God of War Ascension Review: Fun but not Fresh | Toronto Sun

Toronto Sun: "Just as Devil May Cry and Tomb Raider benefited from long hiatuses followed by exciting and inventive reboots, so could – and so should – God of War.

Kratos has worked hard, fought hard and loved hard. We salute him. But it may be time for our angry friend to take a well-deserved rest."

[Dante112]

Lol, I didn't know newspapers in Toronto review video games. Lavalamp is diggin deep for these reviews. Keep em coming.

[CaptainYesterday]

What do you have against Toronto?

[zebramocha]

@captain I think dante's comment was on how some of these website pop out of no where to make a review on certain games and disappears afterwards.

[Derekvinyard13]

I love GOW, they all hold a special place in my gameing past but I see where he's going, this is more GOW but was it really needed? GOW 3 was one of my favorite games of all time should have just ended there. It just felt like it ended it with 3

[kayoss]

I thought the same about Call of duty modern warfare... but for some reason the game kept coming and coming and coming and it was the same thing over and over and over again. At least GOW have a story.

[Cocozero]

Looks like its 7/8s everywhere

[Eldyraen]

Probably end up being an 8-8.5 average at best so far by looks of it. Its not much of a surprise as more and more Franchises have been losing steam this generation. Basically its all coming down to fatigue as we need new blood now and again no matter how great the old staples are.

Even then, it sounds like GoW will still be enjoyable for those of us that play them so I'm happy no matter what reviews end up saying. I'm not disappointed by more 8s than 9s thus far for reasons above alone.

[ritsuka666]

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

The game still 79 score in meta. Anyway,This looks like it will be the lowest rated GOW,Yep the franchise fatigue has set in it seems.

[DigitalRaptor]

One of the lowest rated, yet it not only maintains the quality but pushes the bar even further and offers something fresh and excellent in the multiplayer. Can you explain that? When franchises like Call of Duty get a free pass, what the hell is going on?

I remember when journalists judged games objectively based on factual analysis. Personal opinion only gets you so far, and as a journalistic outlet your existence is the provide how good a game is, not whether you're bored of the gameplay.

If you're bored of the gameplay and want to throw some hypocritical statements together you shouldn't be reviewing it in the first place. Overwhelming opinion should be saved for blogs, not 'professional' reviews.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Call of duty gets a free pass? Where? Last I checked Modern Warfare had a metascore of 94 and Black Ops 2 got an 83, 11 whole points decked off.
I really hate this mentality that fanboys have, they will love you when you're giving their favourite games high scores and then turn around and question your partiality when you don't.
Why is it that you only question reviewers when they give average scores? Why weren't you complaining when the same reviewers were giving GoW 3 perfect scores?
You can't just flip flop whenever it suits you, if you want to bring in question this review and all other less than perfect reviews then lets also bring in question all the game of the year awards that have been handed to your favourite games. Yes?

[fsfsxii]

Nobody said the same thing with every halo and every gears or any other FPS game
Get real people

[matrixman92]

those werent the 4th prequel in a series...this is far from fresh

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Really? Nobody?? So you're claiming to be the first person in the history of the internet to utter those words?
Besides, I count 3 released Gears games and 1 on the way. This must be the 8th God of War game if we count all the psp and ps2 games plus their remasters and volumes and what not.
Halo I agree, although that only has one prequel at last count.

[fsfsxii]

LOL, you're counting HD collection!!
2 games for each console and each one changes for the better and sees enhancements with each game
The gameplay in GOWA has changed and even better than ever

[dafegamer]

wow just wow

[Mr-SellJack]

your name is funny,may i ask are you a terrorist?

[admiralvic]

God of War is on its 6th game (4 on consoles 2 portable) and they all play relatively the same way. Thats not to say the game NEEDS to change, but after 6 rehashes, I can understand where some people are coming from.

As far shooters are concern, go and actually read virtually any topic about Call of Duty. There is usually 1 person saying CoD should change it up or another person pointing out that they've resold the same game ___ times. You can find SIMILAR comments in Assassins Creed topics (usually CoD is mentioned there), so no God of War is not some unique example, nor is it merely "fanboy hate". Also in Halo's case, we DID see Halo Wars, which I hear was awful, but they did try something different.

[SDF Repellent]

Why are you comparing this game to FPS, especially xbox 360 FPS? Shouldn't you compare this game to Tomb Raider, Uncharted, the latest Metal Gear and DMC because, you know, they are in the same genre?

[fsfsxii]

I compared the points he mentioned about the MP mode, lack of originality, LOL!!
And what a surprise, i never knew that Uncharted and Tomb Raider were Hack & Slash games

[x5exotic]

Reviews are losing their credebility when the the new dmc is landing 9's and 10's with its shitty story, terrible animation and gameplay and a lot of chores shamelessly disguised as "platforming" while this gets these scores.

[Kran]

Wow... just... wow.

This is what this site has come to.

Games like DmC get's good scores, 'some' people say "NO NO NO TERRIBLE GAME WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE IT"

Games like GoW get's "still fairly good" scores, 'some' people go "WHAT? YOU GAVE IT SUCH A LOW SCORE? THIS REVIEW SUCKS" seriously man? seriously.

notice how I say 'some' just to output any confusion

[x5exotic]

Because this is beyond what people like and dislike, a game like DmC is an insult, it's a cheap way of saying DMC2 remade, it's seriously worse than a game based on a movie or something, but yeah go ahead and 'succubus' me if you want.

Notice how I say 'succubus" to output any confusion

@Unicorn no no no, not implying that. Just saying that reviewers are now much less reliable than before (and they were pretty bad before)

So far that particular trophy in the game was really tasteless as many people pointed out but the game seems pretty awesome

[Unicron]

People who let review scores dictate their opinions are frankly idiots.

[Unicron]

Wasn't digging at you exotic. I just think people put way too much importance on someone else's opinion because an arbitrary number is attached. It's kind of pathetic. Play what you want because you want to! I'm able to enjoy Bayonetta, DMC3, the new DmC, all of GoW, MGR because I can form my own opinions. I don't need someone else telling me its a 2 or an 8 or a whatever.

[WarThunder]

@Unicron, "People who let review scores dictate their opinions are frankly idiots."

EXACTLY! and yet you got disagrees from 3 idiots.

I buy a game that i think it looks good and its for my taste, i never bought a game based on scores...

I remember when i had a PS3, There was a PS3 game that got a lot of Hate from the media and low scores like 5-6-7.
It was called Folklore. I went and bought it and for me it was one of the best action RPG games i have ever played.

Reviews have 0 creditably.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Will they still have no credibility when they give The last of us perfect scores? I need to know cause I'm very confused.
Credible for Ni No Kuni but not credible for Ascension. Do I have it about right?

[WarThunder]

If those 2 games get 10/10 or any game from so called "gaming" journalism....

They still don't have any creditably...

[DigitalAnalog]

Remember that time when IGN gave a perfect score to U3? People still didn't give a shit about that site.

[TuxedoMoon]

I don't know what to really say about this review. If he's going to treat Gow:A like a tired series, he will have to be consistent with the other games out there to. Every FPS game should be docked points cause they're all FPS games or are tired out.

[Crystallis]

Yes and no. What you are talking about in regards to FPS is the genre. If I create a new IP FPS and you create a new IP FPS then those are fresh new titles regardless if the genre of FPS is fatigued. What we are talking about here is God of war as a series.

I for one love GOW and will be getting this day 1 next week, but I'm not a blind fanboy and say that this series is not suffering a little fatigue. GOW 3 blew my mind and although GOW:A looks incredible i dont have the same wow factor I did with GOW 3.

Take a look at halo 4. A great game but it didn't get nowhere near the high scores halo 3 did. The same with Forza, Gears of war and Killzone. This kind of stuff is inevitable with each new iteration of a series.

[smashcrashbash]

Are you kidding me? I am going to ignore all sites that give GOW low scores for being more of the same. Until they start doing that with certain franchises I call bias.I can give you a list of games that don't get marked down for being basically the same.So until that list of games gets the same treatment I see nothing but bias. If you have anything else against the game I am willing to consider your arguments but more of the same? No. That is a BS review.Destructiod took away from the score because of some hiccups with the sound effects.That is constructive and understandable criticism. More of the same isn't, especially since they have obviously refined the combat and story.

[admiralvic]

It's only a bias if the SAME person does it...

It makes no difference what others do, since you have no direct evidence of any bias taking place. Now if you can supply a list of people who said God of War Ascension was tired and praised a game that did the same, you would have a point, but I sincerely doubt you have a list or even a single name.

[AsimLeonheart]

DmC benefited from the reboot?? How? By bombing so hard? LOL! I dont know why the media is out to get GOW when numerous sequels, prequels and reboots get released each month. Nobody complains about Forzas, Halos, Gears of Wars, Marios, Zeldas and Assasins Creeds. This is only the second GOW title this gen and media is going crazy over it.

[SDF Repellent]

"Nobody complains about Forzas, Halos, Gears of Wars, Marios, Zeldas and Assasins Creeds."

LOL, I like how you purposely left out Uncharted, Resistance, Killzone, inFamous, and Ratchet and Clank.

[Unicron]

Biggest complaints against Ratchet have been that the last two games are TOO different, if anything.

[AsimLeonheart]

There have only been three uncharted. The last one came in 2011. The series has been on hiatus since then. The same happened with Resistance; it is over now with only three games. The games I mentioned are all still going on or were recently released. I agree with Ratchet and Clank with you after checking the number of games but I have never played even a single game from that franchise so I didn't knew anything about it.

[alb1899]

GOW more of the same in this situation for me is welcome!
DMC, i Finish this game and i like it a lot!

[HiddenMission]

Crap reviewers nothings changed and yeah Qore Gamers should stand up against this! Scores do matter because of 2 reasons 1 metacritic can kill a title quickly and 2 poor sales due to bad reviews means no more sequels to games you love.

Saying that youll get the game regardless does not fix the problem...youll still be out of future titles in your series...so yeah the score is huge for fans of a series which is why reviewers need to be put in their places! Qore Gamers Stand Up!

[dafegamer]

I wonder how those same reviewers will Score the next gears of war

[smashcrashbash]

@ admiralvic.I said I am going to. Never said that i had a list of people already.My point was that you missed completely was that i am going to ignore anyone who says that because many reviewers ignore the sameness of other games to pick on stuff like Ratchet an Clank and God of War.So I don't think sameness should be a factor in bringing down it's score since so many other games are guilty of doing it and get away Scott free with any protests ignored completely. I would name the games now but that will just anger there defenders.

[admiralvic]

I got your point , but I am saying it's moot.

You're saying that if game A is called out for being a rehash, so should games B - Z. This is a fair point, but reviews are opinions (and thinking a game should try new things is a fair opinion), so unless you can find people that reviewed both games (GoW A and another that you think should be nailed for being stale), you have no point. This is because you're merely assuming they would give another game a pass, which may or may not be the case. If you can't find an example of them doing so, then what exactly are you protesting? The fact that no one can think a game has gotten stale, since that has never happened in the history of gaming.