GOD OF WAR ASCENSION

God of War: Ascension is a third person action-adventure video game developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). The game was first released on March 12, 2013, for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. It is the seventh installment in the God of War series and prequel to the entire series. Loosely based on Greek mythology, the game is set in Ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, the former servant of the God of War, Ares, who tricked Kratos into killing his wife and child. Kratos renounced Ares, breaking his blood oath to the god. For this act, Kratos was imprisoned by the three Furies, the guardians of honor and enforcers of punishment. Helped by the oath keeper Orkos, and learning that Ares and the Furies plan to overthrow Mount Olympus, Kratos escapes his imprisonment, defeats the Furies, and reluctantly kills Orkos. Although free of Ares' bond, Kratos begins to suffer the nightmares that will plague him throughout his adventures.
The gameplay is similar to other games in the God of War series. It focuses on combo-based combat, achieved through the player's main weapon—the Blades of Chaos—and other weapons acquired by the new World Weapons mechanic, in addition to four magical attacks and a power-enhancing ability. The game features a revamped quick time events system to defeat stronger enemies and bosses, which includes the previous system that requires the player to complete various game controller actions in a timed sequence, as well as a new promptless free-form system. It also features puzzles and platforming elements. In addition to its similar gameplay, it is the first installment to feature online multiplayer for both competitive and cooperative play. It also features a revamped combat system, new gameplay mechanics, and downloadable content.
God of War: Ascension was the fourth best-selling game of March 2013 in the US, and it received generally favorable reception from critics, who praised its fundamental gameplay and spectacle true to the series. Some reviewers stated the story was not as compelling as previous installments, with IGN stating that in comparison to Zeus and Ares, "the Furies don’t quite cut it". The multiplayer received a mixed response. Although reviewers claimed gameplay translated well into the multiplayer, they were critical towards the balance and depth of combat. Edge magazine, however, approved of the multiplayer, stating it is an "evolutionary step" with "some fine ideas ... that will form part of this genre's future template."

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to previous games in the series. In both the single-player and multiplayer, it is primarily a third-person video game viewed from a fixed camera perspective with some scenes in the single-player featuring a first-person camera view. In the single-player mode, the player controls the character Kratos in combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements, and battles foes who primarily stem from Greek mythology, including the imprisoned Hecatonchires, cyclopes, cerberuses, empusas, sirens, Gorgons, satyrs, harpies, and centaurs. Several monsters were created specifically for the game, including parasitic insects, juggernauts (elephantaur), wild hounds, stone talos, wraiths, and manticores (several monsters also appear in the multiplayer). Platforming elements require the player to climb walls and ladders, jump across chasms, and slide down walls to proceed through sections of the game. Some puzzles are simple, such as moving a box so that the player can use it as a jumping-off point to access a pathway unreachable with normal jumping, while others are more complex, such as moving several objects into their correct positions in order to proceed to the next section of the game.
Throughout the game, the player finds chests colored green, blue, or red, and each chest contains orbs of the corresponding color. Green orbs replenish the player's health, blue orbs replenish magic allowing further usage, and red orbs provide experience for upgrading weapons, magic, and relics—making new, more-powerful attacks available. Red orbs are also collected by killing foes, destroying certain inanimate objects, and using the World sword (each attack yields orbs). As in the previous games, the player can collect Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers in white colored chests. The Eyes and Feathers increase the length of the Health and Magic Meters, respectively; finding fifteen of an item maximizes a meter and thus, the player's power.

Combat

Kratos' main weapon is the Blades of Chaos, a pair of blades attached to chains that are wrapped around the character's wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung offensively in various maneuvers. A new weapons mechanic, called the World Weapon system, allows Kratos to pick up weapons scattered throughout game locations or take them from defeated foes, and use these for a limited time. There are five World Weapons that can be collected randomly, although only one may be in Kratos' possession at any one time. These include a sword, a club, a javelin, a sling, and a shield. Kratos also has the ability to change from the Blades to the equipped World Weapon during an attack (a "mid-combo" move). When a World Weapon is not equipped, Kratos may punch or kick foes as part of the new combat system. Kratos can also learn to use up to four magical disciplines, including the Fire of Ares, the Ice of Poseidon, the Lightning of Zeus, and the Soul of Hades, which, depending on the magic equipped, also imbues the Blades of Chaos with that elemental property (e.g., the Soul of Hades imbues the Blades with purple flames and can unleash souls of the Underworld to briefly attack enemies). The Ice of Poseidon also enables Kratos to breathe underwater, a necessary ability as several components of the game are based in this environment.
As in previous games, the Rage ability is included, called Rage of the Gods, which provides increased attack damage and different attack combinations. Unlike the previous games, the Rage meter is filled by attacking enemies and once full, the ability is automatically activated and remains activated until Kratos is attacked (or stops attacking for an extended period of time), then requiring the meter to be refilled. Collecting gold orbs from stone talos monsters and from enemies imbued by the Fire of Ares also increases the Rage meter. The Rage ability is affected by the magic equipped, allowing Kratos to utilize different Rage attacks (e.g., the lightning-based Rage of Zeus).^[13]
Three new relics have been added: the Amulet of Uroborus (LifeCycle mechanic), the Oath Stone of Orkos, and the Eyes of Truth. The Amulet of Uroborus allows Kratos to manipulate time by decaying or healing an object. A broken bridge can be constructed or deconstructed depending on the goal, with pausing during construction possible, thereby freezing items in place and allowing puzzle solving when needed. The amulet can be used on enemies, levitating the foe and drastically slowing them for a brief period of time. The Oath Stone of Orkos gives Kratos the ability to be in two places at once, creating a "shadow" version of himself that can depress plates, hold levers, or attack enemies. The Eyes of Truth remove illusions created by the Furies and cast a blinding light against enemies.
In combat, a quick time event (QTE) feature, also called context sensitive attacks, is initiated when the player has weakened a strong foe. The player performs a sequence of actions on the game controller shortly after the appearance of a red halo above the enemy's head as an on-screen prompt. This allows for limited control of Kratos during a QTE cinematic sequence, which, if successful, ends the battle; failure usually results in damage to the protagonist. The game also utilizes a promptless free-form system, allowing players the choice of when to attack or dodge based on the enemy's actions. Additionally, when certain foes (such as a cyclops or a juggernaut) have been weakened enoug^.
Other extra features include the addition of ten Artifacts, which are hidden throughout the game world and provide additional abilities during New Game Plus (e.g., unlimited magic). New Game Plus also allows players to choose a different costume for Kratos (which are armors that are unlockable in the multiplayer and one costume from completing the game), but trophies are disabled during this mode. A new feature (absent from previous installments) is "Chapter Select", which allows players to select and replay previously completed levels. Unlike previous installments where behind-the-scenes videos are unlocked after completing the game, these videos are already available from the main menu. The Challenge mode included in all previous installments is absent, being replaced by the new multiplayer feature.

Multiplayer

For the first time in the God of War series, the game offers an online multiplayer feature for up to eight players, with a small story element. The main objective is for players to attempt to take control of a map in order to earn rewards from the gods. Before entering multiplayer battles, players are introduced to their warrior, who, like Kratos, is an oath breaker and imprisoned in the Prison of the Damned. During the in-game component and shown at the beginning of the multiplayer component, Kratos briefly sees this warrior before being attacked by a hand of the Hecatonchires, at which time the warrior is transported to the Rotunda of Olympus. The player takes control of their warrior and aligns with one of the four deities: Ares, Hades, Zeus, or Poseidon.^[20][7][21] Each god offers a unique combat play-style and abilities in battle. Players can eventually create up to three more warriors and have a champion representing each god.
Players unlock special magic abilities, new and upgraded armors and weapons, relics, and other treasures as players earn experience points (XP) to level up their warrior. The attack-style of the god with whom players align is critical to their warrior's path. Throughout the multiplayer matches, players receive buffs or debuffs. Buffs positively affect the player's ability, such as increased defense and more powerful attacks. Debuffs negatively affect the player's ability, such as blocks, magic, and items use being disabled. Players also have assigned Labors to complete. Labors are challenges from the gods that can be completed to unlock armor and weapons.
A new "prestige" feature was added on June 10, 2013, called "Ascension". Ascension allows players to reset their allegiance progression when they hit Level 40, and grant them special Ascension Tokens that may be redeemed for "Godly" armors and weapons. These unique, Godly armors and weapons are the "most valuable and powerful items in the game." When players reset their allegiance progress, they are classified as a "Hero" and granted four tokens. The second time they hit Level 40, they will gain four more tokens and be classified as a "Demi-God". Once players hit this level, they will continue to ascend, keep the title of Demi-God, and earn more tokens. The Godly armors and weapons have a boost in stats from their respective base level counterparts (e.g., if the Blade of Zeus has 10% magic damage, the Godly Blade of Zeus will have 11% or more). To unlock all Godly armors and weapons for one allegiance, players will need to ascend six times.

There are five multiplayer modes: Team Favor of the Gods, Match of Champions, Trial of the Gods, Capture the Flag, and Bout of Honor. The "signature" multiplayer mode is Team Favor of the Gods. In this mode, two teams of two to four players—Spartans versus Trojans—attempt to accumulate a target amount of points in order to claim victory. Points, known as Favor, are earned by kills and other methods. When players are not on the offensive, they may help their team earn points by capturing altars, collecting red orbs from chests, and setting traps for opposing players. The non-team version, Match of Champions, is a four to eight player deathmatch with the same goal as Team Favor of the Gods, except no altars are to be captured. Trial of the Gods is a two-player, cooperative, time trial mode. In this mode, players face five increasingly hard waves of mythological monsters, followed by a boss fight, whilst surviving against the clock. A single-player version is also available. In Capture the Flag, the Spartans and Trojans battle to steal the opposing team's flag and return it to their base until a target amount of flags have been captured.Bout of Honor is a new mode added with update patch 1.09 on July 11, 2013. In this one-on-one fight, players test their skills in a best of seven rounds. It is "a true contest of skill with no chests, [health and magic] fountains, or world weapons to aid [players]. This mode also disables relics and allows for a Champion’s magic to [slowly] regenerate over time."
Each multiplayer map is based on a signature God of War location (e.g., Desert of Lost Souls from God of War, Bog of the Forgotten from God of War II, and Labyrinth of Daedalus from God of War III). Every map features several special power-ups awarded by the gods for Favor earned, such as the Boots of Hermes for accelerated speed and running attacks, providing players with a brief advantage.