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[hey_it's_that_dog]

The press isn't allowed to decide things. They still aren't fatigued from CoD.

Maybe CoD has evolved more than GOW. Or maybe it's just easier for reviewers to see how it's evolved. Multiplayer means people spend way longer playing it and discovering the nuances in each iteration. This is good reason to believe that reviewers at least hold the belief (accurate or not) that CoD continues to evolve. And that explains why they think GOWA is too much of a rehash and CoD isn't.

Actually, I should have checked your facts, because the press ARE getting fatigued by CoD.

MW1 94
MW2 94
BLOPS 87
MW3 88
Blops2 83

Obvious decline in scores, ending near where GOWA is scoring.

 

[Darknight]

Im a big GOW fan. I wasnt at first though since I never bought the PS2 games until PS3 with the whole HD ports/GOW3. So Im not fatigued. It was back in 2009/2010 when I beat GOW3 and was left wanting more. So now its that time to dig back into the franchise and I welcome Ascension. I love this franchise that I cant wait for GOW4 and PS4. Just thinking bout SSM working with those specs and delivering cinematic stages is just pure gaming sex.

 

[Mik_Pad]

Have we seen what does the extras section on the menu includes? costumes,videos or challenge of the gods????

 

[tiny raptor]

Guys, I love God of War too. That doesn't change the fact that in the last 5 years (March 2008 - March 2013), there have been 4 main line titles released, regardless of system. That is a lot.

So in that time span
2 on PSP
2 on PS3

That's not beating the shit out of the franchise to me. I think it's just right.

And you had different developers working on the PSP titles, even. So it's not like SSM was overworked.

Also those reviewers are complaining about the games retreading old ground, not the fact that so many of the games were released. But maybe that's what you're saying, anyway -- that SSM should try harder to tread new ground with each new entry?

I just read an old EGM review of God of War II, and at that time it was only the second God of War game released, but one of their minuses was that it felt a bit too familiar (they still gave it scores of 9.5, 9.0, and 9.0, though).

 

[Domcorleone]

I just got up to the part that other reviewers where having trouble with. It is most certainly difficult (I am playing it on hard). My main issue with the game so far is that it is much harder to follow the action than before, I dont know if it is because of the graphics or camera angle but it is harder to track Kratos.

Another issue I have with the game is the elemental attributes that are given to the blades dont really do much in the way of combat. Enemys that use ice are not more susceptible to fire and conversely, Kratos is not more resistant to damage when equipped with the opposing element. This makes me feel that these additions were arbitrary.

I am having fun with the game but it feels soulless. The storyline is a mess and the enemy types are repetitive and are dumb. The game swarms you with numbers and puts you in cheap situations ala GOW1 to make the combat challenging. Kratos also feels substantially weaker this time around since they locked out certain combos that were upgradable in previous games behind the rage meter. This means you are relegated to square square triangle for most of your battles until you get enough rage to do more combos.

The parry system feels broken in this one as well. I understand that Papy probably felt that the parry system in previous iterations were overused and relied on too much, but here using it is much harder than it needs to be. On top of that, you cant even reflect projectiles with it which limits your offensive options. Before you could parry and then use triangle or circle to do a specific attack, or parry a projectile and toss it back to an enemy, now you cant do either. A logical thing to do would be to have the parry system work in conjunction with the elemental weapons so that when you parried an electrical attack you could toss back that projectile or energy towards a water based enemy. There are some more issues I have with the game but I will save my other comments for when I am done with it.

Being a HUGE GOW fan and beating every single game on hard (I only play most games once) I am dissapointed quite a bit in this game. SSM had an opportunity to liven up the combat substantially but instead removed key combat options and kept the enemies lack of hit stun the same.

I hope next GOW they change the camera, change the combat and change the move sets. 5 games later and the shit is now stale to me. Especially after playing Darksiders 2.

sorry for my rant.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

No parrying projectiles makes me a sad panda

 

[thehypocrite]

I just wanted to say

I am replaying god of war III now and my mind is just completely blown away at how insane this game looks. Not only that, but it plays amazingly well.

The intro is just perfect blend of cinematography, set pieces and spectacle. Not to mention the pacing is spot on. Atleast until you get get to the labrynth and it all falls to shit, But everything before then is gaming perfection.

The whole hades section looks like playable CG at times. I am still blown away by it.

from watching the walkthrough on ascension, whilst the combat looks like a major improvement, unfortunetly everything else looks like a downgrade.

I will still buy it day one, and it is probably unfair of me to judge a game based on a youtube clip, but the game isn't going to drastically change when I am playing it, is it?

So you're saying a game played natively looks better than an Internet compressed video walkthrough? That's an unfair comparison.

 

[Domcorleone]

So you're saying a game played natively looks better than an Internet compressed video walkthrough? That's an unfair comparison.

I'm playing it now and while Ascension does some things visually better than 3, I like how 3 looked overall a little bit more. Some things in this game do look stunning though.

 

[Domcorleone]

No parrying projectiles makes me a sad panda

It's unforgivable.

 

[Betrayer of hope]

I just got up to the part that other reviewers where having trouble with. It is most certainly difficult (I am playing it on hard). My main issue with the game so far is that it is much harder to follow the action than before, I dont know if it is because of the graphics or camera angle but it is harder to track Kratos.

Another issue I have with the game is the elemental attributes that are given to the blades dont really do much in the way of combat. Enemys that use ice are not more susceptible to fire and conversely, Kratos is not more resistant to damage when equipped with the opposing element. This makes me feel that these additions were arbitrary.

I am having fun with the game but it feels soulless. The storyline is a mess and the enemy types are repetitive and are dumb. The game swarms you with numbers and puts you in cheap situations ala GOW1 to make the combat challenging. Kratos also feels substantially weaker this time around since they locked out certain combos that were upgradable in previous games behind the rage meter. This means you are relegated to square square triangle for most of your battles until you get enough rage to do more combos.

The parry system feels broken in this one as well. I understand that Papy probably felt that the parry system in previous iterations were overused and relied on too much, but here using it is much harder than it needs to be. On top of that, you cant even reflect projectiles with it which limits your offensive options. Before you could parry and then use triangle or circle to do a specific attack, or parry a projectile and toss it back to an enemy, now you cant do either. A logical thing to do would be to have the parry system work in conjunction with the elemental weapons so that when you parried an electrical attack you could toss back that projectile or energy towards a water based enemy. There are some more issues I have with the game but I will save my other comments for when I am done with it.

Being a HUGE GOW fan and beating every single game on hard (I only play most games once) I am dissapointed quite a bit in this game. SSM had an opportunity to liven up the combat substantially but instead removed key combat options and kept the enemies lack of hit stun the same.

I hope next GOW they change the camera, change the combat and change the move sets. 5 games later and the shit is now stale to me. Especially after playing Darksiders 2.

sorry for my rant.

God of war strength's has always been setpieces and story and huge bosses. The problem with GOW AC is that all these factors has been subdued or less compared to gow3. Which is not a problem if they changed something about the core gameplay and combat mechanics.

Unfortunately it's the same square square triangle. Same type of brain dead AI. No physics. It really starts to become tedious after a point. I have just been playing Rising and a bit of DMC4 and my word the combat disparity could'nt be different between them and GOW.

I don't know if SSM guys read this thread but please please please this same combat mechanics are killing the potential of your series. get some new combat designers or whatever but please do something. You can only rely on story and set pieces up to a point

 

[ViewtifulJC]

That L1 + X for parry shit is just another example of multiplayer changes effecting the single player experience. It makes some kind of sense in the multiplayer arena, but in the single player it seems like a needless complication, and probably won't feel as good as just timing your L1 press right.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

No parrying projectiles makes me a sad panda

It's unforgivable.

Are absolutely sure there's no way to do it? I can't believe they'd take that out, and I thought I read somewhere that you could do it, albeit with a different input than usual (assuming they were referring to L1+X).

Sisters of Fate and Zeus battles were greatly enhanced by that mechanic.

I guess they did say they were re-examining every part of the core combat...

 

[OwlyKnees]

...and please, for the love of all that is holy, introduce some fucking consistent hitstun.

 

[Mik_Pad]

New MP footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLesQqsAkQU&feature=player_embedded#!

It looks amazing!

 

[Domcorleone]

Are absolutely sure there's no way to do it? I can't believe they'd take that out, and I thought I read somewhere that you could do it, albeit with a different input than usual (assuming they were referring to L1+X).

Sisters of Fate and Zeus battles were greatly enhanced by that mechanic.

I guess they did say they were re-examining every part of the core combat...

I'm positive. The way it looks in the multiplayer is the same way it looks in the SP. I purposely waited for certain enemies to throw a bomb at me and tried to parry it, only thing that happens is a shield goes up and absorbs the projectile. I still cant believe they removed it. Also there is a stun period that occurs if you parry to early, so you have to be very good about timing it or you will get murdered. This would be fine if the enemies attacks were better telegraphed, but due to the softer palette the game has its hard to keep track.

 

[BadAss2961]

Maybe CoD has evolved more than GOW. Or maybe it's just easier for reviewers to see how it's evolved. Multiplayer means people spend way longer playing it and discovering the nuances in each iteration. This is good reason to believe that reviewers at least hold the belief (accurate or not) that CoD continues to evolve. And that explains why they think GOWA is too much of a rehash and CoD isn't.

Actually, I should have checked your facts, because the press ARE getting fatigued by CoD.

MW1 94
MW2 94
BLOPS 87
MW3 88
Blops2 83

Obvious decline in scores, ending near where GOWA is scoring.

Well that would obviously be bullshit. CoD hasn't "evolved" at all since Modern Warfare. They might make little changes to the multiplayer that half the community likes, and the other half hates, but that's about it. Not to mention they blatantly release one every fucking year. It's no different than Madden.

Ascension is only the second GoW for PS3. It adds multiplayer that's both well realized (which most reviews seem to admit) and entirely new to the market, yet there's this giant cloud of franchise fatigue. I don't buy it...

Someone had it right in another thread. Its not franchise fatigue as much as it's generation fatigue. We've reached a point this gen where straight sequels (a prequel in this case) aren't really that big a deal anymore unless they're doing something completely different.

 

[SammiiDoogles]

I remember that L1 and X parry sucked in the demo (from what I actually got to try, you can only unlock it by the very last fight), but hearing that you can't even deflect projectiles with it is just... awful. Why would they even take that out?

It seems to me like they've stripped things back in service to continuity. Kratos should be weaker and less experienced, but for that they have to make subtractions from the gameplay which have a negative impact overall... You'd think someone like Papy would be all about the gameplay, surely? He comes from a design background, why is that the thing that's taking hits?

I've always thought doing a prequel was a bad idea, it offers so little to the series and they've clearly had to strip away to service the plot. When is that ever a good idea? Part of me feels maybe they ended this gen with a prequel is because they could possibly have a PS4 iteration in the works that clears up the ambiguous ending for III (which is what everyone wanted from this), and instead wanted to save all the good stuff for that. So Ascension gets downgraded combat, a shorter length and recycled enemies from III (the Chimera for example).

I must have cancelled and re-pre-ordered my collector's edition of this on Amazon half a dozen times by now. Really unsure if this is worth the £75...

 

[Mik_Pad]

I'm positive. The way it looks in the multiplayer is the same way it looks in the SP. I purposely waited for certain enemies to throw a bomb at me and tried to parry it, only thing that happens is a shield goes up and absorbs the projectile. I still cant believe they removed it. Also there is a stun period that occurs if you parry to early, so you have to be very good about timing it or you will get murdered. This would be fine if the enemies attacks were better telegraphed, but due to the softer palette the game has its hard to keep track.

Hey what about the Challenge of the gods and costumes are they in?

 

[TEH-CJ]

So you're saying a game played natively looks better than an Internet compressed video walkthrough? That's an unfair comparison.

It is unfair for me to judge I know. I am still excited to play the game as I have always wanted to see a more human side to kratos.

watching some more footage, some sections actually look awesome. I think if people play it for what it is and stop comparing to god of war III then they would be able to enjoy it a lot more.

 

[Y2Kev]

Is that good, by the way?

It's not turble, but it's not great. KevQuikReview:

Pros:
-Has basically most of the stuff you like about GoW, and all the stuff you don't.
-60 FPS basically locked, even though the game looks like a PS2 game
-Cool environmental art
-A few twists in the gameplay along the edges (SKILL TREES YO)

Cons:
-Terrible checkpointing
-Short AND artificially lengthened
-Terrible story
-Terrible writing
-Bland music
-No EPICNESS in anything really. But giant tits.
-Everything is just generally jankier

Solid 5/10

 

[Domcorleone]

Hey what about the Challenge of the gods and cosumes are they in?

Hmm I havent checked that yet. I went straight for the single player

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Hmm I havent checked that yet. I went straight for the single player

They wouldn't be available until you've finished the game anyway. I believe he means unlockables like the previous GOW games had, not the new co-op horde mode thing.

 

[Mik_Pad]

Hmm I havent checked that yet. I went straight for the single player

If you find out I will apreciate it if you update us

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I'm positive. The way it looks in the multiplayer is the same way it looks in the SP. I purposely waited for certain enemies to throw a bomb at me and tried to parry it, only thing that happens is a shield goes up and absorbs the projectile. I still cant believe they removed it. Also there is a stun period that occurs if you parry to early, so you have to be very good about timing it or you will get murdered. This would be fine if the enemies attacks were better telegraphed, but due to the softer palette the game has its hard to keep track.

*thinks back to Sister of Fate fight*

Papy pls

 

[Demon Ice]

Here's a video of that "Bros before Hos" trophy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVgjdeX9ejs (trophy appears during the end of the video)

Holy shit. That's it? That's the "overly brutal, sexist, abusing finisher" that everyone was bitching about?

Wow. That's not even CLOSE to the most brutal or violent scene in the GoW series.

Amazing. If you get offended by that, God of War is not the series for you, and I'm not even sure how you made it this far. But I'm sure it was just a bunch of sheeple pretending to get riled up to support that Sessler moron. What overdramatic bullshit. "Sexist", Jesus Christ.

 

[CorrisD]

I swear to god this happens in every gaf thread.

So in that time span
2 on PSP
2 on PS3

That's not beating the shit out of the franchise to me. I think it's just right.

About 3 releases per generation per general platform is about right for me, especially when a generation has gone on as long as this one is currently, and it goes in line with most other franchises too where we get through a trilogy of games in a generation. I wouldn't count the PSP GoWs just like I wouldn't count any other games that are on separate platforms, I doubt most of the millions that played GoW3 had touched either PSP games till they decided to rerelease them.

Some franchises have taken it a little too far like CoD with 7 releases on just PS3/360, or what will be 6 Assassin's Creeds by the next one later this year, and personally I find 4 Forza and 4 Halo (or 6 including Wars and HD) are pushing it but considering generation length on their platform and they are still some great games it isn't so bad.

But when press continue to give out high scores for a 5 or 6th release in a series then they can't complain about 2 mainline GoW releases, I am part of the problem and I have bought the CoDs from MW to BO2 and AC1 to AC3, and I can tell you between releases not a lot changes besides the setting.

 

[TEH-CJ]

New MP footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLesQqsAkQU&feature=player_embedded#!

It looks amazing!

That does look amazing.

 

[Mik_Pad]

That does look amazing.

Yeah the new maps look amazing, specially TROY!!!

 

[BadAss2961]

Holy shit. That's it? That's the "overly brutal, sexist, abusing finisher" that everyone was bitching about?

Wow. That's not even CLOSE to the most brutal or violent scene in the GoW series.

Amazing. If you get offended by that, God of War is not the series for you, and I'm not even sure how you made it this far. But I'm sure it was just a bunch of sheeple pretending to get riled up to support that Sessler moron. What overdramatic bullshit. "Sexist", Jesus Christ.

Really? I'm gonna wait to play it for myself.

Adam was hyping it as the most violent thing he'd ever seen. lol

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I'm watching a full walkthrough and saw the part with the Trophy.

Spoiler

It appears after Orkos saves Kratos by teleporting him away from the Furies after his fight with them. In fact, the Fury who he face stomps does not even die during the scene nor does the Trophy even appear after it. The Trophy more than likely implies Orkos saving Kratos from them especially since it doesn't even appear until after that.

My opinion is that Sessler may be a bit sensitive when it comes to this. I like Sessler but yeah, I agree he's overreacting somewhat.

 

[Demon Ice]

Really? I'm gonna wait to play it for myself.

Adam was hyping it as the most violent thing he'd ever seen. lol

It honestly shouldn't even be considered a spoiler. It's the most vanilla, by-the-books God of War QTE move I've ever seen. Not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the finishers from GoW3.

Sessler's a dipshit if he thinks that's the most brutal or violent or offensive or whatever scene in a God of War game.

The name of the trophy doesn't even refer to what Kratos is doing.

 

[SammiiDoogles]

Here's a video of that "Bros before Hos" trophy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVgjdeX9ejs (trophy appears during the end of the video)

Adam Sessler originally raised the issue with the trophy name in his review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjIpPUE8epA

Wow that's it?...
I don't want to say it but... why was Sessler being such a bitch about it? The trophy is blatantly not even about the face stomp, which itself wasn't even bad...

Also the way the background music just disappears and how certain things have no sound effect whatsoever make that whole cutscene suuuper awkward.

 

[RoboPlato]

Really? I'm gonna wait to play it for myself.

Adam was hyping it as the most violent thing he'd ever seen. lol

I'm also a Sessler fan I kind of believed him too since Papy is the one that came up with the idea of the first person Poseidon kill in GoW3. That filled me with a lot of hope to see what he'd try to get away with in Ascension.

 

[Demon Ice]

I'm also a Sessler fan I kind of believed him too since Papy is the one that came up with the idea of the first person Poseidon kill in GoW3. That filled me with a lot of hope to see what he'd try to get away with in Ascension.

Yeah, this one is nowhere near that. If anything, I was disappointed, I expected something a little more spectacular given all the tears being shed over the trophy and the "context".

 

[Chamber]

Really? I'm gonna wait to play it for myself.

Adam was hyping it as the most violent thing he'd ever seen. lol

It's definitely tame. Not even "tame by God of War standards", just plain old tame.

 

[Demon Ice]

And to think that trophy bothered Sessler so much he listed it at the end of his review under the negatives section. Probably docked half a point, if not more, for it.

 

[RoboPlato]

And to think that trophy bothered Sessler so much he listed it at the end of his review under the negatives section. Probably docked half a point, if not more, for it.

He even said it ruined his opinion of the entire series and he felt ashamed for ever thinking it was more than something for frat boys. I love the Sess but it really sounds like he just lost his shit over that one thing. I could see him briefly mentioning it but the sheer outrage vitriol combined with the fact that he spent a third of the review ranting about it rubbed me the wrong way.

 

[Demon Ice]

He even said it ruined his opinion of the entire series and he felt ashamed for ever thinking it was more than something for frat boys. I love the Sess but it really sounds like he just lost his shit over that one thing. I could see him briefly mentioning it but the sheer outrage vitriol combined with the fact that he spent a third of the review ranting about it rubbed me the wrong way.

Seriously?

Hahaha, what a joke.

Oh well, it probably got him lots of attention and publicity.

 

[firen]

Egyptian Mythos next please!

This reminds of what Jaffe wanted to do with the ending of God Of War series. I don't remember the exact quote but I believe he wanted to bring Roman/Egyptian/Norse gods into the series as well.

edit:found it!

In an interview with GameTrailers.com, David Jaffe explained his story to God of War III. The first cutscene featured Oceanus in his water form (similar to Poseidon's God from) killing Hermes. Kratos then would fight Zeus in the opening boss fight and kill him. Then a portal opens on Mt. Olympus where the Egyptian and Norse Gods desend from. The Titans and the Greek, Egyptian, and Norse Gods wage a war to determine who would ultimately rule the world. Kratos then discovers the power to teleport back and forth through Norway, Egypt, and Greece. Kratos encounters Stheno and takes her head in a boss fight. Then in another boss fight with the Sphinx, Kratos uses Stheno's head to turn the beast into stone (and that's how we have the Sphinx statue today in Egypt). Kratos then realizes to permanently kill a God is to get their mortals to stop believing in them. Kratos' plan was already in effect because; the Gods were focused on ruling the world and had their minds off their mortals. Thus, the mortal world was under natural disasters. The mortals stopped believing in the Gods, which weakend them. Kratos & the Titans kill off the remaining Gods. Kratos then uses the Blades of Athena to slit his wrists, resulting in another trip to the Underworld where he was reunited with his wife & daughter. The final cutscene showed the Three Wise Men heading to the North Star resulting with the birth of the new religions.

Source: God Of War Wikia

 

[JCizzle]

I'm also a Sessler fan I kind of believed him too since Papy is the one that came up with the idea of the first person Poseidon kill in GoW3. That filled me with a lot of hope to see what he'd try to get away with in Ascension.

Now the Poseidon kill probably WAS the most violent experience I've ever had in a video game. I had to put down the controller after that for a few minutes I was so in shock lol.

 

[Mik_Pad]

Now the Poseidon kill probably WAS the most violent experience I've ever had in a video game. I had to put down the controller after that for a few minutes I was so in shock lol.

For me it was Helios, that shit was insane.

 

[RoboPlato]

Now the Poseidon kill probably WAS the most violent experience I've ever had in a video game. I had to put down the controller after that for a few minutes I was so in shock lol.

That scene is genius because it's the first time any game has really shown you just how powerful and brutal your character is.

The Hercules face bash is the one that got me. That quick glance at the tenderized slab of meat that was his face for a split second had to be the single most graphic image I've ever seen in a game.

 

[JohnnySasaki86]

No parrying projectiles makes me a sad panda

Story wise it makes sense though. Kratos doesn't get the golden fleec tell GOW2. You couldnt reflect projectiles in gow1, I don't think.

 

[Mik_Pad]

That scene is genius because it's the first time any game has really shown you just how powerful and brutal your character is.

The Hercules face bash is the one that got me. That quick glance at the tenderized slab of meat that was his face for a split second had to be the single most graphic image I've ever seen.

Forgot about poor Hercules.

 

[Demon Ice]

Forgot about poor Hercules.

People made it sound like the Trophy scene in Ascensions was a 1st person version of that, on a woman's face.

 

[Derrick01]

God damn that was awesome. That game had so many great boss kill scenes.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

I hope I wasn't the only one who just mashed the hell out of Zeus' face in GoW3 endgame and thought it was glitched when the O button prompt didn't go away

 

[Mik_Pad]

People made it sound like the Trophy scene in Ascensions was a 1st person version of that, on a woman's face.

I really thought it was a scene like killing Hercules.

God damn that was awesome. That game had so many great boss kill scenes.

Yes, I beat GoW III today for the fifth time and I can´t believe how good it still looks. I wished we saw more of Hercules loved his voice acting.

 

[Papercuts]

Even if it isn't as graphic, there is still a soft spot in my heart for the GoW2 Theseus door kick kill, probably my favorite in the series. May have something to do with him being an absolute fuck on Titan.

 

[Derrick01]

Yes, I beat GoW III today for the fifth time and I can´t believe how good it still looks. I wished we saw more of Hercules loved his voice acting.

That's because THE hercules voiced him!