God of War: Ascension

God of War: Ascension
Developer(s)	SCE Santa Monica Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Todd Papy
Designer(s)	Mark Simon
Writer(s)	Marianne Krawczyk Ariel Lawrence
Composer(s)	Tyler Bates
Series	God of War
Release Date(s)	NA March 12, 2013 EU March 13, 2013 AUS March 14, 2013 UK March 15, 2013
Genre(s)	Hack and slash, action-adventure
Rating(s)	ESRB: M PEGI: 18 ACB: R18+ CERO: Z
Media	Blu-ray Disc (PS3), Digital Download (via PSN)

“	I will never serve Ares again!	”
–Kratos

God of War: Ascension is the seventh installment in the popular God of War series, released on March 12, 2013. Chronologically, it serves as the first chapter in the series, forming part of a saga with vengeance as a central theme.

The game predates Kratos' entire reign as the god of war, and features a timeline roughly six months after Kratos' unintentional killing of his wife and daughter. Flashbacks also occur, seeing as how this timeline follows his allegiance to Ares, which was already addressed in the original God of War, which takes place ten years after the events of Ascension

It marks a new chapter in Kratos' story, as its listing notes to "Join Kratos as he takes his first steps on a now legendary quest for freedom, redemption, and the clarity to avenge his family in the most ambitious God of War adventure in the series so far."

Story

Single Player

Prologue

In a war between the astronomically large deities known as the Primordials, the madness and rage of the war took form, becoming the three guardians of honor, the Furies, who were tasked with exacting retribution onto any oath-breaker or betrayer. The first victim of the Furies was the Hecatonchires, Aegaeon, who had broken a blood oath to Zeus himself. The Furies set about their task, and, believing death to be too kind for one who had broken an oath to a God, transformed Aegaeon's humongous body into a stone prison for all who would dare follow his example in the future.

Later on, the Furies had dealings with the God of War, Ares, and became ruthless under his 'guidance,' forming a plot to overtake Olympus, but finding that they were lacking in their forces; they needed the perfect warrior to aid them in their attack on the Gods. The Fury Queen, Alecto, mated with Ares in the hopes of creating such a warrior. Unfortunately for them, their son, Orkos, was not up to Ares' standards, and was disowned. Alecto and the other Furies, though, saw worth in him and made him the oath-keeper.

Seeing the makings of a perfect warrior in the Spartan, Kratos, Ares formed a blood oath with the tattooed warrior in order to mold him into a heartless killing machine, tricking him into killing his wife, Lysandra, and his child, Calliope, for nothing to restrict him from his onslaughts. However, Kratos, enraged and saddened by the accidental killing, became a self-pitying recluse, unable to forgive himself for his crime and adamantly vowing never to serve Ares ever again.

Main Plot

Ares, angered by Kratos's decision, orders the Furies to capture him for his betrayal. The trio, in order to weaken the Spartan's mind, cast illusions which torture him to no end. Seeing the injustice in Kratos' oath, Orkos betrays the Furies and allies himself with the Spartan, informing him that the answer to his freedom from his bond to Ares can be found in Delphi, with the Oracle Aletheia. After slaying Pollux and Castor, the prophets who had imprisoned the Oracle, Aletheia reveals to the Spartan that the only way to be free of his bond to the God of War would be to slay the Furies.

However, after continuing his quest, the Furies ambush the Spartan and Orkos, and proceed to imprison Kratos within Aegaeon. As Kratos suffers from torture at the hands of the Furies, he defiantly refuses their offers for him to return to Ares. However, one Fury, Megaera, holding a grudge against Kratos for severing her arm in a struggle they had prior to his capture, attacks him and unintentionally breaks the chains binding him.

Kratos then attacks Megaera, who, enraged with his defiance, uses her parasitic brood to return Aegaeon to life, having sections of the prison attack Kratos. However, Kratos luckily manages to evade Aegaeon's attacks and slay Megaera. Eventually, he comes across the remaining Furies, Tisiphone and Alecto , who once again attempt to lure him back into Ares' servitude by seducing him in the form of Lysandra. Kratos, refusing illusion over reality, manages to kill both Furies, breaking Tisiphone's neck, and stabbing Alecto to death.

Kratos, in his victory, returns to his home in Sparta, meeting with Orkos, who reveals that he was once again made the Spartan's oath keeper, by the Furies, before their death; the only way for Kratos and Orkos to be free from their respective bonds to Ares, the Spartan must kill Orkos.

The latter, accepting his death honorably, hands over his blade to Kratos, who hesitantly drives the blade within Orkos' abdomen, finally breaking his bond to Ares. Much to Kratos' horror, though, haunting visions of the murder of his wife and child, which were previously masked by his bond, suddenly plagued his mind, crippling him out of sorrow. He then sets out to be rid of his new nightmares, burning down his home with Orkos' corpse inside it.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer part of Ascension, features multi-level arenas, where several warriors can fight one another. After starting off as the nameless redeemed prisoner (seen in the beginning of the campaign), you are then sent to the Rotunda of Olympus to choose a godly alliance. One specific game mode, called The Favor of the Gods, requires the champions to kill each other, while a chained Polyphemus, interferes whenever players come too close. Warriors score 100 points by killing the men from opposing teams, eventually, the Spear of Olympus falls from the heavens and it becomes a race for each team to obtain it. Once someone has pulled it from the ground, they can begin to attack Polythemus and knock him unconscious. If the beast is grappled then the warrior will split his jaw with the godly spear. The team that kills him gains an extra 1000 points. Whoever reaches 8000 points first wins the match. The multiplayer does not allow split-screen possibilities, but instead pans out whenever needed to actively show all participants.

By pre-ordering the game, the player gets access to the Mythological Heroes Pack DLC for the multiplayer. This pack contains 4 armors: Orion's, Achilles', Perseus', and Odysseus'. If the player pre-orders at Gamestop they get the King Leonidas costume and Spear. Pre-orders from Best Buy will get Thor's hammer, Mjölnir. Pre-Orders from Walmart will get the Blade of Judgement

Items and Abilities

Weapons

• Kratos' Fists: Kratos can use his fists to break the enemy's defenses and disarm them.
• Blades of Chaos: The cursed blades given to Kratos by Ares as a symbol of his servitude.
• World Weapons: Kratos can disarm the weapons of his opponents as a secondary weapon. They can be discarded anytime, by doing so, he throws the weapon at an enemy stunning them in the process. There are five World Weapons that are present:
  • Sword
  • Spear
  • Club
  • Shield
  • Sling

Magic

• Fire of Ares: Unleash your fury and stun surrounding enemies with Ares' fire. Incinerating enemies yields Gold Orbs.
• Ice of Poseidon: Summon the Ice of Poseidon to break blocks. Also allows breathing underwater. Freezing enemies yields large Red Orbs.
• Lightning of Zeus: Electrify your enemies with the blinding quick attacks of Zeus. Electrocuting enemies yields Blue Orbs.
• Soul of Hades: Release the souls of the Underworld to do your bidding. Vaporizing enemies yields Green Orbs.

Items

• Lost treasures: Lysandra's necklace and ring, that keep Kratos from falling into the Furies' illusions. 
• Amulet of Uroborus: The amulet was stolen by Castor and Pollux from the Oracle of Delphi and contains the power to warp time around the object or enemy it hits.  He uses it on several occasions in the game, able to heal or decay. In the E3 Demo, Kratos uses this ability to reconstruct an elevator, which is destroyed by Charybdis (Alecto). When used on enemies, they are slowed for a while, so if they are in the air at the time the magic is activated, they remain there for a few seconds. This ability does not deplete Kratos' magic, instead, it requires the relic to recharge for a short amount of time.
• Oath Stone of Orkos: This stone is given to Kratos by Orkos and contains the power to create a shadow of Kratos. This power is used to solve puzzles as it copies Kratos' pose to hold cranks and chains in place. Later on in the game, it had to be used in combination with the other items to solve a puzzle.
• Eyes of Truth: The Eyes of Truth is an item given from Oracle to Oracle to overcome the dark magic of the Furies. Kratos obtains it during his journey and can use it dispel the magic barriers created by the Furies.

Artifacts

• Prisoner's Oath Stone
• Circe's Vial
• Oracle Seeker's Offering
• Aletheia's Charm
• Boat Captain's Idol
• Orkos' Cloak
• Stonemason's Chisel
• Archimedes' Treatise
• Statue Worker's Idol
• Antikythera Mechanism

Characters

• Kratos: The main protagonist of the game. Kratos finds himself on the edge of madness, 6 months after the death of his wife and child, he broke his blood oath with Ares. This betrayal brought him for the judgement of the Furies.
• The Furies: The three sisters that predate both Titans and Gods, Furies are fearsome punishers of those who break their oaths. They are the main antagonists of the game, hunting and torturing Kratos for turning on Ares.
• Orkos: Keeper of Oaths, he helps Kratos to break the bonds and defeat the sisters.
• Aletheia: Kratos is sent to Delphi to find the Oracle, who might help him in his quest for freedom.
• Lysandra: Kratos' wife, appears for Kratos in visions during the game.
• Calliope: Kratos' daughter, she appears in visions to Kratos.
• Archimedes: A historical mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer who built the massive statue of Apollo on Delos.
• The Scribe of Hecatonchires: The first mortal imprisoned by the Furies. He's kept records since his imprisonment, which Kratos finds around the Prison.
• Redeemed Warrior: The template warrior used in the multiplayer, has a small cameo as a prisoner in the game's beginning.

Enemies

Common Enemies

• Centaur General: Similar to the generals in God of War III.
• Cerberus: The three-headed beast of Hades. Could be used as mount when wounded. They look close to Mongrels, but they are stronger and have new powers, like underworld teleporting and soul shield.
• Chimera: The chimeras return and have different color from God of War III and uses ice attacks. Only one is encountered in the Tower of Delphi.
• Cyclops Berserker: Large cyclops brutes that can be grappled then ridden to stomp out smaller enemies.
• Delos Warriors: Powerful women equipped with spears.
• Elemental Talos: This new type of Talos is dressed in similar fashion to Hades. These Talos can come with various elemental attacks, each Talos either uses fire, ice, lightning, or soul, similar to Kratos' magics.
• Elephantaur: A new species of Juggernaut, Kratos kills these large elephant monsters by cutting open their heads and exposing the brain.
• Empusa: Fiery female monster with green spikes instead of limbs.
• Feral Hounds: Attack canines return from God of War III.
• Hooded Gorgon: These Gorgons have a new appearance, looking more like cobras and are very colorful.
• Harpy: The standard Harpy returns in God of War: Ascension.
• Harpy Queen: These Harpies return from God of War III
• Manticore Hatchling: Smaller versions of the manticore, they hatch from eggs.
• Megaera's Minions: Humans and hounds infected and mutated into monsters by Megaera's parasites.
• Megaera's Parasites: Tiny green insects that originate from Megaera. Able to mutate creatures as small as a human and as large as a Hecatonchires into insect-like monsters.
• Satyrs: Standard enemies, the satyrs carry weapons that can be used by Kratos.
• Satyr Fodder: Smaller satyrs that uses range type weapons.
• Satyr General: The Satyr General is bigger than his fellow satyrs and wields a bigger sword. They command hoards of common satyrs.
• Siren Sybil: The Sirens Sybill are powerful female monsters, now harnessing the power of Zeus.
• Spartan Illusions: In one of the Furies' illusions, Kratos fights Megaera, who commands imaginary Spartan warriors.
• Wraith of Hades: Very powerful Wraiths able to summon spirits of themselves. The Wraiths appear throughout the God of War series. 

Bosses

• Aegaeon: One of the ancient titan-like creatures known as the Hecatonchires, the hundred-armed giant Aegaeon was captured by the Furies and tortured for breaking his oath to the gods, while his body was shaped into a living prison for the oath-breakers. Alive, but severely disfigured after years of torment, he is dormant. When Kratos escapes, the Fury Megaera uses her parasites to infect Aegaeon's arms, turning them into giant insect-like monsters known as the Infected Hands of Aegaeon. Eventually, she also allowed her parasites to mutate his head, turning his mouth into a grotesque maw of teeth and mandibles, for her last stand against Kratos.
  • Infected Hands of Aegaeon: The giant parasitic guardians who were mutated from Aegaeon's limbs by a small group of parasites. Three were encountered by Kratos during his escape from his prison and served as sub-bosses.
• Manticore: Sub-boss, a massive fire-breathing beast with the body of a lion, tail of a scorpion and wings of a bat. Kratos fights two Manticores, one in Delphi, and one on Delos.
• Pollux and Castor: Together known as the Dioscuri. Mortal prophet Castor, along with his attached demi-god half-brother Pollux, serve as guards for the Oracle of Delphi. However, in reality, they usurp her temple and time-shifting powers.
• Daimon: Tisiphone's pet. This creature is battled alongside Tisiphone in all battles that involve her.
• The Furies: They are pre-Olympian beings, born from an ancient battle before the First Titanomachy. They are the main antagonists and bosses of the game.
  • Megaera: A vicious Fury with four spider-like legs on her spine. She can release a swarm of parasites from a diseased-looking rash on her chest, which attack her victims and then bury under their skin. The result is always a severely mutated insect-like servant. Fought alone, and together with Tisiphone. Killed during the battle with the infected Aegaeon.
  • Tisiphone: Mistress of illusions, which she use to torment Kratos, Tisiphone summons a Daimon to fight her enemies. Fought alone, with Megaera, and later with Alecto.
  • Alecto: The Queen of the Furies, Alecto is also a lover of Ares, with whom she is in conspiracy with against Olympus. She is the final boss of the game and is fought together with Tisiphone. Alecto is revealed to be able to shapeshift into the massive sea beast, Charybdis.

Multiplayer Characters

• Polyphemus: A huge Titan cyclops imprisoned by the Gods found in the Desert of Lost Souls map.
• Stheno: A powerful gorgon found in the Bog of the Forgotten map.
• Hercules: The demigod who watches over the Forum map.
• Skorpius: Roams the Labyrinth map.

Cast

• Troy Baker - Orkos, Multiplayer Announcer, Prisoner, Worker
• Adrienne Barbeau - Aletheia
• Susanne Blakeslee - Oracle
• Brian Bloom - Slave, Spartan
• Steven Blum - Ares
• Corey Burton - Zeus
• T.C. Carson - Kratos
• Dave Carter - Multiplayer Soldier
• David W. Collins - Castor, Sailor
• Debi Derryberry - Civilian
• Robin Atkin Downes - The Scribe of Hecatonchires (credited as "Crazy Guy"), Soldier, Spartan
• Gideon Emery - Poseidon, Prisoner, Soldier
• Keith Ferguson - Boat Captain
• Crispin Freeman - Bliss King, Civilian, Sailor, Slave
• Nika Futterman - Megaera, Bliss Whore
• Brad Grusnick - Pollux, Civilian, Spartan
• Jennifer Hale - Alecto, Lysandra, Civilian, Slave
• Linda Hunt - Narrator
• Neil Kaplan - Multiplayer Soldier
• Kevin Killebrew - Multiplayer Soldier
• Khary Payton - Slave, Soldier
• Cara Pifko - Bliss Whore
• Alem Brhan Sapp - Bliss Soldier, Multiplayer Soldier, Prisoner
• Isaac C. Singleton Jr. - Multiplayer Soldier
• Anthony Skordi - Multiplayer Soldier
• Kevin Sorbo - Hercules
• Fred Tatasciore - Hades, Civilian, Soldier
• Simon Templeman - Archimedes (credit only)
• Debi Mae West - Tisiphone, Bliss Whore, Civilian
• Dan White - Training Soldier, Slave
• Jimmie Wood - Multiplayer Soldier
• Marc Worden - Sailor

Background

Following Amazon's leak, game director Todd Papy wrote on the official PlayStation Blog, promising a glimpse of what’s in store for God of War: Ascension' during a livestream event, which took place on Monday, April 30. A new God of War: Ascension page on the Sony PlayStation Facebook page also holds a trailer, and pre-order link to BestBuy.

Game director Todd Papy has previously worked as design director on God of War III. He now takes a development role previously filled by David Jaffe, Cory Barlog and Stig Asmussen.

The game was released on March 12, 2013, according to its Official God of War: Ascension PlayStation page. Together with the game, the special and collector's editions was released.

The God of War: Ascension Collector's Edition for PlayStation 3 was feature: an exclusive 8" Kratos Statue, a Premium Steelbook case, Official Game Soundtrack (Digital Version), PS3 dynamic theme, PSN Avatar Pack, Multiplayer Double XP Unlock and a pass for future DLC content. The price is $79.99

The Special Edition was feature the same but without the 8" Kratos Statue and the DLC pass.

Trivia

• The E3 demo was released as part of the Total Recall Blu-ray disk available in December 2012.
• The public demo was released February 26 for all PSN users, it is different to the one that was seen at E3 and was included with Total Recall.
  • Those who took part in the Rise of the Warrior and were part of the winning team got the demo on February 20.
• A demo of 'The Last of Us' was to be released with the final version of God of War: Ascension; it will not be included on the disk but Ascension will allow early access to the demo at a later date.
• God of War: Ascension includes a voucher to download the characters Zeus and Isaac Clarke for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
• In God of War: Ascension Kratos uses the same Battering Ram technique from God of War III.
• A live-action trailer was released for the Internet screening of Super Bowl, it shows both Lysandra and Calliope alive, as an illusion created by Tisiphone.
• God of War: Ascension has a new game+ option and chapter select, being the first in series to have this feature.
  • This is also the first game to not feature save altars. The save system works with automatic save files. 
• In God of War: Ascension, the secondary weapons cannot refill the Rage meter; only the Blades of Chaos and Kratos's physical attacks can.
• Interesting, the Main Menu of God of War: Ascension contains an option called "Latest News", which requires Internet connection to access. This is for updates in future DLC.
• God of War: Ascension is the only unnumbered God of War game to be originally released on a home console. The other unnumbered games, Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, were released for a portable console and only ported to HD for the PlayStation 3.
• God of War: Ascension is the first installment in which there is no Sex Minigame, no Save Altars, no strong secondary weapons that can be upgraded, no openable red orb Chests, and Kratos' face is not shown on the main menu as the early installments of the series, breaking the "traditions" of past God of War games.
• In God of War: Ascension, the abilities and powers are given as the game itself progresses, but it alternates between present day and weeks before Kratos' imprisonment, making the player have no powers nor abilities on the beginning of the game, when, chronologically, Kratos is just one step further to kill the Furies, and should have all his weaponry upgraded at this point.
• God of War: Ascension references another iconic Sony licensed game, Uncharted. If you collect all of the artifacts, you get the trophy "No Drake. You Can't Have These".
• There is a goof in the subtitles when they read "It... it... is only illusion" even though Kratos actually says "It is not reality!".
• God of War: Ascension is the first game in the saga where Kratos doesn't receive help from Athena nor does she even appears.
• In the Cistern (pt. 2), there is an optional puzzle which, when solved correctly, unlocks a hidden painting that reads: "When Earth stops revolving, the Journey begins." This was supposed to be an easter egg to another franchise Sony Santa Monica was developing at the time, but it ended up being canceled.
• With any Elements active, the Plume of Prometheus move from Blades of Chaos seems to have unique effects after the Triangle button is pressed. With the Fire of Ares, a spurt of fire "splashes" the ground (similar to other Blades in other games). While the Ice of Poseidon is active, the slam generates a large ice spike. With the Lightning of Zeus, a tall pillar of massive Thunderbolts strikes the ground. With the Souls of Hades, a large hand form the Underworld erupts from the ground, and slams back down. 

External links

• Guardian article (detailing multiplayer experiences)
• David Jaffe discusses Ascension (IGN article)
• Gamespot Multiplayer reveal article

Gallery

• The Amazon product page
• Teaser Banner
• Title Card (at the end of the teaser)
• The Furies
• God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle
• God of War: Ascension PS3 Bundle Europe
• Kratos VS Alecto or Tisiphone..JPG
  Is this Alecto or Tisiphone?

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Videos

God of War Ascension 'From Ashes' Live Action Trailer

From Ashes Live Action Trailer

God of War Ascension Trailer 2

Trailer 2

God of War Ascension Beta Video Preview

Beta Video Preview

God of War Ascension - Gameplay trailer boss multiplayer preview gow 4 official trailer

Gameplay Trailer

God of War Ascension - Opening GOW 4 Kratos face without make up? GOW 4 leaked Incomplete footage

Leaked Footage of the Multiplayer

God of War Ascension PS3 Teaser Trailer

Teaser Trailer

God Of War Ascension (VG) (2013) - Single Player Gameplay trailer

Single Player Gameplay Trailer

God Of War Ascension (VG) (2013) - Multiplayer Gameplay trailer

Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer

E3 2012 - God of War Ascension Gameplay Demo!

Gameplay Demo

God Of War Ascension Furies trailer. PAX Prime 2012

Furies Trailer

God of War Ascension - Zeus Trailer

Zeus Trailer

God of War Ascension - Ares trailer-1

Ares Trailer

God of War Ascension Unchained - The Desert of Lost Souls Part 1

The Desert of Lost Souls Part 1

God of War Ascension Multiplayer Tips

Multiplayer Tips

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