God of War: Ascension

“God of War: Ascension” is supposed to work as a prequel to the franchise, but does not offer anything. The combat system might be the most polished so far, but the plot, enemies, and level design are mediocre and uninspired if compared to the previous chapters. We don't even learn anything new about Kratos and his past. The first boss fight reaches jaw-dropping heights, but everything afterward just felt flat and uninspired in contrast.

God of War may have given the 3rd person brawler new life in the mid-'00s but it was never the combat that drove me toward the series. It was the spectacle.

Santa Monica Studio showed PS2 owners what the system was capable of in its final years and it did the same once again on the PS3. After the fantastic God of War III, Ascension feels a bit forced and desperate. It does little to improve on the former games and falls flat in its storytelling. Even worse, it is surprisingly unpolished: a crime for a series that does so little with its screen space and limited combat arenas.

Whether it's by design, such as having to battle a horde of enemies while the camera zooms out so far away that Kratos is practically an ant on screen, or by faulty code that forced me to restart from checkpoints after clearing enemies because the next scene wouldn't trigger, Ascension feels rushed. From its inception to multiplayer-focused marketing (the less said about that aspect of the game, the better), Ascension was never positioned to invite the high expectations the previous entries earned.

If you're a fan of the series, Ascension delivers on some of the aspects that matter most: presentation, world building and gruesome, satisfying combat. Let's hope Ascension is the result of a developer delivering a solid title while on auto-pilot and not a sign of fading inspiration from Santa Monica.