve used in a hack ‘n slash game. That sad, I still would of liked more weapon variety. Through out the early parts of the game, you’ll get four different elements for your swords that you can switch between on the fly. These are fire, ice, electricity, and souls. Each can be upgraded, unlocking new moves, but known feel that different. They all basically do the same thing, which makes sense considering it’s the same weapon but with different upgrades, but it hurts combat by making it get repetitive faster than it should.
Which is a shame, because the combat in this game is fun. Combos are easy to pull off, but difficult to master. Combat is balanced so newcomers will be able to jump right in without too much trouble, but veterans will still find a challenge. There are also other weapons spread out around the world that you can temporarily use. These included, shields, spears, swords, clubs, and slingshots. These extra weapons offer some much needed combat variety, but it isn’t enough. I would of preferred having other main, upgradeable weapons, besides the Blades of Chaos, that I could switch between on the fly.
Another problem I had with the gameplay is the quick time events. QTEs in the combat were one thing, but having to watch cinematic, intense scenes with the occasional button prompt was insulting. This is a major problem in a lot of games, but it really irked me here. The whole “press x to not die” thing (thank you Zero Punctuation) was ever present in this game, and it sucked. Having to watch the coolest bits of a game is never fun. It’s boring. And cheap. I didn’t even feel necessary. Kratos is more than capable of taking down all these monsters himself. Why am I ever bothering? Things are especially bad during the final boss fight. Everything was built up to be this epic encounter, and it was on a surface level, but it was just a bunch of QTEs with some actually combat sprinkled through out. Disappointing.
And this is a real shame because I liked some of the enemy designs. And while many enemies were reused through out the game, some you only encountered once or twice, which helped mix up encounters. Even the basic, low strength enemies were mixed up through out the game. Nice.
While the platforming was bland and simplistic, the puzzles were surprisingly well done. Some solutions came to me right away, but more often than not I was scratching my head as I tried to figure everything out. The reality manipulating devices you get through out the game allow for some creative puzzles, and they even could be used during combat.
God of War: Ascension isn’t a long game. It will take about ten hours on normal. Some people might find that short, but for a hack ‘n slash, especially one that encourages replays, I was happy with the run time. Ascension isn’t a game that outstays its welcome. It’s a fun, but flawed experience for you to blast through once or twice. You can even find items through out the game that will kick in on your second playthrough, giving you even more reason to revisit.
Overall:
You’ll Love-
-Fast, brutal combat
-Pretty environments
-Interesting, clever puzzles
You’ll Hate-
-QTEs
-Lack of weapons
-Bland characters and story
Final Verdict:
RENT
