Previous readers/listeners may recall my previous… hesitation with Sony products. Particularly attentive folks may recall statements made by me that I haven’t played any God of War game since the first one, citing that it just didn’t pull me the way other games do, at least not enough to get me to care about subsequent entries in the series.
So it may come as sort of a shock to hear that I find myself very intrigued by the upcoming God of War: Ascension. Why the about face, you ask?
That’s why.
I saw this playing on Hulu of all things. “Holy balls”, I thought to myself. “That was an amazing trailer.” Even my wife was impressed.
For one, it’s one of the most artistic trailers I’ve seen in quite some time. The use of blood is not gratuitous; it’s exactly as much as it needs to be. The subject matter is communicated well, and in characteristic context. It firmly establishes itself and what it represents. And it’s impressive. Shivers were had.
This generation started out with some pretty god-awful ad campaigns on Sony’s part, from the creepy baby ad to the annoying PSP mall stalker. But in the past couple years, they’ve turned out some amazing gems like the Michael ad. These ads and campaigns have been inspiring, formative, and do more to strengthen Sony’s brand than nearly any other campaign I have seen for any other system. Is it just me reacting to a marketing ploy instead of the actual game? On some level, yes. But I guarantee you I wouldn’t so much as clicked on a gameplay footage link prior to release, if I hadn’t had my interest piqued by this spectacular piece, and there are tens of thousands of other gamers that could say the same.
Kudos to you, Sony. Keep that shit up. I’ll actually be keeping my eye on Ascension because of your hard work.
1 Comment
I, by contrast, felt pretty meh about the trailer. I suppose your points about its artiness are true, but if it’s not gameplay footage, it’s hard for me to get too into it.