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

I found Ghost Of Sparta to be too gloomy and dark always in caves in darkness. I hate catacombs

GOW2 is my favorite GOW due to it's level designs, progression and sunlight
 
I thought it was really boring.

A game with no story doesn't bother me too much but the amount of time you spend just wandering around in silence was really weird.

I guess I needed just a little motivation to kill all this stuff.
 
Since this game isn't called GOW4, can it really be considered mainline? If you haven't played this, will a sequel on PS4 throw you off from the story much?

I actually think the series just needs a reboot, as the story is pretty much over in GOW3. I never expected this to be anything but a refinement the GOW3's engine, and that's what it is. Some people like the tune ups, some don't. But I dont' considered anything with a sub-titled name a main entry in the series.

But just adding all the title up, I had to force myself to finish GOW3, it was amazing to look at, but I don't get the hype for that game, got really boring for me mid-way through.

I think this will top GOW3 for me personally, just a hunch. First two are still the best.
 
I found Ghost Of Sparta to be too gloomy and dark always in caves in darkness. I hate catacombs

GOW2 is my favorite GOW due to it's level designs, progression and sunlight

That's a fair point. I thought the only thing holding GoS back were the technical capabilities of the PSP. If I had to rank them it would be something like this.

GoS = GOW2 > GOW3 > GOW: A > GOW1 > CoO

The fist game has a great story but I don't think the gameplay/level design has aged very well. There are just too many waves of enemies and to few boss fights.
 
I agree. Rather disappointed in it. Can't believe it really. As my favourite series, this one is a big let down. I mean it's still good but it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

Needed less climbing also. Too much of it. It's like Santa Monica were so proud that they "evolved" it over the others, that it needed to be in every sequence. It's not Uncharted and shouldn't be turned into it. I think by trying to freshen the series up, they may have botched it all up the process.

Poor range of enemies/not enough combat opportunities. Lack of bosses and too many puzzles thanks to the new game mechanics they added.

Ah well, onwards and upwards on PS4 hopefully.
 
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Ghost of Sparta is anything but mediocre. Damn great game.

It's Derrick. How often does he like a game?
 
I don't know what Ready at Dawn has been working on the last 3 years but I would like to see them try their hand at making a GOW game on the PS4.
 

Jarlaxle

Member
I might try it one day but I find all of the hate for GoW3 disturbing.

I loved that game and it's my favorite of the series. The pacing just felt so right. I really enjoyed the whole package.
 

see5harp

Member
I don't mind the combat, but it does feel stale at this point. Graphics are great but music is barely present or memorable. The worst thing ever in this series is when they pull back like hundreds of feet to give the player a sense of scale and still expect you to be playing. It was a neat trick once but to do it multiple times in the few first levels cheapens those experiences. I really with they just got rid of the QTE's....the punch out sequences get rid of some but those are less involved than Infinity Blade from a mechanics POV.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I honestly wonder if this wasn't a Vita title in the planning stages and they just got cold feet and moved it to PS3.
 
Typical Gaf hyperbole hate. I am in Ch.15 and am really having a blast. I like how this one is little more puzzle focused with bad ass fights in between. Not sure where I rank it amongst the other games but it far from the piece of shit everyone is making it out to be.
 
It starts out poorly, but definitely picks up towards the midpoint. The combat feels less useless with more upgrades, the settings are gorgeous and imaginative and the boss fights improve. It's a great game that just needs time to warm up with you, since they do fundamentally change the combat.
 
I judged it already when they announced it was going to be just a prequel. And the demo sealed the deal, the game felt bland and uninspired. I cancelled my pre-order.
 
Yeah I havent finished it yet but it feels like a junior team at ssm worked on it. I just made it to the delphi's templw and I have no clue what kratos is doing there. Also some of the camera angles were just horrible. I am typing on phone, so I cant say much, but I agree with you op
 

double jump

you haven't lived until a random little kid ask you "how do you make love".
my biggest complaint is when they announced that this was a prequel, I thought we were going back to days when kratos was just a spartan solider and how he rose up to become the bad ass he is at the start gow 1.
 

AAK

Member
Definitely the best in the series simply because of the core combat. It's no longer button mashing friendly. The new parry and rage of the gods mechanics prevent you from taking advantage of just pressing [] again and again until you see the animation of the horizontal slash and then press /\ to get that max damage dial combo ender. You have to EARN that combo by building your rage of the gods meter. You can just fuzzy block anymore and fish for a counter/parry. Now you have to COMMIT to the parry like an akido character in a fighting game and if you miss you will get punished. It's rewards skillful play and even though the boss fights aren't as varied as GOW2, not as epic as GOW3, and the enemy variety is probably the slimmest out of the console versions, and the narrative isn't as timeless as GOW1... the advancements in the core fighting made this experience so much more memorable than the others.

The fights this time are way more intense and I get a massive sense of accomplishment once doing them. Only thing that was way too easy was the last boss though unfortunately.

As for the epic scale, it definitely compares to GOW3. The spectacle during the last boss was 10x more than what Zues offered in GOW3... but its arguable to say that Chronos is still the greatest WOW moment in the series.

One thing though, this game is definitely longer than GOW3 and equals GOW2 when it comes to game length and variety of locals. The lack of the new weapons is easily remedied by the fact that changing the elements to your blades of chaos gives you access to new moves that you can also switch to in real time. And then people also forget about the awesome secondary weapon mechanic that you can choose between a sword, spear, shield, flail, and a club. And with each of these, they can be included in your combo's in conjunction with the blades of chaos giving more combinations and moves than any other GOW game before And simultaneously there are the amulet and orkos stone things that do wonders to bring variety in the gameplay too.

And lastly, the Puzzles in this game are reminiscent of ICO and are VERY well done. The puzzles sometimes weren't very obvious and figuring them out was a rewarding experience indeed.

GOWA>GOW3=GOW2>GOW1
 
can't hide my disappointment for this game. It's not 'terrible', but the single-player is a hit and miss affair that took a day to finish, as well as being buggy and poorly tested. Multiplayer is eight burly guys running around an arena playing the most furious game of Rock Paper Scissors ever. It's got some great points but I'd expect more from such a triple-A studio.

also: Trials of Archimedes are the least of the game's problems. You'll get through that shit after a few goes. It's actually a welcome point of interest in a game full of drab puzzles, poor framerate, remixed enemies from III, occasionally bad camera, barebones plot, audio and gameplay glitches and disappointing lack of bosses.
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
The combat was so monotonous that I wondered why people don't give God of War more shit than Dynasty Warriors. I hit triangle more in those games than I did in Ascension.

But I finished 1, 2, and 3, so it couldn't have been as bad as it was ehre.
 

ss_lemonade

Member
Is it just me or is the game harder than previous titles? Enemies take a million hits and some regular moves now require you to be in rage mode. Also hate the frequent mario 64 sliding and uncharted climbing sections.

Other than that, I like it but I think I'm starting to get tired of the gow formula. Me just finishing GOW 3 like a week or 2 ago might be the reason
 
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

The story in this one just felt extremely boring to me. I mean, the Furies aren't terrible as villains go, but shit... They can't carry a game by themselves as the main antagonists. Also, I think that the lack of presence from the Greek Pantheon (and well, anyone else from Greek mythology that people might know) hurt the game as well. The gameplay wasn't bad, it was the same as ever (though some technical issues did pop up now and again).

God of War 3 is a hard act to follow, granted. Especially with a prequel story. But I got the feeling as I was playing that they really phoned this one in. Ah well, at least I got a cool Kratos "statue" with my CE.
 

Respawn

Banned
One of the best I've played so I cannot agree with you. Actually prefer this type of play style. Love the time feature and the pacing of the game. So to make a thread to say its the worst is very questionable. It seems some of you have forgotten what its like to play a good videogame and this game surely is good.
So much crying about set pieces when they are there. Not going to spoil the game for those who haven't played. I said my piece so I'll leave it as that.
 

Sothpaw

Member
GOW3 was by far my least favorite GOW mainline game, and I would even rank it below Ghost of Sparta. From the demo of Ascension, I won't even pick it up until it's in the bargain bin. That framerate is horrible.
 

DC1

Member
Not sure why folks are not loving GOWA.

I'm having an absolute ball.
- The combat is much more fluid & complex than any other title in the series.
- The art, level designs are very gorgeous!
- It offers grater insight into the making of Kratos and
the origin of Ares purpose for him.
- The music is stunning and the mini boss fights varied/fun

Simply put, I'm loving the game... only 4 more chapters to go!
 

DC1

Member
One of the best I've played so I cannot agree with you. Actually prefer this type of play style. Love the time feature and the pacing of the game. So to make a thread to say its the worst is very questionable. It seems some of you have forgotten what its like to play a good videogame and this game surely is good.
So much crying about set pieces when they are there. Not going to spoil the game for those who haven't played. I said my piece so I'll leave it as that.

And of what a great piece you have said.

I Completely Agree!
 
Haven't played it outside the demo, but I can't imagine really liking it after just coming off Metal Gear Rising. Though I could probably say the same for the rest of the series if I replayed it.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Are people's main problems with the story? Because I've never cared about any of the GOW games' stories.
It doesn't really have a story. Most people's problems stem from the combat changes, which are a mixed bag, and a lack of polish comparied to the other entries from SSM.
 
Its clear the multiplayer dictated certain design aspects of the SP and because of that the game suffers. Its one of the worst GOW games for sure, not to say thats bad, its just disappointing. People conflating combat difficultly with good design and mechanics. The difficulty is there (although even on hard its not that hard after you get the hang of things) but the mechanics took a big step back from three. There is less combat variety then ever, parry system works in theory but the enemy types are made with the parry system in mind. Man I loved GOW3's combat...smh
 

Manus

Member
Are people's main problems with the story? Because I've never cared about any of the GOW games' stories.

Combat is trash. They didn't add anymore main weapons to the game, because they said no one ever used them. So they decide to throw in the different elements to the chains, yet the only good one is fire. So you only end up using fire for most of the game. I only switched to electric for the magic. I miss my Hades weapons. :[
 
btw. only at the leadup to "delphi" (in the room where you pick up
the lighting ability
) and it rocks!!!!

great visuals. intense fights and excellent eviscerations. sooooo good.
 

James-Ape

show some balls, man
I'm relatively new to GOW as i only ever played 3. What i have played so far of the SP seems quite similar to the last one but it's worth the price, so far at least, for the multiplayer which is really good fun.
 
It's easily the worst. It was boring, had the worst combat and ultimatly, seemed pointless. I mean, what did we learn from it? In no way did this push the series forward.

And what was with all the Tony Hawk Downhill Jam segments all about? And how many levers did we have to pull with a chain?

I don't know, I'm really torn on if it's a bad game, or a bad God of War game.
 
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