God of War: Ascension is an action-adventure prequel in which Kratos, imprisoned and tortured by the Furies for breaking his blood oath to Ares, must escape the prison of the Hecatonchires. The campaign was completed through its credits, closing out the original six games.
The PS3 presentation is stunning for the hardware, with cloth simulation, seamless cutscene-to-gameplay transitions and visuals significantly better than God of War II. The auto-climb traversal removes the need to mash the jump button.
The elemental weapon system binds fire, ice, lightning and the souls of Hades to the Blades of Chaos, with the lightning’s crack sound design praised. The rage meter fills faster with fire, rewarding element-switching.
The story sheds light on Kratos’s origin and his oath to Ares, and the boss fights are pretty cool. The amulet of Orkos lets Kratos decay and heal objects to control time for puzzles, and the ranged grab is a nice addition.
The weapon variety is the weakest in the series, since the only dedicated weapon is the Blades with different elements, and the disposable pick-ups have a single attack pattern. The Hades-element de-aggro bug in the furnace forces rooms to be redone.
The camera pans out at the worst moments, making it hard to know where the character is among multiple enemies. Frame-rate drops on fire effects and PS3 load times are the hardware’s biggest compromises.
Overall, the PS3 visuals, the elemental combat and the origin-story framing make God of War: Ascension very good. The camera, the thin weapon variety and the hardware compromises are the caveats.