PS3 Review: God of War: Ascension

God of War: Ascension has everything going for it. It builds on an established character and mythology, and its beautiful graphics and lavish orchestral soundtrack demonstrate sky-high production values. In spite of this, however, a combination of missteps in design and problems carried over from previous games means that, although Ascension is fun to play, it’s rather difficult to get excited about.

Ascension’s story is its biggest problem in this respect. You never feel like there’s a good reason for doing the things you’re doing. Rather than resolving the cliff-hanger ending of God of War 3, Ascension is instead a prequel centred around Kratos’ previously unmentioned quest to kill The Furies and break his bond with Ares. The premise is simple, but the execution is muddled, and padded with poorly explained MacGuffin hunts. Unlike previous instalments in the series, Ascension has few recognisable characters from Greek mythology, and the story feels bland as a result. Even Kratos himself is curiously muted throughout. While rarely sympathetic in previous games, Kratos’ unbridled rage was definitely compelling. Here, however, he doesn’t seem angry, or even especially interested. Following his journey in Ascension, it’s hard not to feel the same.

Despite his aloofness throughout the narrative, Kratos is still a vicious protagonist, and combat remains the God of War series’ biggest draw. Unfortunately, Ascension makes many ill advised changes to the series’ solid combat mechanics. The need to tap two buttons to parry proves fiddly, and I ended up barely using it throughout the campaign as a result. Rage of Sparta is harder to build up and less useful when deployed, making it more of a bonus for strong players than a lifeline for weak ones as it was in the past. Magic can no longer be upgraded, and is de-emphasised to the point that the game can be completed without even acquiring more than one spell. To compensate, Kratos has the ability to disarm enemies and use their weapons. It’s a nice touch, but the Blades of Chaos’ brutal, balletic grace remains such a pleasure that you probably won’t be tempted to experiment much.

Combat is only as good as the enemies you face, of course, and the new designs are detailed and imaginative, even if fighting an ‘elephantaur’ does feel awfully similar to fighting a minotaur. Plenty of effort has evidently been lavished on the enemy’s gruesome death sequences, but for all their desperation to shock they just feel unnecessary. It’s refreshing, though, that the quick time events that precede them are often ‘prompt free’, with Kratos executing stabs and dodges under the direct control of the player. This is an interesting idea, and one I hope Sony Santa Monica expand upon in future God of War games.

The puzzles in Ascension break the game up nicely, keeping combat from becoming too stale. Their solutions are obvious, but they are creatively designed and satisfying to complete. Ascension's new items are also good, adding flavour to its puzzles and combat alike. The amulet of Uroboros, which allows Kratos to fix huge, damaged structures, or suspend enemies in mid air, is a personal favourite.

Like its predecessors, God of War: Ascension is big on spectacle. Kratos can swing across ravines and slide down sheer drops, and this is often integrated with the series’ trademark enormous boss battles to great effect. There remains the question of player agency, though, which has dogged the God of War series since its inception. Ascension, perhaps more so than in any previous game in the series, can feel like it’s playing itself when Kratos pulls off his most impressive feats, your input being little more than responding to a button prompt in time. However, there’s no denying that these set pieces are exhilarating in the moment. It’s frustrating, though, that when the player does get direct control in these sequences, the camera often zooms so far out that the action becomes difficult to follow.

Sliding looks silly, but proves to be more fun than it has any business being (Picture: God of War: Ascension)

God of War: Ascension’s release has been beset by dual controversies, and it seems appropriate to briefly comment on both issues, since they impacted my enjoyment of the game itself.

First, there is the Trials of Archimedes, imminently receiving a patch due to balance issues. This section sees Kratos facing three waves of  progressively more powerful enemies in three increasingly dangerous arenas, with no health or magic power-ups beyond those dropped by defeated foes. This is indeed a very frustrating section, and speaks to Sony Santa Monica’s tendency to pit you against several enemies at a time, their sheer numbers making up for how unthreatening they are individually. This has been a problem throughout the whole God of War series. However, while in previous instalments, multiple enemies could be dealt with using a combination of spamming magic and judicious parrying, due to the above-mentioned changes, this is no longer  effective in Ascension. This being the case, the patch is probably welcome. I must admit, though, that I didn’t find the Trials of Archimedes quite as badly balanced as its hasty patching would seem to imply. That Sony Santa Monica continues their crude approach to challenge from previous God of War games, though, is a real issue, and clearly one that can only be addressed with fundamental changes in the design of future games in the series.

The other controversy that has enveloped Ascension is more nefarious. At a certain point in the campaign, the player receives a trophy called ‘Bros Before Hos’.  This is doubtlessly misogynistic, and it’s probably for the best that this was patched after pre-release criticism from reviewers. The new name, ‘Bros Before Foes’, not only dials back the misogyny, but is also quite a funny play on words. Those claiming that the name is justified by the context are, in my opinion, missing the point that the phrase is offensive in any context. Some have also argued that Kratos is not exactly a feminist icon, and that changing the name is therefore unnecessary. The difference is that when Kratos behaves in a misogynistic way, it’s a fictional character that is doing it, but it’s a real person who writes the names of the trophies.

God of War: Ascension adds little to the series' established formula or lore, while actually changing some aspects for the worse. It’s a good, solid game that’s worth playing, but you can never shake the sense that it’s going through the motions, and that the next true instalment in the franchise is still to come.

7/10