The ghost of Sparta has returned for a visceral origin tale that for the most part, slashes in all the right spots.

Playstation’s most enraged poster-boy is back and an unsurprising level of vengeance inevitably ensues. This story operates before all of Kratos’ previous endeavours, portraying the period in which he is desperately seeking to wipe out his blood oath to the god of war; Ares.

God of War: Ascension follows son of Zeus, Kratos, as the ever-frenzied Spartan aims to escape the wrath of three rather unsavoury ladies know as ‘the furies’. The story helps flesh out the source of the original trilogy whilst adding to its’ own narrative body. Although it is the least grabbing of all four games in terms of initial intrigue, it is still engaging enough to keep the action ticking over at pace.

The game admittedly starts at a slower pace than some of its’ predecessors, but this aside it possesses an absolutely immaculate level of presentational quality from the outset. The narrative bounces from past to present throughout and whilst it is initially a touch jarring, once Ascension hits a rhythm, the story it has to tell is thoroughly enjoyable.

One unfortunate issue that any sequel in this series has to bare is the question of scale. As far as size goes, God of War 3 is one of the grandest, most immeasurably large tales imaginable. One mortal’s climb of Mt. Olympus to destroy the gods themselves. Consequently, any sequel following such a tale was always going to feel comparatively less epic. Not to say that Ascension feels dull, as that couldn’t be further from the truth, but unfortunately the game feels decidedly less ambitious than Kratos’ last outing.

Furthermore, the pace of the game is a little less mile-a-minute than as is expected of this series. With a lot less megaton, blockbuster moments and more in the means of smaller skirmishes and mini-bosses, Ascension is slightly slower than it should be at times, which leaves the mid-section of the game feeling slightly bloated.

One domain in which this edition of the Kratos kill-a-thon does not disappoint, is of course combat. Refined to a near flawless efficiency, the white & red warrior feels as lethal as ever. Wielding the deadly blades of chaos, Kratos pirouettes on screen beautifully, with all manner of deadly combos being added to the mixer as the blades are upgraded. Combat here is weighty, brutal and requires a relative level of skill to master. Blocking and dodging are all vital for survival, especially at the higher difficulties.

The level of additions is notably reduced this time around though, as secondary weapons are effectively scrapped in favour of some largely superficial elemental infusions to the main blades.  However, fear not, as the reductionist approach feels nothing other than superbly satisfying throughout. As the game begins to hit the final rush within its’ crescendo, the last thing that feels needed is more weapons, as the ghost with the most is as expected, the perfect killing machine.

Comprising of an 8-hour compendium of the most horrific kills consoles have yet witnessed, Ascension continues the series’ form of wince-inducing gore. In a society as saturated in violence as todays, it is easy to feel desensitised. But if you can honestly feel calm and collected after tearing though the elephantaur’s skull, revealing its’ still active brain as it slowly winds to a halt, please seek help.

It is within this brutality that this games’ most hideous beauty is truly realised. The added graphical might of this game makes it one of the most visceral titles in memory. Ascension is without doubt one of the best-looking third person games of the generation. Ranging from the pores on Kratos’ furious face, to the spewing innards of his enemies, the game is rendered and animated absolutely spectacularly and deserves the utmost appreciation for aesthetic alone.

Events see to it that the protagonist is given a more human dimension than ever before, which is a nice shift after countless murder without remorse. Developer Santa Monica wisely ensure not to pile it on too heavy however, as it may have seemed a tad inconsistent given the nature of the title.

A mention must be given to the rather fun multiplayer system. The system essentially consists of variations of ‘deathmatch’ and ‘capture the flag’ modes, with a few nice twists. Pledging allegiances to one of four gods gives a nice tactical switch up mid-battle and overall the addition adds substance to an already comprehensive package.

God of War: Ascension is an aesthetically remarkable, technically sublime piece of design from the very highest tier of video game production. It may relatively speaking, be the weakest addition to the series in some time, due to its’ comparative lack of ambition and reeled-in scale. But fear not, as these things do not shackle what is an undeniably quality package and more importantly, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. One for the squeamish to avoid and one for the rest to revel in, God of War: Ascension may not be of Olympian scale, but it’s certainly a worthy edition to the son of Zeus’ tale.

© 2013 – 2014, zero1gaming.com. All rights reserved. On republishing this article your must provide a link to this original post