God of War: Ascension Single-Player Early Impressions [Capsule Computers]

Zac Elawar from Capsule Computers wrote:

"March 14th is creeping up on us, when God of War: Ascension will rip and slash its way onto store shelves. We previously brought you my impressions of the single-player build shown at EB Expo 2012 and the more recent Multiplayer Beta, but today I have a detailed preview of the opening 30 minutes of the game for you, which I was fortunate enough to play at the Sony Computer Entertainment Australia offices."

[ManDemon]

My impression of God of War has always been the QTE's, it's interesting to see just how much of the game has become about them with just this impression.

[ZacE]

Well in this one, they are certainly still used, but there are also moments where there are no button prompts and you have to think faster without that guidance.

[GraveLord]

QTE's were invented by God of War. If you've had bad experiences with QTE's in other games, don't worry. God of War does them in a way that makes sense and they don't feel tacked on.

[rezzah]

I agree.

Never feel tacked on because GOW and QTE go hand in hand. And it is as you said, GOW invented it.

Now any other game you see out there, it make sense if you question the use of QTE.

Overall I think QTE`s are only useful during intense and huge cinematic scenes.

[I_am_Batman]

QTE weren't invented by GoW though.

[Y_5150]

Well said, I like QTE when appropriately used. Kratos destroying a giant creature is appropriate because you feel rewarded for pressing the buttons while watching Kratos wreaking havoc towards the savage beast!

[JustInTlME]

Created in Shenmue actually....

[rezzah]

Updating my knowledge on this matter. I looked into it and QTE go way back into the 80s. However, if you look at the specific type of QTE in terms of cinimatic gameplay, Shenmue (as stated by Justln TIME) is the first game to introduce it.

Could you say that GOW1 popularized cinematic QTE even further?

[LightofDarkness]

@rezzah: I would say that Resident Evil 4 popularized them more than anything else, as that game had a rather profound effect on the industry (especially the over-the-shoulder view).

[miyamoto]

Shen Mue for the Dreamcast invented & popularized QTE

[zeddy]

whats everyones problem with qte's? you beat a hard boss or enemy into submission and get to enjoy an easy qte. to me this is just the same as beating a boss and watching a cutscene, cept you get to control the cutscene(up to a point).

[rezzah]

I read that people claim that it disrupts the flow of gameplay, and if you don`t properly press the correct buttons you have to constantly redo everything.

To me the above isn`t an issue, but I won`t deny the possibility of those who will have a problem with it.

The thing is GOW is known for QTE. If these people still complain about it in GOW then they are ignorant. QTE is an important brick in all GOW games, it is very much apart of the series as the iconic chained blades are to Kratos.

[MeatAbstract]

GoW does them well because you're not bombarded with them. You don't have to use the QTE's on the smaller when the circle appears above their head and you can just mow through them if you like.

As for the boss fight, I just think how else could you possibly pull off the kind of things that happen in those games WITHOUT QTE's? You couldn't. You could just do without and just wail on the boss until its dead but God of War adds in the gory conclusion, which I think works fine. So no, they don't bother me either.

[militissanctus]

Another Kratos revenge story. I grew weary of the ultra-violent fare after the PS2. Too bad he doesn't do anything else, like cook or skateboard.

[ZacE]

Vengeance is awesome fuel...Kratos just guzzles it.

[LOGICWINS]

Is it weird that I want to see Kratos making pancakes?

[CryofSilence]

He was a chef. And is that a pancake he has? ;)

http://images1.wikia.nocook...

[LOGICWINS]

=D

[rezzah]

If you understood his anger through the individual causes of his rage, then you could understand why he does what he does.

Otherwise you`d be playing him cooking. It is a shame you won`t get to experience this. Then again there is always Cooking Mama on the Wii. It might even have a sequel, double the fun.

[hulk_bash1987]

That's like saying another story where Mario saves Princess Peach or another story where Master Chief saves the world.

[smashcrashbash]

Anyone want to tell me why they always want Kratos to forget his rage? The guy has been through the God wringer more then any other person or God or creature in Greek History has ever been through. No one suffered as much as Kratos has. Not Prometheus or Medusa not even Hercules who was tortured by Hera for his whole life. And people always boil down his rage to 'Why doesn't he just get over it?'. You are telling a Spartan warrior, who is a demi God as well, full of pride and honor to just forget about it? People who probably never been through anything as bad as he has the advice is always to basically 'get over it'. I would love if Kratos was real so i could see who would walk up to him put their hands on his bloody shoulder and say 'Kratos, you are a real jerk you know that? So what if your father and the Gods and the Titans betrayed you, your people are dead and you were tricked into killed your wife and child and you got tortured and tormented.Lighten up man'. And you most likely will be pulling back a bloody stump.

[kayoss]

Kratos is the most pissed off character ever invented in game history. Thank god there were no cars, imagine what he would do in a road rage? I've played the demo and damn the graphic is amazing. I died so many times because I've kept looking at the background. There was so much going on.

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

I love me some GOW but I better not see another one no time soon. They should have saved this one for next gen

[SlyFamous02]

Why are people complaining about how many GOW games there are? You all do realise that there are more Halo and gears in a single gen than there is GOW which spans over two Gens, two for PS2 and two for PS3 (not counting the PSP), if you are tired of the game then dont buy it, stop whining about how many GOW's there are and leave it for the real fans.

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

Who are the "people" ur referring to? Maybe some "people" don't want to see the franchise milked. There's only so much they can do with GOW this gen. I didn't realize that stating "people" who want a fresh experience with the series was whining. How else should "people" express themselves? And why are you trying to be slick and bring two 360 franchises into the mix as a comparison? Trying to rally the troops? And for the record with all the hd remakes and gow 2&3 that makes five games in the series this gen. More than if not equal to Halo.

[ZacE]

You're stretching the truth to sell your point and defend yourself now man... HD remakes do not count, they are still PS2 games technically. There has only been one true GoW game this generation in GoW 3.

P.S GoW 2 was on the PS2.

[SlyFamous02]

"Who are the "people" ur referring to?"
Well, you for starters, and I mentioned Halo and Gears purely for comparisons sake and was in no way an attack on the 360 but if you feel so strongly about it then Ill mention COD next time, besides a game is only being milked if it starts going backwards in quality, something that has not happened with GOW, in-fact it only got better and as "ZacE" has mentioned the HD remakes were games that were released on the PS2 and yes that includes GOW2.