God of War Ascension

The first thing I noticed about God of War: Ascension was how familiar it was.
I haven't played a God of War game since God of War II on the PlayStation 2 - aside from a couple of second-rate PSP games - but I jumped straight into God of War: Ascension and was immediately grapple-hooking away with the best of them.
God of War: Ascension is about the rise of Kratos from mere mortal to a God.
The God of War, Ares, tricked Kratos into killing his wife and child, and now - unsurprisingly - they're not exactly pals.
Breaking a blood oath to Ares doesn't come without its downsides, however, and Kratos is captured and tortured by three 'Furies' .
As the game starts, Kratos has to break free. After that, he's on the warpath and has to take out the three Furies as his rage grows and consumes him.
The first Fury, Megaera, is a woman with spidery legs protruding from her back.
Like almost everything in the God of War franchise, she's ripped directly from Greek mythology.
On escaping my chains, I chased her through an ancient prison, tackling enemies along the way.

The core game mechanics in God of War haven't changed - you still hack, slash, and button-mash.
You have three main attacks assigned to the square, triangle and circle buttons, as well as a throw move and big, gory, cinematic finishers. The enemies are detailed and fantastical oversized locusts - men with the features of bugs.

There have been some minor changes to classic God of War quicktime events, though.
In my first battle, when I was trying to break free from my chains as Megaera was attacking me, I had to learn when to dodge rather than follow a button prompt on screen.
That's not to say button prompts have gone away altogether - during a later boss fight I had to pull one off to complete the finishing move.
The progression system is the biggest change to the franchise - you can collect and use items, and it appears that your weapons will change as the game goes on, as well.
I didn't get the opportunity to explore that in my hands-on session, however.
If you've played a God of War game before, you know exactly what to expect from Ascension. In the half-hour section of the game we played, there wasn't a whole lot that was new, and the new features are so subtle in implementation that you may not even notice the change.
It seems fans who love God of War just the way it is are going to love Ascension as well.

God of War: Ascension
From: Sony
Classification: R16
Platform: PS3
RRP: $119.19
-PC World