E3: GOW: Ascension Multiplayer is Meh

One of the first games I played on the show floor was “God of War: Ascension,” and I have to admit it left me cold. The graphics were great—not quite as gorgeous as “God of War 3” but very nice for multiplayer—and the team at Sony Santa Monica clearly put a lot of effort into it, but the fact remains that this franchise just doesn’t fit with deatmatch. I fear that no amount of polish is going to solve the basic discrepancy between what “God of War” is and the demands of competitive MP.

The best way to describe playing “God of War: Ascension” is this: imagine “Super Smash Bros,” except on a flat map, and everyone is forced to play as Mario. The combat is bland and repetitive, and the defensive moves are so feeble that whoever starts losing stands little chance of turning the tide. The game even punishes you for trying to evade by giving your opponent access to a whole new array of devastating combos should you have the gall to run away. That’s kind of like “Halo” awarding you one-shot-kills if your opponent backpedals. “Get back here and die like a man!” the game seems to be saying.

Also, losing sight of your character is a constant annoyance, especially in bigger fights, because the different avatars all look exactly the same, even with different armor on. And while there are some team-based mission objective elements in every match, it’s disappointing to learn that they’re basically glorified cut scenes which each team has to race to cue first. Once you do cue them and win the match, the victory feels hollow, because you spent the last minute of the round a step removed from your own success, just watching it play out. These match-enders are supposed to be cool, but they’re so long and disconnecting that they become tedious even the second time you see them. Plus, if winning the match via cut scene seems hollow, imagine how losing it feels.

But at the end of the day, what really bugged me about “Ascension” MP was how little fun everyone seemed to be having. I spent a lot of time asking myself why that was, and I think it comes down to what skills the game requires. “Call of Duty” and “Halo,” for example, are essentially tests of reflexes and awareness, and those are elemental things. Even before you fully understand how those games work, you might grab a few kills just by being faster than the other guy, or seeing him first. Other games, like “Starcraft,” test task management and planning, and those are also elemental. You’re less likely to score pick-up-and-play wins against a veteran Protoss player, but victory and defeat come from personal qualities nonetheless.

“Ascension,” by contrast, tests only excellence at “Ascension.” Whoever has more guys, or a bigger sword, or knows the combos better, simply wins, flat-out. It doesn’t give any room for a person to bring their own qualities to it. When it’s released, I imagine “God of War: Ascension” will be one of those games that a few people get really good at, and everyone else just drops it to go play something else.

_AA

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