Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio
Platform: PlayStation 3
Rating: 18
Genre: Action/Adventure

The first three God Of War games were all jaw-dropping, incredibly over-the-top action beat-em-ups that all had the same problem; Kratos. The "hero" of the series was such an unlikable dick that even as you were enjoying playing as him, you didn't particular like him. But with God Of War 3 apparently being the end of his tale, Ascension takes us back to before the events of Part One, and possibly giving some more colour to our hero to make him that bit more palatable.
Starting off fighting one of the Furies Sisters after breaking your oath to Aries, you find yourself fighting her while on the back of a giant, living, constantly moving prison. This opening sequence is a breathless reminder of how epic these games were, and is a fantastic taster for newbies to the series. But unfortunately, a taster is all this is, as we're then hurled back three weeks earlier, and we're left to find out what has happened that got us into that prison-scrap in the first place.

As per usual, playing as Kratos is A LOT of fun, with your super powerful weapons tearing up bad guys into uniquely violent little bits. With countless power-ups and many different variations available across the game, Ascension does its best to keep your attention as you run into wave after wave of mostly identical bad guys. The visuals are as crisp and detailed as ever, but that overwhelming sense of hugeness that came with prior GoW games is mostly gone, and the story itself feels incidental when compared to the hugely involving war against the gods from the previous games.
Puzzles have been brought more into the fore, but aside from the ability to decay or repair your surroundings, there's nothing you haven't seen dozens of times before. Multiplayer is fun for a short while, but it's not something you'll be coming back to over and over again in the months to come.

Overall, God Of War Ascension is the most technically finessed but least memorable of the series to date. It is fun while you're playing it, but we've come to expect more from Kratos than just being a bit of fun.

Rent or Buy: Rent
Graphics: 4/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replay: 2/5
Overall: 3.5/5