Sony showed off the gut-wrenching and comic over-the-top multiplayer combat system today for its upcoming PlayStation 3 game, God of War Ascension.
In the multiplayer version, you play an unknown hero, sponsored by one of the major Greek gods — Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and Hades. To achieve godhood, you have to fight, and fight, and fight. As Kratos, you have your familiar spiked chain which you can cast at enemies to drag them down. Evisceration is the typical way to take out your enemies in style. Your goal is to kill so many players you become a champion of the gods.
“The heart and soul of God of War Ascension is visceral combat,” said Todd Pappy, game director at Sony’s Santa Monica studio. “It’s powerful, brutal, flashy, cinematic, and visceral.”
You have to be aware of your environment. Sometimes spikes or flames will come up out of the ground. Whenever you slay another player, your character does a little victory dance.
Ascension’s multiplayer mode will let two teams of four players compete and then tackle a gigantic boss — like the cyclops Polythemus in chains above — to achieve final victory. You’re rewarded for killing your opponents in style. You have to continuously whack your enemies to bring them down. But sometimes you can earn a magical “god weapon,” like the spear of Olympus, that brings them down much more easily.
First, your team tries to dominate the other team. Then you have to cooperate. The coolest thing in the demo is how the player lassoed Polythemus at the end and pulled his head down. Then the player with the spear goes in for the attack on the cyclops’ eye, finishing the round with a lot of flare.