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PSA: God of War: Ascension multiplayer DLC now free on PSN
Sony's Santa Monica Studio commemorates the one-year anniversary of God of War: Ascension's release by giving away its multiplayer DLC for free through next week. From now through next Tuesday, players can pick up God of War: Ascension's armor and weapon DLC packs free of charge via the PlayStation Network. Sony Santa Monica has also slashed the price of its XP Booster add-ons by 50 percent, in a bid to entice new players to join Ascension's multiplayer component. Dedicated fans can also earn a PSN voucher code for a unique in-game tattoo and a cape that boosts character health and attack power by posting in this community thread through April 8. [Image: Sony]
2014 Writers Guild Awards video game nominees announced
The Writers Guild of America announced the nominees for the 2014 Writers Guild Awards Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing today. The writing teams for five games were nominated for the annual award, as follows: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Batman: Arkham Origins God of War: Ascension The Last of Us Lost Planet 3 Only games that launched between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2013 were eligible for nomination. The 2014 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2014 in both Los Angeles and New York simultaneously. Past winners of the Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award were the writers of the following games, who were also part of the guild in order to be considered: Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation (2013), Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2012), Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2011), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2010) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2009).
God of War: Ascension game director leaves Sony Santa Monica
God of War: Ascension Game Director Todd Papy's last day at the Sony Santa Monica studios was November 1, the developer announced on Twitter. His tweet notes that he was "extremely honored to have been part of that team" and that he's bound for Germany. When asked if it meant he was finished with game development, Papy stated that he hasn't "quit games." Papy previously worked on God of War and God of War 2, as well as projects with publisher Atari Games such as Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA.
God of War: Ascension hits PSN Oct. 15, team ends DLC development
Sony Sana Monica has finished its DLC efforts for God of War: Ascension, but will continue to assess the need of balance patches "in the weeks or months ahead," a post to the PlayStation Blog has detailed. The post also announced that Ascension will descend on the PlayStation Network on October 15. The team's most immediate balance efforts will come in an update meant to "tune-up all the Allegiances," the bonds between a player's character and Greek gods that grant them specific powers. The post notes that team will be "monitoring online 24/7" in search of future exploits that need to be addressed. In honor of the game's digital release, Ascension's DLC will be marked down to "special pricing" and the Ascension soundtrack will be free for all PSN users to download for a limited time. A Double XP Weekend is also planned worldwide from October 18 - 21.
PSA: The Last of Us demo unlocked in God of War: Ascension
If you have a copy of God of War: Ascension, you can check out a free The Last of Us demo today. Access the demo through Ascension's main menu, which will auto-direct to the PlayStation Store and queue up the download. The demo contains the Outskirts level of The Last of Us, where Joel, Ellie and Tess must take on multiple infected - including the clickers we tussled with earlier this year. The Last of Us is Naughty Dog's latest, the story of mankind's attempt to survive the fungi-infected remnants of an apocalyptic outbreak from two decades ago. Protagonists Ellie and Joel will also need to avoid other human beings on their journey across a ravaged United States.
God of War: Ascension multiplayer DLC gets primordial
God of War: Ascension has two new pieces of multiplayer DLC, with the Typhoon Armor and Mercenary Sword available on the PS Store now for $2.99 each, Multiplayer deities should prepare to feel the wrath of Sony Santa Monica via some new maps, coming "soon."
Today's Amazon gaming Gold Box is for grown-ups
Today's gold-coated, quick-fire deals from Amazon seem to have one thing in common: plenty of moider. A good portion of the deals are for games that get a bit angry and violent; we spot a mouth-frothing line-up that hints at Halo 4, Hitman: Absolution, and Dead Space 3 deals among others. Then there's the not-especially-calm Gears of War: Judgment, which is going for $34.99 until 8AM ET (5AM PT), tempestuously fidgeting as it revs its chainsaw.At least the all-day deal brings peace and serenity in the form of God of War: Ascension. The latest PS3 whimsy starring the gentle, philanthropic demigod Kratos politely requests $39.99 for its individual services, or $279.99 for its 500GB Garnet Red PS3 bundle, which also includes God of War: Saga and a cuddly Kratos plushie (or at least it should).
Analyst: Gears of War: Judgment, God of War: Ascension weak in March
Analyst firm Cowen & Company estimates high-profile March launches God of War: Ascension and Gears of War: Judgment both sold far less than their predecessors. The firm projects (via GI.biz) that Ascension sold 360,000 in the US during March and Judgment moved 425,000, down from first-month sales of 1.1 million for God of War 3 and over three million in Gears of War 3's first week of availability.A much better March for Tomb Raider and BioShock Infinite is predicted. The Crystal Dynamics reboot has amassed 696,000 sales in the US over March, while the firm says BioShock Infinite is near 665,000 in just 10 days.Cowen & Company predicts NPD data for March will show a decline in software and hardware spend compared to last year, though the firm is hopeful the launches of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and SimCity will help contribute to a substantial increase in PC game sales.
God of War: Ascension update increases level cap, fixes audio glitches
God of War: Ascension's 1.04 multiplayer update, outlined by Sony Santa Monica designer Vincent Napoli in a new PlayStation Blog post, will bump up the level cap over 30 and through the "Elite Levels," up to 40. These new levels will enable a new item, two relics, and a new ultimate magic spell for the game's four allegiances.The update will also include a multiplayer stats screen and a number of bug fixes. Audio issues are the biggest priority there, but problems with matchmaking and certain weapon unlocks are also due to be fixed in this update. There's no official release date for the patch yet, but Napoli says it's on the way.
God of War: Ascension's 'Trial of Archimedes' patch out now
A promised patch to adjust the difficulty found during a late game combat sequence in God of War: Ascension has been deployed. Santa Monica Studio Community Strategist Aaron Kaufman posted on the PlayStation Blog to explained the changes introduced by the game's patch.Found in Chapter 28 of the game's single-player campaign, the 'Trial of Archimedes' pits Kratos against waves of enemies as he ascends a tower toward Ascension's final chapter. The tweak will now provide players across all difficulties with a slew of "green health orbs and a nominal amount of blue magic orbs" after each successive wave, of which there are three."In every God of War game, establishing a well-paced difficulty ramp towards the end of the game is paramount to us. Based on player response, the degree of challenge offered here was short of our goal of being perfectly balanced," Kaufman wrote.The 1.03 patch also adds new, visual multiplayer customization options called "Marks" that players can obtain based on a number of criteria, including selected allegiance. For more details, check the PlayStation Blog.
Buy God of War: Ascension, get a whole Pantheon of War free
Through March 24, if you buy God of War: Ascension from GameStop.com, you'll get God of War Saga, the PS3 collection with five more God of War games. Don't play them all together, though. You'd probably start seeing everything as a mythological creature to be bisected.
God of War: Ascension's tough 'Trial of Archimedes' to be patched
One particular section of Sony Santa Monica's God of War: Ascension has players quite miffed: the Trial of Archimedes. It's a long gameplay encounter near the end of the game, with no checkpoints and few health drops.Game director Todd Papy took to Twitter to say the developer is "looking into patching it" now. "I personally tuned it. I didn't mean for it to be so hard. We are looking into patching it," Pappy wrote in one tweet. In another, he said the patch was likely to arrive "very soon."God of War: Ascension launched on PS3 this week. In our review, we likened Ascension to "a car riding in the spectacle slipstream of its predecessors, never quite able to surpass them."
Metareview: God of War: Ascension
God of War: Now With Multiplayer is what Ascension could have been called. Much like our review, other outlets found the single-player campaign satisfactory. It's in the multiplayer portion of Ascension where opinions begin to differ and scores diverge based on how much importance was placed on this evolution of the franchise. Destructoid (90/100): "God of War has never looked or played better than this. Kratos has never been as deep or interesting as this. They've set the bar so high that I have no idea how they'll be able to follow this one up. Sony Santa Monica should be proud. Series fans should be proud." Gamespot (80/100): "The single-player is where you should spend your time. No, it doesn't quite reach the audacious and rage-filled moments of God of War: Ascension's predecessors, nor does it move the series forward in any way, but it's skilfully put together, and wonderfully satisfying to play." GamesRadar (70/100): "Also somewhat disappointing are the newly added multiplayer features, which are held up by clever level design and strong game modes, but smacked down by uninteresting gameplay. It sounds great in theory, but in practice it turns out there's nothing less fun than being beat up by someone as powerful as Kratos." VideoGamer (70/100): "The multiplayer component is as fresh as the single-player is familiar. Ask yourself what you're after from a God of War game: if you desire only to step into the boots of gaming's most brutish, then you may find Ascension wanting. If, however, you're open to the idea of taking on the mantle of another Spartan hero, you'll find it a limb-lopping, head-popping delight. Just don't tell Kratos, eh?" Edge (70/100): "Consider our expectations defied: this is the star of the show. While this series' singleplayer template is showing its age, there's plenty in Ascension's multiplayer that deserves to survive the transition to PS4."
Controversial God of War: Ascension trophy altered in upcoming patch
In a statement sent to Joystiq, developer Sony Santa Monica has confirmed it will change the name of a controversial God of War: Ascension trophy in a patch that should be available alongside the game on Tuesday. Once the patch is applied, the name of the trophy will be "Bros Before Foes."Originally named "Bros Before Hos" (as seen above), the trophy pops up soon after you help God of War's anti-hero, Kratos, brutally pummel a Fury, one of a trio of female antagonists in the game. (Though it's not a spoiler in light of the fact that Kratos beats everyone up, we've omitted the trophy description.) The change comes after negative reaction from early reviews to the jarring scene on and the attached award, which is perceived as misogynistic."We have created and will soon push out a patch for God of War: Ascension that alters the title of one of the game Trophies. The text was offensive to some members of our community and impacted their enjoyment of the game," Sony Santa Monica's statement noted. "We are endlessly committed to ensuring that our community can fully enjoy the experiences the team has created. As such, we've addressed the feedback and amended the Trophy in question."Players will be instructed to download the update once God of War: Ascension has been inserted into an internet-connected PlayStation 3. No other aspect of the game is affected by the patch.God of War: Ascension launches exclusively for the PlayStation 3 on March 12, 2013. For more on the game, check out Joystiq's review.
God of War: Ascension review: Spectacle slipstream
In the race for spectacle, Sony Santa Monica's God of War franchise is constantly attempting to lap itself. From striking down a god to tearing down giants, it would seem there are few bodies – human, mythical being, god or behemoth – left for Kratos to shatter. In response to the angry protagonist's bloody evolution, Santa Monica has ventured to the only place left for Kratos to wage war: the past.God of War: Ascension tells the story of Kratos before the events of his all-out war against Ares, the Greek God of War. But the narrative fabric woven throughout the franchise has begun to split, and Ascension's thinly constructed premise does little to enhance its characters in any meaningful way.Its narrative issues aside, Ascension provides the distinct God of War flair required to eradicate all that stands in Kratos' way. Wielding a familiar set of chained blades, the popular anti-hero fluidly works his murder-pinwheel magic to perfection. The combat system, however, is less complicated than before, abandoning an arsenal of collected weaponry in favor of sticking with Kratos' trusty, sharp sidekicks. It's Kratos at his least materialistic, eschewing the pack-rat mentality of previous entries in favor of simplicity. %Gallery-181288%
GameStop adds All-Stars pre-order perk for God of War: Ascension
God of War: Ascension adds a voucher for two PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale characters with pre-orders from GameStop. The dueling duo is Zeus from the God of War series and Isaac Clarke of Dead Space fame, both of whom we met in February for PS All-Stars. The characters will unlock on March 19.This DLC joins the previous Ascension pre-order perk at GameStop, the Champions Pack that includes a skin of King Leonidas from 300, a 48-hour multiplayer XP boost and the Mythological Heroes Multiplayer Pack. The Champions Pack also includes a poster, but that's less "DLC" and more "reality."[Thanks, Bradley!]
Creating God of War: Ascension's 'elephantaur'
This behind-the-scenes video of God of War: Ascension shows the creation of the game's unique elephant-like creature. The final version of the "elephantaur" can be seen soon, as the game will be available for PS3 on March 12.
God of War: Ascension enables The Last of Us demo May 31
Synergy! The demo for Naughty Dog's upcoming fungi-fueled survival game, The Last of Us, will be accessible on May 31, 2013, through copies of God of War: Ascension. The demo will be accessible through the front menu of God of War: Ascension, as Sony has previously revealed.We've contacted Naughty Dog for further clarification as to whether this demo will ever be available to those without God of War: Ascension. The Last of Us was originally due on May 7, until it was pushed back to June 14 worldwide.
God of War: Ascension 'Trials of the Gods' co-op time trial mode revealed
You and a buffed-up, half-naked friend can get your ancient WWE on thanks to a newly revealed co-op mode in God of War: Ascension. As developer Sony Santa Monica spilled on the PlayStation Blog, the brawler includes a mode called 'Trials of the Gods' in which you and a pal have to take down hordes of enemies as quickly as possible, since there's a time limit and all.Each kill puts more seconds on the clock, while each wave of beasts grants you bonus time based on how quickly you clear it; there are five waves to fend off, with an "epic boss" as numero cinco. Trials of the Gods will be supported by four maps when Ascension launches next week, and Sony Santa Monica says there are more on the way. Also, any XP you earn in the mode goes towards upgrading champions across all multiplayer modes.If that hasn't satiated your bloodthirst for bloody content, check out new videos for the multiplayer maps and Poseidon champion allegiance after the break.
God of War: Ascension includes King Leonidas DLC with GameStop pre-order
This is: a clip of the King Leonidas multiplayer skin for God of War: Ascension. This is: a timely tie-in with the 2007 film 300. This is: what you get when you pre-order from GameStop. This is: a sigh.
