god of war ascension

PlayStation Now Demo: Running God of War: Ascension on PS Vita (video)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 8, 2014 | 0 comments

PlayStation Now was announced earlier today as the evolution of Gaikai, the video game streaming company Sony purchased nearly two years ago. The service will come to the PS3 and PS4 in late Summer, followed by the PlayStation Vita and will allow gamers to either rent games or subscribe to some form of package, a la Netflix style. This new service from Sony will also open the door for the PS4 to play all those PS3 exclusive games like The Last of Us and God of War: Ascension. With any video streaming service, latency can be an issue so the results have to be disastrous for games right?

To our delight, the result couldn’t be further from the truth. After the jump, we gave PlayStation Now a spin on the PS Vita and played God of War: Ascension, a demanding game to say the least and were amazed with the outcome.

Should You Buy ‘God of War: Ascension?’ – Single Player

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 29, 2013 | 0 comments

So you might be wondering to yourself, why are we just now giving a God of War: Ascension a review. To better answer that, I’ll first give you a bit of a back story. Most websites tend to receive titles for review weeks before the game’s release date so they can spend proper time with the title and comply with any given embargoes out there. While our site wasn’t in line to get a review unit way in advance, we were still going to receive a unit for review a week prior to the game’s release. Long story short, due to a shipping mishap, we were not able to get our unit for review till 10 days after the game’s release. By then of course, every major and minor site had shared their take on the game. Soon, the game’s first week and second week sales, which are highly important and often based on the surrounding reviews, were to be announced as well. At this point, I had an important decision to make. Do I release our review and just follow the pack or hold off and find a more meaningful time to share our God of War: Ascension review?

As you can tell, I opted for the latter scenario. Despite a large part of a game’s sales taking place during the first month, a great many of gamers tend to not be able to play a given title till months down the line. Be it bad timing with their lives or the holdouts who want to get in on the action at a better price and that’s who I want to talk with. This means that while the hype for God of War: Ascension might be done by now, there are still thousands of holdouts who have not purchased and played the game. With the summer gaming lull soon to kick into full affect (minus The Last of Us), it’s time to answer the question. Should you buy God of War: Ascension for its single player campaign?

God of War: Ascension Update 1.03 Out Today

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 26, 2013 | 0 comments

God of War: Ascension Update 1.03

Are you enjoying God of War: Ascension so far? Good, because it’s a mega-epic-fantabular game. As you can tell, I haven’t at all enjoyed my time in ancient Greece with Kratos and company. The game, which has officially been out for two weeks, is getting another round of updates, designed to address community concerns that the “Trial of Archimedes” section (Chapter 28) near the end of the game was excessively challenging. According to Sony:

In every God of War game, establishing a well-paced difficulty ramp towards the end of the game is paramount to us. Based on player response, the degree of challenge offered here was short of our goal of being perfectly balanced.

With the latest update, at the end of each elevator switch (which is three for those playing at home), you will now receive a measured amount of green health orbs and a nominal amount of blue magic orbs. The given changes will also be affecting all difficulty settings. Sony Santa Monica Studios added:

We are confident this revision will address feedback regarding “Trial of Archimedes” while still preserving the level of challenge appropriate for this late section of the game.

While a bit of a controversy surrounds that fix change, i.e. does this take away something for those who were able to beat the stage without the extra orbs, the additional add-ons from the God of War: Ascension Update 1.03 will be welcomed ones. More on that after the jump.

Sony Santa Monica Addresses ‘God of War: Ascension’ Audio Issue

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 16, 2013 | 1 comment

If you’ve been experiencing some audio issues in the God of War: Ascension single player campaign, you’re not alone. Though not wide spread, Sony Santa Monica has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix. The primary culprit seems to be when running the game in 5.1 surround directly to your television via HDMI. Sony recommend that you adjust your in game setting to stereo as your TV cannot perform 5.1 anyways.

Running HDMI to a receive with your game set to 5.1 surround should not cause any issues. After the jump, Sony’s comment on the matter.

LITERAL God of War: Ascension Trailer – Hilarity Ensues

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 12, 2013 | 2 comments

If you didn’t know, a new God of War game is out this week and once again follows the story of Kratos. Much more than before, Sony Santa Monica has placed an emotional touch to the story of Kratos and the burden of the accidental death of his wife and daughter by his own hands. Leave it to the internet and more specially, Toby from Tobuscus, to have a slightly different take on the trailer. If you’ve got two minutes, then you’re in for a treat.

Will You Be Purchasing God of War: Ascension? [Poll]

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 12, 2013 | 2 comments

March 12th will be an important day for two very different reasons for two very different groups. With the resignation of the Pope in full effect, today begins the internal process of the Cardinals from the Vatican who will meet and vote on the next Pope who will lead his fellow Catholics for the foreseeable future. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum and a date that had been determined for some time, gamers will finally get their hands on the next chapter of the PlayStation-exclusive franchise, God of War. The 4th console game and 6th in the series, God of War: Ascension once again places you in control of Kratos and is set before those of Chains of Olympus, about ten years before the original God of War. We’ll be having our own multi-part review shortly, covering the game’s single player adventure and multiplayer aspect, a first for the franchise separately. All this begs the question: now that God of War: Ascension has ascended into retailers, are you planning on purchasing the latest from Sony Santa Monica?

Extended God of War: Ascension Super Bowl Trailer

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 3, 2013 | 0 comments

The Sony hype machine continues to build anticipation for the 4th console-bound GoW title, God of War: Ascension. Set for release on March 12th, 2013, GoW: A is the first in the series to embrace multiplayer while also offering the traditional linear single player campaign. If fans didn’t know there was a new game nearing release before, they will now as Sony has aired their latest God of War commercial during the Super Bowl, ensuring that millions and millions of people will see it.

Without further ado, after the jump, the extended God of War: Ascension Super Bowl trailer. Fan of GoW? Be sure to check out the God of War: Ascension Manticore creation process.

Todd Papy Walks You Through God of War: Ascension Manticore Creation Process

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 31, 2013 | 0 comments

One of the perks of being a movie buff is getting your hands on the Blu-ray version of a film and enjoying the rich behind the scenes that can come with titles. This not only can be a fun retrospective of how a movie comes together, but also a learning experience for those eager to get into the industry. The video game industry is no different with droves of would-be game developers wanting to know more about the process that it takes to create a game. And unlike a film, a given process in a game can change dramatically from the inception to the gold build.

After the jump, Todd Papy, Game Director of God of War: Ascension walks you through a in depth video from the inception of the Manticore flight to the final outcome.

God of War: Ascension Multi-player Video and Gallery

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 12, 2012 | 1 comment

Despite being revealed over a month ago, God of War: Ascension was still one of the most popular titles at E3. Featuring Kratos once again, the story takes place before events depicted on PSP GoW titles which already were set before God of War 1. Till now, Sony had only revealed details about the game’s multi-player which features 4 v 4 PVP action, pitting Spartans and Trojans against each other.

With the exclusive PS3 title being displayed prominently at E3, we had a chance to take the multi-player part of the game for a spin with help from Emily Berger, the Associate Technical Artist on God of War: Ascension. Fans of the series will quickly feel at home with the game’s brutal combat system which is as vibrant as ever with a similar layout as previous titles. Other staple features like treasure chests, scaling, and even larger monsters like the Cyclops are equally present with more polish than ever. In fact, the game’s multi-player manages to look even better than God of War 3, clearly showing Santa Monica Studios’ talent at mastering the PlayStation 3 and pushing the game engine further. After the jump, our video preview and image gallery await you.

God of War 4 vs. Heavenly Sword 2 (poll)

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 19, 2012 | 10 comments

Now that the cat is out of the bag and it has been revealed that Sony’s surprise blockbuster title is God of War: Ascension, a prequel to all the other God of War games, the question that we ask you is, are you happy with the announcement? Looking at across the board, it’s hard to find anyone dissatisfied with such news, especially seeing how all five previous God of War titles have been met with critical acclaim. Still, some were hoping for a Heavenly Sword sequel, a PS3 exclusive launch game which was developed by Ninja Theory, the folks behind the new DMC game and Oddessy: A Journey to the West. And while getting to control Kratos once again will be a bloody good time, a new entry to GoW is a no brainer in terms of financial incentive for Sony and quality game for gamers so a surprise Heavenly Sword 2 game would have been a more left field choice which truly deserved a sequel, especially after the games ending. So weigh in on our poll and share your thoughts with us, after the jump.

God Of War: Ascension Trailer And Art Leaked

by Jan Hutchings | Apr 18, 2012 | 20 comments

A product page found on Amazon pretty much reveals Sony’s upcoming “Surprise” game announcement and it’s called God of War: Ascension. As well, the trailer was leaked earlier today and instantly went viral. Well, it wasn’t so much a surprise since most people thought God of War as soon as Sony released the teaser poster.

The leaked trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, but proceeds to tell us that this new game is a prequel of sorts. A time before Kratos became the Ghost of Sparta, and even before the Chains of Olympus. However, the trailer’s art and narration does tell us that the game will be as bloody and as violent as before, only with a Kratos that’s not bound to the God’s will.

Perhaps it tells the story of his past adventures as the Spartan warrior before madness and obsession with victory consumed him, prompting him to make the deal with Ares the God of War. We’ll find out more from Sony soon. For now check out the trailer after the break.