
Click here for all new screenshots
The two primary weapons shown off during the demo were a huge sword and a giant hammer. While the total number of weapons that will be available isn't being revealed yet, the two on display both had their distinct advantages and associated move-set. Certain combos revealed the presence of some sort of chain-blades that allowed players to fling each other around, but whether or not the Blades of Chaos would actually appear as a primary weapon is still to be determined. What is known, however, is that Kratos himself isn't a playable character in any of the currently-planned game modes.
"We're not doing Kratos in multiplayer," Papy said. "Basically, from our standpoint, nobody wants to be Robin [of Batman and Robin fame]. And we would have had a bunch of Robins. And I [also] didnt' want Red Kratos vs. Green Kratos vs. Yellow Kratos, or that kind of thing. That's why we came up with this mythology." That said, a suggestion of a 7-on-1 multiplayer mode in which one player plays as Kratos and other players compete to take him out seemed to intrigue Papy as a possibility.
Although God of War: Ascension's single-player component wasn't on display, Papy was quick to assure fans that the team realizes the importance of delivering the spectacular single-player prequel that's also been promised. "Single player is our bread and butter. There's no 'ifs,' 'ands,' or 'buts,' about it. That's what we're known for," he said. "But we wanted to try something new."
Speaking directly to the challenge of bringing God of War's traditionally single-player-only combat into competitive multiplayer, Papy mentioned that it's a monumental task that the team is still working on perfecting. "Taking our single-player code and making that network-safe is still something that we're working on, still wrestling with," he said. "To make sure we continue that feel of God of War with hit-pauses, or even anticipating attacks when they come in, and doing all of this attacker-side vs. defender-side so that the hits look right. That's a shit-ton of work."
I'll admit to being quite skeptical about the notion of adding multiplayer to the God of War series, but based on what I saw at the recent demo, that skepticism has morphed into excited (but cautious) optimism. The action seems to retain that trademark God of War style, and if the team is able to pull it off successfully (and by all indications, so far, they will), it could usher in a type of fast-paced, melee-driven competitive multiplayer that's never been done before. For fans of the series (like me), it could turn out to be very exciting stuff, once the game is released.
Except for CoD, but only because it's yearly. I just fail to understand the "Hey, I don't enjoy this series so they s...
*sigh* Another "How can people like stuff I don't personally like!" post. These make me happy.
More games than those of had installments just as frequent. Right, I forgot it's cool to hate on the more popular ser...