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Who else thought that God of War: Ascension is the absolute worst mainline GoW?

Sid

Member
So I recently finished my second playthrough of the game and I think this game just doesn't have the 'epicness' of the previous GoW games especially GoW 3 and here's why:-

->The storyline in this game is absolute bullshit and the way it's told it's easily the worst of the series by a mile,the storylines of GoW 1,2 and 3 just shat on this one.

->Lack of epic boss fights like Hercules,Poseidon,Colossus etc.

->The marketing fluff hyped this up as a game to show a more human side to Kratos instead he was completely emotionless akin to a cardboard cutout.

->The combat is worse than GoW 3,no alternate weapons like the Cestus and the encounter design is quite possibly the worst of the series.That fucking Rage meter just ruins everything and now most of the time we're left with such a limited moveset to build up the damn thing that it's not even funny and then it goes *poof* (if not upgraded)after a single hit by one of those cheap goatmen or gets halved if upgraded and goes off with a second consecutive hit which is terrible as well.

->Recycled enemies from GoW 3 out the wazoo.

->This game was so unnecessary storyline wise that it could have easily been a Vita title,the fans expected Kratos' Ascension from a Spartan General to a potential god slayer and those 3 blood deeds to be playable since they are so pivotal to his character development but I guess that made too much sense for SSM.BTW for all their 'focus' on the story Ascension has a major plot hole.

->Focus on MP at the expense of SP,just look at the leap from GoW 1 to GoW 2 or GoW:CoO to GoW:GoS which improved on everything,here it's a massive downgrade from GoW 3 in every area bar the locale variety and graphics.They added in so many puzzles to an already short game just to pad up the length it seems.

->An oft requested character like the last Gorgon Stheno is only in the MP but she is a running non canon joke by now so I guess that's OK.

->The final level was mostly 'on rails' and it even reused a section from GoS' intro.

What do you guys think?

Now before anyone gets mad by reading this
like CartridgeBlower,read this post from this very own thread

Everything,I looked back after finishing it and compared it to the other ones and well this it.I hadn't played a GoW game in a while before playing Ascension so I said that a bit early.
 
Yeah.

Just doesn't seem as fun. I think it's the combat for me, combined with the extremely aggressive and damage sponge-y enemies. The puzzles I didn't mind so much.

Oh, and the trials can suck shit.
 

Manus

Member
The combat is what soured me on this game and making it my least favorite in the franchise. Screw the rage meter.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
It's my favorite in the franchise after 2. Best boss fights and puzzles in the series, and actual environmental variety coming off of 3. Epic scale through areas like the statue, similar to locales in GoW2 like the Steeds of Time.

I'm still back and forth on the combat changes themselves, but at its best with full rage meter Kratos feels incredibly powerful. The parry is the biggest thing I don't like.
 
I thought it was fantastic, finished it this morning. I thought the platforming and puzzling was better than the rest, the story was on par (the story, or rather the story telling, has never been a strong suite for any of them), and the combat was great fun (but I don't dig into the 1000 hit combos or anything like that, nor do I enjoy games like DMC etc). Really really liked it, would take more in a heartbeat.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I dunno, I kind of enjoyed the more subdued nature of the story telling. It somehow felt a bit less hokey in the end.

It has a ton of variety, some interesting combat changes, and plenty of great set piece arenas to fight in.
 

LastNac

Member
So I recently finished my second playthrough of the game and I think this game just doesn't have the 'epicness' of the previous GoW games especially GoW 3 and here's why:-

->The storyline in this game is absolute bullshit and the way it's told it's easily the worst of the series by a mile,the storylines of GoW 1 and 2 just shat on this one.

->Lack of epic boss fights like Hercules,Poseidon,Colossus etc.

->The marketing fluff hyped this up as a game to show a more human side to Kratos instead he was completely emotionless akin to a cardboard cutout.

->The combat is worse than GoW 3,no alternate weapons like the Cestus and the encounter design is quite possibly the worst of the series.

->Recycled enemies from GoW 3 out the wazoo.

->This game was so unnecessary storyline wise that it could have easily been a Vita title,the fans expected Kratos' Ascension from a Spartan General to a potential god slayer and those 3 blood deeds to be playable since they are so pivotal to his character development but I guess that made too much sense for SSM.BTW for all their 'focus' on the story Ascension has a major plot hole.

->Focus on MP at the expense of SP,just look at the leap from GoW 1 to GoW 2 or GoW:CoO to GoW:GoS which improved on everything,here it's a massive downgrade from GoW 3 in every area bar the locale variety and Graphics.They added in so many puzzles to an already short game just to pad up the length it seems.

->An oft requested character like the last Gorgon Stheno is only in the MP but she is a running non canon joke by now so I guess that's OK.

->The final level was mostly 'on rails' and it even reused a section from GoS' intro.

What do you guys think?

Wait a minute...
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=50004525&postcount=2039

What happened bro?
 
It's a 7/10

then again, so was GoW3. They both have elements I wish the other one had(GoW3's combat, item system vs GoWA's puzzles, environments). They both have some very good stretches(the middle three hours of GoW3, the last half of GoWA), but in my mind they're both slick if forgettable entries in the franchise.

All hail God of War II
 

njean777

Member
If I could actually play it I would tell you what I think about it. I know it is the buggiest game I have ever tried to play.
 

LastNac

Member
Everything,I looked back after finishing it and compared it to the other ones and well this it.I hadn't played a GoW game in a while before playing Ascension so I said that a bit early.


Mainline.

On its own merrits how do you like it?
 

Derrick01

Banned
I put it ahead of 1 when I put my review in the OT but I think I wasn't being fair to just how amazing GoW1 was for its time. That game left a lasting impression on me for a few years, whereas Ascension is a completely forgettable game. Yeah I think it's the worst console God of War now. It's still slightly better than the mediocre PSP games though.
 

parazen

Neo Member
If you got a 100 people to play Ascension, and those people had never played God of War before. And if they rated it, on average, at around 8/10 - then I think you could empirically say that GoW:A was the worst.

However, I'm not positive that they wouldn't give it 9s.
 

LastNac

Member
Honestly, it is probably my favorite. I love the presentation and think it is the best in the series in that regard. I love the change they have made to the "A-Typical" QTE segments and really prefer the "attack and dodge" and I also love the details they added. I have noticed that Kratos now will visuall follow enemies with his gaze, even looking up at the faces of centaurs.

It edges past GoW3(which I always felt peaked early) in my opinion as my favorite.
 

LastNac

Member
If you got a 100 people to play Ascension, and those people had never played God of War before. And if they rated it, on average, at around 8/10 - then I think you could empirically say that GoW:A was the worst.

However, I'm not positive that they wouldn't give it 9s.

Dat double negative.
 
It's astonishingly boring. I think a lot of it is just how dated the mechanics feel now, but devs seem to have focused on scale rather than progressing the ideas. Kratos has become boring, the story is atrocious - actually nonsensical, and terribly written - and the whole thing is tired. I'm a big fan of the first three games, and this one... I'm just really bored. Trading it in this week. No time to play something this dull.
 
Everything,I looked back after finishing it and compared it to the other ones and well this it.I hadn't played a GoW game in a while before playing Ascension so I said that a bit early.


Mainline.
CoO is just as mainline as Ascension. Platform is irrelevant.
 
While I'd probably agree with the OP that the story's the weakest in the series... is a dedicated thread necessary as opposed to the OT?
 

Sephzilla

Member
Opinions for GOW:A seem to be all over the place.

I'll have to play it and see, I'm also one of those crazy people who prefer GOW3 over GOW1 (but 2 is best, no question).
 
GOW 3 is worse,

Ascension has the worst beginning but it picks up and gets better along the way

GOW 3 however goes down the stinker, especially in the giant wooden crate levels late in the game
 

TentPole

Member
Absolutely. I would even put the second PSP game above it. I consider the campaign actively bad.

But, the multiplayer is pretty cool.
 

AngryMoth

Member
Didn't buy it as GoW3 was an enormous let down to me and this game seems completely unnecessary. Not surprised at all by this reception. Hope whatever the rest of SSM is working on is more worthwhile.
 

KingK

Member
I haven't finished it yet but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's much more consistent than GoW3 so far, but I haven't gotten to anything that "wowed" me quite as much as Posiden or Cronos in GoW3. I really like the environments and puzzle design a lot more in this one and think it rivals GoW2 in that regard.

I'm withholding final judgement, but I think it's definitely a worthy entry and on par with the others regardless of where it falls in my rankings.
 
I put it ahead of 1 when I put my review in the OT but I think I wasn't being fair to just how amazing GoW1 was for its time. That game left a lasting impression on me for a few years, whereas Ascension is a completely forgettable game. Yeah I think it's the worst console God of War now. It's still slightly better than the mediocre PSP games though.

reverse-1312893219_what.gif


Ghost of Sparta is anything but mediocre. Damn great game.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
GoW3 was great but had bad level design, it was all going up the mountain... down the drain... up the mountain... rinse and repeat. Its levels kind of went through the shitter after Hades.

Ghost of Sparta, now, I fucking loved that game. I wished this was GoW3, with its native Ps3 tech and treatment. I love Atlantis as a setting in general. There were few boss fights, but those in there were amazing. The tag battle was cool.

Ascension I have not played beyond the demo but what I played felt as the worst GoW game to me. I didn't like the weapon system and encounters. Then reviews said the pace doesn't really pick up until far into the game. So, I'm willing to guess Ascension is the worst mainline GoW.
 
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