Gods of War?
Sony Santa Monica presents the very first gameplay footage of God of War Ascension and it's...multiplayer.
Published: April 30, 2012
While the existence of God of War: Ascension might not have been as much of a secret as the folks at Sony Santa Monica would have liked, I can still say I was surprised by the presentation I saw of it a few days ago. They took a bunch of us journalist types, stuck us in a nice theater on a private lot, and screened some actual gameplay footage for the first time. The surprising part? The footage was all multiplayer.
You read right. God of War: Ascension will feature multiplayer.
Now before any of you fly into a frenzy and try to “Take Back God of War”, just keep in mind that the game still has an entire single player experience, and we were assured by the team at Santa Monica that it would remain the title's “bread and butter”. Still, it was surprising that they would choose to unveil the multiplayer first given the nature of the franchise. It shows how much confidence they have in the new mode, and from what I was shown, that confidence isn't without justification.
It's hard not to notice just how much polish went into the multiplayer. Even at this early stage, I found Ascension's visuals to be a step above what I generally expect out of something that will be played online. Textures were detailed, environmental effects were gorgeous and even that epic sense of scope that GoW is known for was more or less in tact. While there may have been significantly fewer things going on at once than during a typical God of War set piece, seeing Spartans and Athenians clash as a giant cyclops rages to struggle free from his chains behind them still gets the blood flowing.
And not just your blood. That cyclops in the back isn't there for show. He's there to be slain, and you have to lead your team in doing it before your opponents do. Two teams of 4 players fight over two control points on the map. When one team manages to control both, a mythical spear hurtles down from the clouds for the controlling team to take. Using the spear to hurl bolts of lightning at opposing team members, you then fight your way to the cyclops. Once there, you engage in a sort of miniboss sequence which ends with a cinematic, and rather gruesome downing of the one eyed beast, who we later learned was actually Polyphemus.
Even when you're fighting other players rather than ancient monsters, Ascension's combat looks every bit as fluid and brutal as you would rightfully expect from a God of War title. Despite being a live demo driven by 8 flesh and blood players, it would have been easy to mistake for single player footage. There seemed to be just as many moves at the players' disposal as in previous entries in the series. Something I really liked is that it seemed to take a solid bit of time to defeat an opponent. A lot of multiplayer games come down to whoever lands the first hit or gets in the first shot. In Ascension, it seems battles can go back and forth a few times before gloriously climaxing with a gory finishing move. Not only will this make each little victory satisfying, but it will help retain the violent, intense vibe that the series is so well known for.
After the presentation we got some details from the games director, Todd Pappy. There will be multiple game modes and somewhere between 5 to 7 maps to play on at launch. Players will choose one of 4 deities to follow and will be awarded special bonuses accordingly. In addition, the now standard lot of perpetual upgrades and unlocks will be offered, allowing you to level up and customize your soldier as you play more and more. All in all, it sounded like exactly what we have come to expect from any game looking to compete in the multiplayer space.
That isn't to say what I saw wasn't of high quality. It was - and quite honestly, I think showing the multiplayer first is a bold move, one I hope doesn't come back to bite them. I can see the logic behind it though. Rather than announce it a couple of months before release and have everyone groan that it's tacked on, show your cards now so everyone can see how much work is being put into it. It really speaks to how seriously they are taking the multiplayer, and I think that's great.
Of course, the other edge of that sword is the possibility it will send the wrong message to fans of the series, who value the single player experience above all else. I could feel the tension in the theater when one press member raised their hand and asked, “Is there going to be single player?” Thankfully, there will be, but if being presented with the multi first made a room full of press wonder about the role of single player in Ascension, you know it's going to make fans wonder too. Many questions remain hanging in the air, not the least of which is, “Where is Kratos?” Something tells me we'll get some single player details at E3 though so sit tight. Until then, at least we know that we'll be able to get all mythological on fools in spectacular fashion over PSN when the game hits in Spring of 2013.
Vince Ingenito is actually the God of War and he's super pissed about not being in any of the games. In lieu of slaughtering 10 story high cyclops, he writes reviews and previews for TotalPlayStation, and vents his epic Greek rage on Twitter as @WK_VGAMS.
You read right. God of War: Ascension will feature multiplayer.
Now before any of you fly into a frenzy and try to “Take Back God of War”, just keep in mind that the game still has an entire single player experience, and we were assured by the team at Santa Monica that it would remain the title's “bread and butter”. Still, it was surprising that they would choose to unveil the multiplayer first given the nature of the franchise. It shows how much confidence they have in the new mode, and from what I was shown, that confidence isn't without justification.
It's hard not to notice just how much polish went into the multiplayer. Even at this early stage, I found Ascension's visuals to be a step above what I generally expect out of something that will be played online. Textures were detailed, environmental effects were gorgeous and even that epic sense of scope that GoW is known for was more or less in tact. While there may have been significantly fewer things going on at once than during a typical God of War set piece, seeing Spartans and Athenians clash as a giant cyclops rages to struggle free from his chains behind them still gets the blood flowing.
And not just your blood. That cyclops in the back isn't there for show. He's there to be slain, and you have to lead your team in doing it before your opponents do. Two teams of 4 players fight over two control points on the map. When one team manages to control both, a mythical spear hurtles down from the clouds for the controlling team to take. Using the spear to hurl bolts of lightning at opposing team members, you then fight your way to the cyclops. Once there, you engage in a sort of miniboss sequence which ends with a cinematic, and rather gruesome downing of the one eyed beast, who we later learned was actually Polyphemus.
Even when you're fighting other players rather than ancient monsters, Ascension's combat looks every bit as fluid and brutal as you would rightfully expect from a God of War title. Despite being a live demo driven by 8 flesh and blood players, it would have been easy to mistake for single player footage. There seemed to be just as many moves at the players' disposal as in previous entries in the series. Something I really liked is that it seemed to take a solid bit of time to defeat an opponent. A lot of multiplayer games come down to whoever lands the first hit or gets in the first shot. In Ascension, it seems battles can go back and forth a few times before gloriously climaxing with a gory finishing move. Not only will this make each little victory satisfying, but it will help retain the violent, intense vibe that the series is so well known for.
After the presentation we got some details from the games director, Todd Pappy. There will be multiple game modes and somewhere between 5 to 7 maps to play on at launch. Players will choose one of 4 deities to follow and will be awarded special bonuses accordingly. In addition, the now standard lot of perpetual upgrades and unlocks will be offered, allowing you to level up and customize your soldier as you play more and more. All in all, it sounded like exactly what we have come to expect from any game looking to compete in the multiplayer space.
That isn't to say what I saw wasn't of high quality. It was - and quite honestly, I think showing the multiplayer first is a bold move, one I hope doesn't come back to bite them. I can see the logic behind it though. Rather than announce it a couple of months before release and have everyone groan that it's tacked on, show your cards now so everyone can see how much work is being put into it. It really speaks to how seriously they are taking the multiplayer, and I think that's great.
Of course, the other edge of that sword is the possibility it will send the wrong message to fans of the series, who value the single player experience above all else. I could feel the tension in the theater when one press member raised their hand and asked, “Is there going to be single player?” Thankfully, there will be, but if being presented with the multi first made a room full of press wonder about the role of single player in Ascension, you know it's going to make fans wonder too. Many questions remain hanging in the air, not the least of which is, “Where is Kratos?” Something tells me we'll get some single player details at E3 though so sit tight. Until then, at least we know that we'll be able to get all mythological on fools in spectacular fashion over PSN when the game hits in Spring of 2013.
Vince Ingenito is actually the God of War and he's super pissed about not being in any of the games. In lieu of slaughtering 10 story high cyclops, he writes reviews and previews for TotalPlayStation, and vents his epic Greek rage on Twitter as @WK_VGAMS.
