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God of War Ascension |OT| Gods up, Foes down

S

Santar

Member
I wonder whose great idea it was to have the info about new game+ disabling trophies after you've actually started it and the saves from normal are already deleted. Good move there SSM.
Guess I'll never get that all upgraded trpohy then, was only missing something like 100 orbs too.
 
R

Radec

Member
gdt said:
Goddamit, what exactly is the sound problem? Waiting for UPS to deliver my copy.
Click to expand...

The only iffy ive experienced so far regarding the sound was there are moments where the background music will be like in very low volume for 3~ secs then it goes back to normal again. It might be a minor thing but its noticable.
 
M

meta4

Junior Member
Dude Abides said:
Has there been any word on if/when they're fixing the sound? Despite the rather negative impressions I bought as I am a fan of the series, but if the sound is broken I'll wait to play until it is fixed.
Click to expand...

The music is pretty good. There are some weird moments of silence at places when there should not be. It feels as if the music just cuts off for some weird reason. It def requires a patch.
 
M

Meatvillain

Banned
Just finished the first level and enjoyed it, though I definitely had moments where the camera was zoomed out that it was really hard to pick what was going on. Between the slightly different skin and the very plain weapon effects (that basically look exactly like enemy weapon effects) Kratos doesn't really stand out from a distance like he used to.

Core gameplay is still fun though, and the opening level is pretty damn cool. Visuals are certainly incredible. Really enjoyed the cutscenes that followed the first level.
 
K

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
meta4 said:
That is the thing. It is not about the Titans alone. The best boss fights in GOW3 were Hades, Hercules etc. Nothing to do specifically with scale but they were just awesomely designed boss fights.
Click to expand...
Thanks, this helps me put your viewpoint in perspective, since you're spending so much time trying to dominate the critical reception of this game.

Hades and Hercules in particular were pretty standard textbook boss fights. Well designed? Yes. Awesomely designed? No.
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
So is this short like all the god of war games? Every god of war game has lasted me around 6 hours or so. That's why I won't pay full price for this game, or any game that is that short.
 
X

Xav

Member
Hey GAF, the embargo to discuss God of War Ascension finally went up earlier today in the UK. I'm not trying to score hits here but I've done a piece regarding a silly difficulty spike I experienced towards the latter part of the game if anyone is interested. Yes, that gauntlet section. Please excuse any small grammar mistakes, I'm still fairly new to writing about games.

http://masonicgamer.com/why-our-god-of-war-ascension-review-isnt-and-wont-be-out-for-a-while/

As for the game itself, it's pretty fun. Normally I'd use "more of the same" to describe sequels but oddly enough Ascension is "less of the same". It's good in it's own right but lacking when compared to previous standards set by the series.

Regarding the "sound issues", I've personally noticed the game does not appear to be mixed properly. Voices sound quiet and the game lacks "punch". I'm playing on a 5.1 setup under PCM settings although switching to DTS didn't seem to make a difference. I had the same problem with final version of God of War III even though the demo to that game sounded perfectly fine.
 
X

xenorevlis

Member
Played for a couple hours. Extremely tired and not looking forward to being on campus for 15 hours lol.

Anyway, not feeling it, and by it, I mean the problems people seem to be having. I in fact, am enjoying the pace very much. Scale is immense, combat is... wow man, they let you string some crazy stuff together. Really enjoying the encounters and it's rather challenging. Not sure about the sound stuff, but it seemed fine so far. Will try with better sound system tomorrow.

Also, does anyone with the game (and decent gameplay skill) have a capture device? I'd love to chat with you as I have a little project that needs GOWA footage...
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
I guess I just finished the rest of the intro that wasn't in the demo. Yeah it's still the worst intro level to a console god of war game and the most boring. It's also a great example of using scale in the wrong way. I frequently could not see what was going on, even in non-interactive cases near the end of the boss fight thanks to the camera zooming way out.

The sound problems are still here too. Frankly it's some of the worst sound quality I've experienced in a game.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
Meatvillain said:
Just finished the first level and enjoyed it, though I definitely had moments where the camera was zoomed out that it was really hard to pick what was going on. Between the slightly different skin and the very plain weapon effects (that basically look exactly like enemy weapon effects) Kratos doesn't really stand out from a distance like he used to.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what Sessler mentioned in his review:

"Another bigger issue is that the game's aesthetics frequently win out over the game design. As cool as the moving camera can be, it can pull out so far out as to detach the player from the events on-screen. Even more problematic is that the striking cold, earthen tones and visual design of locations and enemies makes it very easy to lose Kratos admist the fray."
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Sessler right that it's not just the camera, but the colors, too. Kratos is white, enemies are white, the floor is white, hell the big attack animations they do is a big white glow. It all just blends together, it's harder to see where you are at times and what you're doing. It's like playing Where's Waldo at times.
 
O

OSHAN

Member
1. The game struggles to keep a consistent framerate, and I'm afraid Santa Monica tried to push the engine too far. I'm fine with dialing back the scale for a smoother experience.

2. Blocking doesn't have the tactile response I'm used to, and I'm not even sure if I'm blocking attacks. Blocking simply doesn't feel right. I know I can't parry--it isn't that--but something is off.

3. Why do I keep losing track of Kratos? I'm not sure if it is the way his weapon glows almost white when swinging it around or what it may be, but I've never had issues keeping track of Kratos in the previous GoW games.

4. The sound mix is also low. I'm not saying it is bad; it just seems to be mixed low. I had to crank my receiver up more than usual. I even checked to make sure what the source was on the receiver: PCM 7.1.

Those were my thoughts from the demo, and it sounds like 3 and 4 carried over to the retail release.

Can anyone comment on 1 and 2?
 
T

ThisWreckage

Banned
Valnen said:
I'm not buying it. It seems like GAF thinks everything is bad lately.
Click to expand...

Almost the entire gaming side of this forum is a bunch of entitled, whiny babies that have backlogs that would take months to complete because they spend more time on here bitching about games than they do playing them. It's true. GAF has always had some sort of aloof, cynical attitude, but the last several months have been unbearable. This is a God of War game. It looks like one, plays like one, and it is very similar to past games.
 
M

Messofanego

Banned
ThisWreckage said:
Almost the entire gaming side of this forum is a bunch of entitled, whiny babies that have backlogs that would take months to complete because they spend more time on here bitching about games than they do playing them. It's true. GAF has always had some sort of aloof, cynical attitude, but the last several months have been unbearable. This is a God of War game. It looks like one, plays like one, and it is very similar to past games.
Click to expand...

Are you calling yourself also an "entitled, whiny baby"? Nice generalisation there.
 
T

ThisWreckage

Banned
Messofanego said:
Are you calling yourself also an "entitled, whiny baby"? Nice generalisation there.
Click to expand...

Nice reading comprehension there. I said almost. And it's true. I get the feeling that a lot of people that post here get more of a kick out of complaining about gaming rather than, you know, actually playing games.
 
F

Fabrik

Banned
Messofanego said:
I'm not sure why anyone has to acknowledge how much work was done on a game, as if "A for effort" is an actual thing. As an aside, many mediocre-to-bad games had hard-working developers toiling away for years, but that doesn't mean anything if the execution isn't there.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
I can't emphasize just how bad this sound is. The rumble on my controller makes a louder sound than many of the things in this game.
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
This all sounds so strange... how do they botch some fundamental characteristics which have carried through successfully across 5 previous titles...
 
O

OSHAN

Member
Did you guys run through the various outputs the game has for sound options? Curious if the mix sounds different on 5.1 to 7.1, etc.
 
S

Sorral

Member
Hades MP trailer is up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmSnKS8fkZM&list=PL11D77B8CCAFBF4F9&index=4
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013...-today-final-multiplayer-allegiance-revealed/
Ascension’s multiplayer mode, a series first, is about to go live for players around the world. Finally, we’re excited to reveal the fourth, and last, of the Gods with whom you may ally yourself: Hades.
Click to expand...

I guess no fifth allegiance then?

Also, to the people saying it is the worst intro in a GoW game. Is it worse than GoW1? I just replayed/platinumed GoW1 and GoW:A will have to be horrible to not top that or be on an equal level to that. Come on guys.
 
M

Magnus

Member
Surely a Gaffer has finished this by now. What's the word, friends? Is this worth a rent/one-run through for someone who was generally thrilled by GoW 3?
 
G

george_us

Member
The framerate seems to be the same as GoW3 i.e. fluctuating between 30 and 60.

Also, my main problem with the opening is that it lacks the energy of any of the previous ones despite the actual gameplay and boss fights being on par with them. In GoW1 you were fighting a Hydra while a raging storm tore your ship apart. In GoW2 we saw a godlike Kratos laying siege to Rhodes with buildings crumbling, Kratos being thrown all over the city, people screaming and fleeing the scene, and an epic fight with the Colossus of Rhodes itself. In GoW3 you're fighting goddamn Poseidon himself along with the Hippocampoi on top of fucking Gaia as part of the second Titanomachy. Here you're...
holed up in some prison fighting some random unrecognizable beast
. To top it all off there's not much happening in the backgrounds like there was in the first three console GoW games. It would of been cool if the
Hekatonkheires was actually moving a bit in the background or if there was some type of raging sandstorm.
Something to give the environment a little life.

Still though, I'm having fun with it so far. Seems the framerate and some of the particle effects are better here than they were in the demo.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
ViewtifulJC said:
The only way I can tell I blocked attacks sometimes is the rumble. There's zero audio visual feedback from in the game on that front
Click to expand...

Yeah I noticed that when the camera zoomed away and I tried to block while using audio cues, couldn't hear any. The boss of the intro appearing also had zero sound to it which I thought was strange and maybe just a glitch. Another thing I notice is when Kratos is shuffling along a ledge I can hear a faint clank of armor sound and a faint shuffling along rocks sound but that's it. There's also zero feedback or sound when he's leaping across big gaps in ledges. It's really shoddy work from the audio department.

OSHAN said:
Did you guys run through the various outputs the game has for sound options? Curious if the mix sounds different on 5.1 to 7.1, etc.
Click to expand...

I have to run it on stereo just to have the regular sound volume go up. But there's too many actions and effects that have no sound or extremely tiny sound to them.
 
R

redhot_

Member
Holy fuck do some of these enemies feel extreamly cheap or what.. Fucking knock back after knock back..

Edit fuck this game
 
O

OSHAN

Member
Derrick01 said:
I have to run it on stereo just to have the regular sound volume go up. But there's too many actions and effects that have no sound or extremely tiny sound to them.
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of. I don't mind a low mix; I don't associate it with a poor mix, but something was just off during the demo.

It's certainly strange that sound effects are missing when running it two channels. I wonder what the fuck is up with that.
 
T

TentPole

Member
A few hours in and I am playing with my tv speakers. Once I changed the in game settings to stereo I have had zero sound issues. I wonder if it is the surround sound mixing that is messed up?

Also I have played the entire series on hard for all my first runs and this game on hard seems significantly harder. That being said I am enjoying the challenge and it is really forcing me to learn the new mechanics and how to properly manage crowds with them.


OSHAN said:
1. The game struggles to keep a consistent framerate, and I'm afraid Santa Monica tried to push the engine too far. I'm fine with dialing back the scale for a smoother experience.

2. Blocking doesn't have the tactile response I'm used to, and I'm not even sure if I'm blocking attacks. Blocking simply doesn't feel right. I know I can't parry--it isn't that--but something is off.

3. Why do I keep losing track of Kratos? I'm not sure if it is the way his weapon glows almost white when swinging it around or what it may be, but I've never had issues keeping track of Kratos in the previous GoW games.

4. The sound mix is also low. I'm not saying it is bad; it just seems to be mixed low. I had to crank my receiver up more than usual. I even checked to make sure what the source was on the receiver: PCM 7.1.

Those were my thoughts from the demo, and it sounds like 3 and 4 carried over to the retail release.

Can anyone comment on 1 and 2?
Click to expand...

Both 1 and 2 are true in my experience so far and are my biggest complaints. Game is Castlevania levels of choppy!
 
D

Drencrom

Member
OSHAN said:
2. Blocking doesn't have the tactile response I'm used to, and I'm not even sure if I'm blocking attacks. Blocking simply doesn't feel right. I know I can't parry--it isn't that--but something is off.

3. Why do I keep losing track of Kratos? I'm not sure if it is the way his weapon glows almost white when swinging it around or what it may be, but I've never had issues keeping track of Kratos in the previous GoW games.

4. The sound mix is also low. I'm not saying it is bad; it just seems to be mixed low. I had to crank my receiver up more than usual. I even checked to make sure what the source was on the receiver: PCM 7.1.
Click to expand...

These things are apparent in the intro, why is the fucking camera zoomed-out that much in some parts? I can't make out Kratos when all these grunts are ganging up on me. The music and some sound effects are too muted at times and I agree that blocking feels a bit iffy.

ToddPapy/Just_Tank, how about you guys patch these things instead of trophy titles?
 
Wishmaster92

Wishmaster92

Member
OSHAN said:
Did you guys run through the various outputs the game has for sound options? Curious if the mix sounds different on 5.1 to 7.1, etc.
Click to expand...

I am running through optical, and either dts 5.1 or dd 5.1 the audio is toned down, during the first encounter at the beginning of the game with the two juggernauts i started to really notice.
 
W

Waylon Drums

Member
I got my Collector's Edition preordered from Best Buy today but I didn't get a code for any preorder bonuses. Does anyone know if the general collector's edition extras code will also unlock those or do I have to kick and scream to Best Buy until I get it?
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
It's a strangely quiet game. Outside the combat, you go through entire transversal section without any music of any kind. And then the sound effects are all over the place. The bugs that you can throw and they explode, there's no sound when the explosion hits. Nothing. Game's full of these weird missing sound cues.
 
O

OSHAN

Member
Sounds like I'll just output it on stereo and simulate surround surround on my receiver.

I certainly shouldn't have to do that.
 
Gouty

Gouty

Bloodborne is shit
I was going to pick this up today but all of these audio issues have completely tuned me off. Get your shit together SCE and I'll buy it post patch.
 
S

Solidus_

Banned
Hey guys just got my copy in the mail.

I redeemed the ONLINE PASS however there is a code for 2 characters for PlayStation All Stars, Zeus and Isac.

The code is not working, anyone else has the same problem?
 
M

moolhy

Banned
Is it just me or is the CE really shitty? Kratos figure looks like a cheap knock off (the head is hilariously small), and I'm pretty sure the "steelbook" is made of plastic... ;/

-smh-
 
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