This game is everything I have expected for it to be; brutal and spectacular! This is the most refined GOW game yet (YES EVEN BETTER THAN GOW3), with great combat additions, great variety on the scenery, nice puzzles and great pacing making this game an outstanding experience. It may be not as epic as GOW3, but that is because of it being a prequel, so Kratos cant fight a Titan or other things like that, but still it is freaking epic and ultra fun to play due to the whole amazing package the game is. The last boss fight is ORGASMIC!

The combat mechanics have some important changes. First of all you have a rage bar (like in previous GOW games) but when it fills, Kratos does more damage, and can do more moves. You fill it when you attack, and loose some when you are hit. So the game emphasis is to be very aggressive, while avoiding getting hit (dodging, blocking countering) in order to prevent your rage bar to get empty. It really changes the dynamic of the combat and makes it more intense, and satisfying. And also, instead of having it full and have more moves, and do more damage, you can unleash it in one heavy blow that deals damage to the enemies nearby depending on the elemental. So you have to see which tactic to use depending on the situation. 

The weapons system in Ascension is really nice implemented in this game. For me better than in GOW3, because of instead getting different kinds of the same blades (that are not as useful as the original), you alter the original blades with elemental power and thus enabling you to some really crazy stuff. Each of them have their own magic similar to GOW3.  I think of the Fire of Ares is the main Kratos blade because it charges rage faster than the other elements, but then when the gauge is full you can begin to change elements so that you obtain the benefits they provide:  magic orbs, healing orbs, red orbs, gold orbs.

Also you have the ability of using weapons dropped in the stage an complement your combos, or if you dont feel like picking them up, there is a new melee system that is also really sweet. You can also use some gadgets in combat and slow time, or call a "doppleganger". The items are really useful in combat specially in that combat scene lol.

The grapple here is changed. Now you grab opponents with R1 instead of circle, and now you can do a lot more stuff while you have grabbed them. You can either hit the one you grabbed, throw him against other enemies, or even while grabbing him fight other dudes. The combat is freaking awesome as you may be already expecting. 

Another addition to combat is that when a monster is about to die, and you trigger the killing minigame, there are some enemies, that offer a QTE-less minigame, and now you are the one to dodge and hit him when having the chance. Those minigames are really awesome because they have a cinematic feel, but you are in complete control.  There are also the other minigames with QTEs, they are done very good too, so they dont take the action out of the game. In fact they bring a quite stylish cinematic appeal to the gameplay.

The puzzles and the adventure feel of GOW1 and 2 are back in here. The puzzles are small, but clever, and now you visit more scenarios making of the game a great adventure, with the best pacing in the series thus far. 

The soundtrack is the best of any GOW game yet. Even though it has at times music featured in other GOW games, they have been changed and tweaked, making the experience even more epic. I am very glad they changed composer for this game, because even though the ST in previous games was superb, the same core music were on the 5 previous games over and over again, and it was about to become a bit boring really. But now the music feels so fresh, and epic too. The combat soundtrack, when having a great fight, increases the epic level over 9000!! :D

I only experienced some sound glitches few times, nothing major

How the story unfolds, needs more cutscenes I think, but it is good. You get a much deeper story experience than in any other GOW game, but it lack some development, and more story scenes. What I mean with this is that it would be nice to have short scenes in which they tell you more about the story between the main events. The story at times feels isolated, but it is good and compelling. The voice acting the motion capture is top-notch.   But you dont get to see it that much in the game. 

The game now features a new game plus option, which is really nice, because it adds even more replayability than before. And a chapter select feature so you can replay your favorite part of the game and/or search for collectibles that you missed. 

If this game only had the single player portion it would be still the best GOW game out there, with a SP longer than GOW3. BUT there is more in the package, and that is the multiplayer. 

The multiplayer is really cool and really entertaining. I picked up ARES as the olympian I would fight for, so that I can also be some sort of Kratos in the MP. Each Olympian gives to his champions different abilities, and some unique equipment with their respective atributes; so it is really cool to play against and with other people that have different kind of sets of moves, and look in awe their great attacks even if they are killing you. The game is well balanced, and even though it is based on MP modes we have already played in other games, the fact that this is GOW, makes them really fun and visceral to play. 

The MP is not for button smashers, because the combat system is deep. It looks quite simple on paper, but it offers really good variations and opportunities for you to use in combat once you began to get more acquainted on how the mechanics work. 

Last words, If you are a GOW fan, you will enjoy this game a lot!!! And if you are not a fan, and you just want to play a great action adventure game, if you play this game, and let it flow you will have an amazing experience with it.

GRAPHICS 10/10

SOUND: 9/10 (due to some glitches)

STORY: 7/10

GAMEPLAY (combat/puzzles/pacing): 9/10

MP: 8/10

FUN FACTOR: 10/10

FINAL SCORE: 10/10

For me, this is the best action-adventure/hack n slash game I have ever played this generation. the gameplay, the music, the story, the graphics, are amazing, and together bring to life an outstanding package you can not miss. The finale is so damn epic one of the best Boss fight I had in my life!

EDIT: Just got the plat a few mins ago XD

Everyone will hate you for this. I will give it an 8. Just below 2 and 3 for me. Above 1, CoO, and GoS though. I really like the MP (and I NEVER like MP) and the SP is epic especially the final boss. Great combat and just a really solid game. I don't care about new combat or whatever as long as it's and enjoyable new adventure. MP games are a different story because they could've just made a map pack as opposed to SP which needs new set pieces, story, powerups, tune the gameplay a little, and new bosses

why would people hate me??

The combat has great additions and make it very fun to play.  Even my brother who is not into playing games on hard, DID THE CHALLENGE OF ARCHIMEDES.  So, yeah the combat is really fun.

Look I don't hate you for it but people just don't like giving games 10s first of all and of course there's the Sony haters that will automatically hate on an exclusive.

Excellent review. I've been enjoying it quite a bit and I believe it's just as good as any other GoW out there. So far. I have noticed sound glitches here and there (mostly sounds like someone dropped my volume to 5) but other than that I haven't noticed anything else buggy. I really like how this game tries to make you balance offence and defence better. The rage bar is something that I find exciting and think it's well implemented. I can't wait to see that final boss fight! So... excuse me, I'm off to play some more.

ah, ok I get it.

I do agree that it's the best combat in the series.  I would give GoW2 best settings.  Lots of variety there.  Boss battles I think GoW3 had the best.  Poseidon, Hades, and my personal favorite Hercules are all awesome.  While Hecatoncaris (however the hell you spell it) was epic and so was the final boss I don't remember much in between that I would call truly spectacular.  Ascension was just really solid like GoS for me.  2 and 3 stand out above the other GoW games, but I'm a huge fan of all of them (even though I hate some of the platforming and slow wall climbing in 1) other than CoO.  It's just ok and if it wasn't a GoW game I probably wouldn't pay as much attention to it (when I go back to play through them I always go chronological so CoO gets played as much as the others lol).  Ascension is probably the most visually impressive PS3 game to date and I don't see even ND being able to top it (partly cause I'm tired of seeing our world and gigantic monsters are hard to beat with people and zombie things).

Really enjoyed it up until the trials of archimdes. I've played the game through on hard and got up to the trials with only two magic bars and 4/5 full health bar, so I'm pretty much screwed. Started the game again earlier on hard but this time I'm going to have to max out kratos.

Graphically it's the best game of this generation on consoles. It looks and runs amazingly well. A definite improvement over god of war 3. It's already been mentioned by others but there are quite a few sound glitches throughout the game. I wouldn't say the bosses are as memorable as those in god of war 3 but they are very good. Poseidon and cronos were the pinnacle of the whole series I think, however the hecatoncreas is definitely up there. I've yet to see the final boss but I've heard it's epic.

A few problems I have with the game are the enemies which I think are completely unbalanced. Some enemies take farrrr too many hits to kill and they make kratos seem somewhat underpowered compared to previous god of war games. Also, seeing as this is a time just after kratos murders his own family and breaks his oath to ares, I just feel like there's a lack of emotion from him throughout the game. He just seems a bit too plain to me.

Overall it's a great game SO FAR. A solid 8.5/10 for me. It just doesn't topple god of war 3.

There are plenty of white chests in the game.  I pretty much maximized everything in the foot of Apollo I think.    In the temple of the Oracle, there are 11 upgrades 6 feathers and 5 eyes.  You just need to be more curious :D

The enemies you are referring to are the goats with armor?? If so the key is trying to parry them, so that they become vulnerable to graple.  The amazon can be hideous at times but you can block most of the attacks too. A thing very helpfull is that the Fire of Ares charges a lot faster the rage, and stunts the enemies too, so consider it as your blades by default untill you get the rage bar full, after that you can begin to use other weapon.

For the challenges I recomend you to have all your equipment upgraded.  Because the Orkos Stone is very useful.  Your doppleganger kicks a$$! And the Uroboros Stone is very useful too.  So it is for your best interest to use them and to have them fully upgraded.

The "lack" of emotions is because the visions, and madness the Furies are causing him, that he SPOILER: has forgotten that he killed his family.  He knows they are dead, but not by his hand.

The last Boss fight is the best of the series, I know you will love it XD

An unbiased review. ;)

I'm glad it exceeded your expectations. It's hard for a 4th game to outdo its pre-decessor, especially with all the praise GoW3 got.