There’s a shortage of epic-scale bosses though beyond the intro and outro – Ascension focuses on the size of the environments rather than Kratos’ foes – and there’re few surprises in the enemy designs. The puzzles are actually quite enjoyable (there’s a couple of head-scratchers but nothing too pace destroying) and the combat as good as it has ever been. It’s a game that attempts to include perhaps too much though.
The Rage meter also plays a tactical part – fill it by landing hits without being hit and you’ll unlock a temporary boost of damage whilst unlocking new moves. There’s still largely a lack of visible contact, though, the Blades flailing around with abandon rather than sticking to enemies as they circle the player, but there’s enough variety in the movesets now with the elements that just having the one main weapon doesn’t actually feel that restrictive – indeed, you actually become quite attached to them before the game finishes. Kratos will now automatically attack upwards, for instance, and switching between attacks and combos feels more fluid. Rather, Ascension focuses on players upgrading the Blades’ four elemental attributes, which can be switched at will and form a simple binary battle system where players can learn which element works best against which enemy.Ĭombat feels familiar, but tweaked. You can pick up a few real-world, short term items like swords and spears, but they’re always ancillary rather than part of your arsenal. Kratos only has his Blades, and there are only three abilities to gain, one of which is only used just once or twice at the very end. For example, Kratos gains the ability to repair and break certain large-scale items and structures in the environment, which leads to a couple of interesting puzzles, and there’s a second-half mechanic that, whilst a little under-used, offers up a cute way for players to get some assistance.īut this is a stripped down, rather more grounded God of War. There’s enough in the way of new features to keep things interesting, and enough subtleties to the combat to make it feel fresh whilst adhering to the formula we know so well. You see, whilst Ascension doesn’t ever threaten to really subvert everything we know about the series, we wouldn’t want it to. Does it make a massive difference to the gameplay? Nope. Is Kratos less powerful than he becomes later in the series? Yes.
#GOD OF WAR ASCENSION PSP UPGRADE#
Your blades still whizz around, the upgrade path remains familiar and the introduction of magic touches to your Blades Of Chaos (the only main weapon) is hardly a shock. That said, whilst the story will be fresh enough, it should be obvious enough that if you’ve played the first God of War, Ascension needs to end with largely a blank slate – no spoilers, but don’t be expecting to take any new-found buddies past the credits screen.Īnd although this game is set before Kratos was a god, despite a couple of minor tweaks to the control method (circle’s now used for secondary, temporary weapons you find littering the floor, for example) Ascension plays exactly as you’d expect it to do.
“don’t be expecting to take any buddies past the credits screen” This might be a younger, mortal Kratos, but he’s still deadly and just as capable of slicing and dicing. There’s a nice little sidestep or two with the chronological order here, but don’t arrive hoping for something deep and meaningful – that would dilute what these games are about and, quite frankly, any nuances would get lost among the fury and destruction. This is means-to-an-end storytelling, an exposition thin with details in order to keep the plot advancing down the same linear route they always do.
#GOD OF WAR ASCENSION PSP PSP#
This is still very much the same God of War game as the rest of them on the surface, but there’s also a glimpse of the personable angle seen in the PSP games here, and it’s actually most welcome.ĭon’t go in expecting Heavy Rain, or anything deep, of course.
#GOD OF WAR ASCENSION PSP PS3#
If you’re a fan of the series, Santa Monica’s latest (and last) PS3 God Of War game hardly strays far from the beaten path, but does at least attempt to inject a little bit of diversity into the story.Ī little. But is there room for another entry in Kratos’ story? Sony seem to think so, shoehorning Ascension in before every other game in the series, and creating something of a foundation for everything that happens afterwards.
Thankfully, there’s nothing else as glaringly problematic, the rest of Ascension plays nicely enough.
0 kommentar(er)
