Monday, July 22, 2013

GOD OF WAR : ASCENSION



Shave all Olympus is exhilarating, but at least when it comes to follow up the adventures of good old Kratos. Fortunately, the current trend is to reboots and prequels, two English barbarisms to justify a new checkout, sorry, back to the origins of a legend disorders. Package everything in a multi experience, another hobby publishers, and now God of War: Ascension served on a silver platter.

I EBP Kratis

With such a setting before the multi throughout development, we already anticipated a solo muted. A natural distrust of many years of previews of all kinds have sharpened. Good news: Kratos fight the campaign for a dozen hours, the equivalent of God of War III, with a lot of gigantic bosses and hidden chests. The bad news is that it is close to the intensity of mobile episodes, which is not insulting them, have less lasting impression that the flaps on consoles. As a prequel, understand a difficult game located screenplay before all others, to compete with the consistency of the first, the excesses of his followers and the finale that ended the trilogy on PS3. In Ascension, Kratos is still linked to the bloodthirsty Spartan Ares, already haunted by his inner demons. To counteract the bald yet divine in its plans, the three Furies that are Shrew, Tisiphone and Alecto decided to capture and imprison him forever as before the Hécatonchire. As everyone knows, anyone who stands between Kratos and the blade end in the waters of the Styx, only the method differs.

A priori linear, the scenario in this episode though we bringuebale in flashbacks endless. Trips punctuated by beautiful scenes, of course, really nifty with their shadows and everything, but finally make progress quite confusing when it comes back to square one. This bias of a story we quickly exploded away from the main goal and helps to make the plot ultimately forgettable, although the puzzles recipe / battle / platforms still stands. Finally we are in the God of War pure butter, with a lot of invisible walls and fixed cameras, more and more has-beens as the years pass. None of the codes of the series is forgotten, bloody executions to the inevitable sex scene skillfully removed from the first minutes. Moreover there is a effort to hide some QTE, one of trademarks of the series, with what Santa Monica called mini games, Wholesale tilt the stick to dodge between two, three assaults based on square delta, still in the same tempo. In the same spirit, the phases of platforms always want more tours, climbing ledges with gleaming like a Uncharted and tobogganing in stride.


HADES me spread

Left to put this episode among others, Ascension marks not just the side of the variety. We especially feel confront enemies already known variants (gorgonians turn into lizards, Cyclops back in mastodons), returning by continuous waves, with occasional mistakes obvious taste. We think of these antelopes in armor or these green flies that swarm from the intro - a good way to fill up on red orbs, though. Strange as this need to eject the camera to the other side of the world when a big fight occurs, even if one knows prone to this kind of effect, set to better highlight the gigantic clashes . At the risk of sometimes difficult to distinguish Kratos into the fray, a lack of visibility that comes up quite regularly in Ascension. Moreover, the short game technical comparisons with God of War III, reconnect the previous section we were able to see a slight lack of fluidity in this episode. Santa Monica has clearly favored the abundance of details, and some environments really give a sense of vertigo, especially during the rise of the statue of Apollo lost at sea, the chunk of the second half. But this choice comes at the expense of the fluidity and clarity that we had done so much "whining" in 2010.

The gameplay of this episode reveals yet very catchy, with some surprising but effective changes. With some adjustments in the controls, the sequences seem even more natural out more accurately, facilitate the execution of long combos with a little practice. The apostles of skill will perhaps disillusioned, but after all we are faced with God of War, a game that focuses primarily on showmanship. By grabbing enemies still on the ground to better propel Kratos can string two or three easy repechage, before throwing a big attack when touching the ground - provided you have spent enough red orbs to unlock the range of shots, as always. From the second half of the game, the player can change the element associated with the Blades of Chaos with the directional pad, between fire, ice, lightning, but also loved Darkness to Hades. This is not a simple matter of aesthetics, as this choice has an impact on the Fury and color orbs collected in fine when enemies vaporize. But it will keep control and dodges to avoid seeing its gauge Rage melt like snow in the sun - perhaps a little too quickly, too. Good thing it is possible to strike back against the lower roll, so as not to waste time.


THE MOULINETTE




Are added two new special powers to integrate the combos. Master of time at half the adventure, Kratos will both make their original appearance the sets fallen into ruins, but also slow the enemy of choice. In the first case, it is mainly to solve puzzles as basic as additions Kawashima, with a big green shade as a beacon for those who have impaired vision. Question combat, however, there is nothing better to keep away dangerous enemies, the time to deal with the small fry. More interestingly, the power of cloning opens the way for a more sophisticated puzzles hair, while the cannons when the waves of enemies are intensifying. Ally of Kratos, the brave Orkos arise from the ground to slap everyone in a deafening roar. By combining all these good ideas, the gameplay of God of War Ascension running at full speed, large stylish juggles between the activation of spells and the proper use of power. As the overall difficulty seems to have been enhanced in some passages, it will not be too much. Because without checkpoint to his heart's content, as in the "Challenge Archimedes" (a name to remember), it learns how God of War can be punitive, let alone in higher difficulty modes.

Unfortunately that adding secondary weapons is less interesting than expected. Screenplay prior helping, Kratos will have to settle the Blades of Chaos as main weapon. Other, minor, are interchangeable. Kratos is in the way, and only retain the last grabbed, whether the sword, classic, Javelin guided, ideal for reaching flying targets, or the giant mass, slow but powerful. Five weapons in total, this may seem huge, but it is far variants offered by God of War III endgame Yes, secondary weapons can be integrated into combos, they are often good damage, but regrettably lack of versatility, not having the entire arsenal at hand. This will not stop to enjoy a spectacular precise combat system honed enough, certainly, but wild, with some modifications treated, if not totally controlled. Too bad he did was not so for the script and the plot, as the single player campaign leaves an unfinished, despite the presence of a New Game + for those who want to start having very powerful relics.


MULTI CLONING

Without wishing to cast a stone at solo, it will be necessary to rely on the multiplayer for a hint of originality in this cruel world. We will not return to the organizational problems that have prevented the holding of multiplayer sessions Sony provided for testing, beyond the delay, but also with real players motivated that we can get a more precise idea its potential. The more cynical will see a new Trojan to justify adding a password online and undoubtedly the arrival of downloadable content in the near future (the fifth altar in the empty room Olympus not mistaken). Optimists them decide to continue the adventure to inflate life. For God of War: Ascension also gives the rise fashion experience, the best way to retain players increasingly fickle, even sacrificing balance finding himself dropped from the more experienced guys.

After a quick introduction, the player's avatar (a body-builder customizable so) will be entitled to a passage review bases, which are in any case almost the same as in the solo, with some nuances (put Automatic dead time unlimited race by pushing the left stick). Then comes the moment of allegiance to one of the four gods balance to better adapt to a style of play sign a pact with Ares one suits the players favoring the melee, while the powers of Hades guarantee a few precious seconds of invincibility. Zeus is more oriented magic, while Poseidon is the choice of players who favor the defense and care. It is of course possible to change along the way, since the levels are differentiated according to the deity before whom you worshiped you. This is after all logical, since the weapons and equipment, also subject to a gradual rise of XP, differ depending on your initial choice. In short, everything is there, between the choice of classes / alignments, evolutionary equipment, changing appearance, which gauges experience "pschuiit" and trophies at the end of round.


COME TO SCHOOL OF CHAMPIONS

Rich, that's for sure. Fun is another debate. Let's say we can get caught up in the game, which was not necessarily a foregone conclusion. Arenas rather respect the atmosphere of the series, and we are happy to take the reins of a gorgon to spray his opponents. The secondary weapons that seemed a bit superficial solo here so powerful that they act as real bonus. The Co-op in both Horde mode also provides an opportunity to join another player to repel waves of enemies increasingly provided - although it will climb experience to see the end, because it seems impossible to reach the fifth round in a row "Gold" with basic equipment, even ejecting everything is within reach in a vacuum. But now, despite all the good will and imagination shown by the developers, despite the abundance of "success" despite the good management of dodges and parries (timing foremost), it can not be undo syndrome God of War: between cameras a little distant and management of collisions less straightforward than in other games, you never really know which key and why. The action therefore lack of clarity regardless of the selected mode, especially if they are positively oriented PvP as the "Battle of Champions".

The limited size of the game configurations - up to eight players - has also taught us that the balance between the parties could quickly turn the meat as long as one of your playing partners decided to steer along the way. That's pretty much true for any multi game, it is even more in a game in small groups and can quickly give way to bourrinage between hands novices. But potentially, when everyone has grasped the various traps and enable the objectives of both real interesting modes (Favor of the Gods and indestructible capture the flag), God of War: Ascension has enough material to hang a little. Ambush with triggerfish, enable cheat skewers, flip the maze to throw everyone in a vacuum, smash the big monster wallpaper: all the dross is possible to take advantage. Remains to be seen if the players will want to really focus on a multi functional at best when so many offers abound.


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