God of War: Ascension for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

Funny that we should get two "origin" games of blockbuster franchises (Tomb Raider being the other one) in the same month. Whereas that was in many ways a reinvention of the franchise, this just seems like GOW Lite, on a par with the (amazing, for that platform) PSP games, but not for the mature PS3 platform (sidebar... can we expect a GOW Vita game?).

I galloped through the game, until the ludicrously tough spike near the end, which just seemed to serve a purpose of extending the game (I ended up with ~12 hours on the game clock when I finally finished it last night). This gallop is not a good thing... I'm not a completionist per se, but when there are lots of collectibles, some of which may take a while to think through, it's not fair that stepping through a door closes out everything behind you, thus never allowing you to pick them up again.

No issues with the game graphically or sonically, but nothing you wouldn't expect either. The end boss, no spoilers, but is a sight to behold. Combat is the usual GOW fare, and seems to be the main focus of the game. None of the puzzles are that tough, with only the water wheel stumping me for any noticable period of time.

So not bad, but not great either, and ultimately, not really "necessary". It's more of the same, and, after now 6 games, that is not enough. Definitely worth a rental, some nice things to see here, but you'll finish it in a week and never think about it again.

It's not as good as its predecessor, God of War III, but then that was a lot to live up to. They tried to go in new directions with tweaks to the gameplay, especially the combat, and I think they worked well. The story was a bit confusing as it kept jumping around a timeline with flashbacks. I wasn't able to play the multiplayer because, silly me, I thought the online would be free, but apparently with first-party exclusives, Sony still demands a payment to Playstation Online. I couldn't justify paying for it just for a few hours worth of online play in this one game.

It's still brutal, and still a fun playthrough. A word of advice if you're having trouble getting past the Trial of Archimedes: make sure you have ALL your upgrades to every weapon and especially the time-shifting necklace thing. I had to backtrack a few chapters just to get everything but it was worth it and oh so satisfying when I finally beat it. The rest of the game after the Trial is a cake walk in comparison.

Gameplay: 8/10
Combat: 9/10
Story: 6/10
Online: ?/10