God Of War: Ascension Review - STFUandPLAY

STFUandPLAY's Tony Polanco writes:

"The God Of War franchise, once one of the strongest in the gaming world has finally stumbled. While God Of War: Ascension is technically a good game, it falls well below the standards set by previous entries in the series."

[mayberry]

I personally did not find the controls to be "unresponsive" at all, and the new "counter" move was easy to get the hang of and imho, it was needed in order to expand the move so as to affect more enemy attacks than in previous games. Even though "no one asked for it", the multi-player is great, and enhances the game greatly. The story is also very good for a "hack/slash" type of game.

[ziggurcat]

i've found the evading to be a little unresponsive, actually.

what is this "counter" move? i'm only a few chapters away from the platinum, and i've yet to experience that. i think i accidentally parried once, but i have no idea what the specific timing is compared to the other GOW games...

and multiplayer wasn't even necessary, imo. having played the MP demo, it did nothing but confirm how bad of an idea it was to include it into the game, made worse by the fact that it's set up like an arena brawler (which i can't stand).

i love this game, though - the sheer scale of everything compared to the previous installments is quite astounding. i can't wait to see what they do with the franchise on PS4, if this is what they're able to accomplish on PS3...

@ Derekvinyard13

GOW3 was pretty epic, and it certainly set the bar pretty high.

[Derekvinyard13]

Thing is, GOW 3 set the bar so dam high it was hard to beat it

[vividi]

I am in love with the multiplayer, it is a lot of fun, but people must practice to get the hang of it

[VonBraunschweigg]

Counter move, or parry: L1 and X, needs to be unlocked first by upgrading your blades (no element) early in the game, I think it's the 1st or 2nd upgrade.

Timing is required of course, you gotta be quick. Enemy attacks are highlighted, just look at their weapons. On time it's a little slowmo followed by whatever move you pull of next, too early leaves you in defense, too late means you get hit. The timing gets more precise on higher difficulties. You can only parry attacks you can defend against, so not everything.

Imo there's nothing wrong with it.

[abzdine]

this game is sick! screw the haters!

[VonBraunschweigg]

I played & replayed all God of War games with a big smile on my face and with Ascencion it's the same, and I haven't touched the multiplayer yet. It's hard to believe some franchises with a yearly rehash get a free pass yet 3 years of work on Ascension gets so many harsh reviews.

It's a classic God of War game that ticks all the right boxes, the combat feels tight and very satisfying, the bloody violence is there the way it should be, the graphics are even better than GoW3...only the story is not what I hoped for, with a prequel I expected to start ad a captain in the Spartan Army all the way to the moment you're betrayed by Ares, but do I really care? No, because everything else is so good. It's just a blast to kill your way through the game, I didn't even mind setting the difficulty to Hard, something I didn't do with part 3 that lasted less than 10 hours and never got me hooked. If you're any good in these types of games you just have to make sure you set the bar yourself to make sure you're challenged in a normal way. These type of expensive games aren't just made for the fans anymore, newcomers should be able to enjoy them as well, hence Normal is too easy for a veteran fan. And fans should know this by now. For me, on Hard, everything falls in place. I freaking love this game!

[PersonaCat]

As someone who was upset with the inclusion of multiplayer in GOW, I have to say it's probably the most fun I've had with an online game in a LONG time. IF you haven't had the chance to try or just believe that GOW shouldn't have an online component, I encourage you to try it.

[Myst-Vearn]

loving the game myself.

[freezola75]

I respect this article's review of GOWA.

I must say that while I have read the reviews on this game... some are saying that it's the same old same old. Then others are saying that it's underwhelming then there are others who.. I consider just downright crotchedy, leads the charge and helps to get a trophy censored from the game....

I am not gonna go any further with that but I will say that is clearly a pseudo anti-misogynistic rant from someone who I think needs to totally take a chill pill.. btw men are certainly getting murked in Tomb Raider and if there's a Widow maker trophy out there.. god help us.. btw yea no one should get upset about that either.

I am totally enjoying this game!! You must certainly have to be a fan of the series to be able to appreciate the nuances in the game that has changed. Doesn't mean that I am fan of everything that this game tries to do.

I am troubled by the pan and zoom moments in the game. They get me fauxed up during battles when I can barely see what's going on and everyone on the screen looks like large ants fighting.. I love the epic-ness of it just not getting my brains bashed in while the widening and sheer epic-ness is happening, if that makes sense.

Also the climb scenes could use some work. There are a few tiny things we could debate about..

What I love most is the work done to Kratos over the years in the series. This go around, he's more nimble and he does battle work really well with moving and having at multiple enemies while locking one down.. that is great for crowd control. The creatures from other GOW games that make appearances are staples you need em they are apart of the series.

I'm not lying when I say things in GOW 3 were vastly larger in scale during the beginning of GOWA but this game is still incredible. I think they couldn't it get any bigger, badder lol just come close to it

after all they're gonna do a GOW 4. and you know this maaaan.. peace

[Simon_Brezhnev]

Yeah its funny how GOW gets so much hate other franchises that got more games gets praised. It's like they want to find faults for no reason.

[Morpheuzpr]

Ohhh but the reason is very clear. It's a Sony exclusive game, nof said.

[Jac5al]

I respect you opinion but I disagree with the review for the most part. But nonetheless, great review. Keep it up.