God of War: Ascension takes Kratos back farther than any game has before, but suffers from issues along the way.
Basically, the premise follows Kratos attempting to break the oath he made with Ares on that fateful battlefield shown in the first game. It also delves into Kratos mind and feelings involving his family. So does it live up to the great games the series has produced so far? Well, not really, but all isn't bad.
The fundamentals of God of War are all here so I'm not going to give a rundown of them. If this is your first GoW title, the game will tutorial you into it. Some of the changes through are really how it approaches combat and magic.
First off, you obtain your powers from mystical fires forged with each god. This isn't too far off from what's been done before. Each directional pad movement allows you to change which type you want to use. You also have a rage meter that builds up. Once your rage is build up, it unlocks different moves and allows you to execute specific attacks by hitting L3 and R3. You still have magic, but you need to upgrade in order to obtain the powers and different moves.
Aside from that, you obtain three unique relics that help you with combat and puzzle along the way. One relic allows you to decay or heal objects, creating unique possibilities while another creates a duplicate of yourself. These make for some challenging puzzles based around these relics. I struggled several times with certain puzzles before completing them.
Of course, it goes without saying to mention the multiplayer. Once again, we have a game which has never had multiplayer having it forced on it. There are several types of matches, some to fight players, others to team up with them. You even have the choice of a God to represent you. Ultimately, however, the characters are clunky and sluggish as opposed to the rapid fire speed of Kratos himself. This makes the combat a chore more than something to rave about. In the end, I just couldn't find a real reason to play it very much.
Visually, we're looking at the same quality of God of War III which is some of the highest quality that the Playstation 3 is capable of. The game is fluid and fast. There are some reused monsters as usual, but you have some new ways to dispatch them which breaks up the monotony a bit. The boss fights are incredibly epic and near on par with God of War III.
The sound design is actually quite subdued. Music really only pumps up during the epic fights and stays pretty quiet during sequences like solving puzzles. Vocal work is solid and Kratos' character this time is a much more somber individual. There really isn't that many characters as opposed to other God of War games. Most of it is contained with the Furies.
Value is pretty much what you would expect from a God of War game. It's about 8-10 hours of solid single player with a New Game + option. However, older modes like Trial of the Gods have been replaced with the multiplayer component which I don't care very much for.
Overall, it's not a bad game. It still oozes the quality the God of War series is known for. However, if you've played the other five games: the trilogy, Chains of Olympus, and Ghost of Sparta, you really wonder if this game is necessary. True, it provides insight into the character of Kratos we haven't seen before, but it doesn't feel like it moves the series forward like other games. Truthfully, I always thought Kratos was bound to Ares until the end of the first God of War anyways. Ultimately, I might advise for players to wait for this to drop in price. You're not missing anything with the multiplayer and the story will really only interest those already invested in the series.
The Good: Combat has been refined considerably, wonderful visuals and sound, epic boss fights, new abilities create interesting puzzle situations.
The Bad: Dull multiplayer, lackluster story at times.