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God of War Ascension demo impressions

Massive upgrade graphically in my opinion

textures, geometry, shading, and huge improvement in lighting

I think as good as gow 3 looks, it kind of falls flat in comparison.

The hate I am reading here is just crazy. The combat system is incredible...

each to their own I guess..

I agree about the combat system. The combat system is superb based on the E3 demo that I played. I was talking from a visual perspective. Apart from the lighting I thought GOW 3 looked slightly better. Maybe I need to play GOW3 again to check.
 
Even if kratos tackles other mythologies, that would actually be pretty cool now that I think about it.

Just keep Kratos lol

They need a new character with different weapons and attacks. The blades of chaos are a crutch at this point for the team. And Kratos has just been squeezed out...I don't get who wants to see the supposed "emotional side" of Kratos. "Hey I'm Kratos, ash-white before I killed you all(for some reason), gonna hug you now, don't mind these huge, weird ass chains and blades fused into my arms."
 
I agree about the combat system. The combat system is superb based on the E3 demo that I played. I was talking from a visual perspective. Apart from the lighting I thought GOW 3 looked slightly better. Maybe I need to play GOW3 again to check.
Wut? better lighting is supposed to make it look better,compare the Kratos models from the 2 games and even the backgrounds are a huge improvement.
 
Can you explain how you think it looks worse?

One thing I noticed very quickly: Kratos' weapons were always a light source in GoW3, and as such interacted with the environment. That (and also the many flickering torches etc.) gave the game a really dynamic feel.
I don't know about later levels of Ascension, but at least in the demo the weapons don't act as a light source; not even when you slam them on the ground.
 
I'm playing through the full game now! If anyone has questions... Last of Us demo doesnt work yet :(

What about the production values? How is it feels? As big as Gow 1-2-3? Or does it constantly reminds you that its not a
major game? Also is there much difference with demo? Gow 3 s demo was decent but final game was much improved graphically.
 
What about the production values? How is it feels? As big as Gow 1-2-3? Or does it constantly reminds you that its not a
major game? Also is there much difference with demo? Gow 3 s demo was decent but final game was much improved graphically.
So far it doesnt feel as big and grand as GoW3. But Im still very early, ill let you know. And I havent played the demo!
 
They need a new character with different weapons and attacks. The blades of chaos are a crutch at this point for the team. And Kratos has just been squeezed out...I don't get who wants to see the supposed "emotional side" of Kratos. "Hey I'm Kratos, ash-white before I killed you all(for some reason), gonna hug you now, don't mind these huge, weird ass chains and blades fused into my arms."

Indeed.

I think the core mechanics of the God of War series are fine. I enjoy how 'fluid' the combat feels. Nevertheless, I would welcome a more deeper combat system with a more wide moveset. I would also welcome a brand new character, storyline and settings.
 
The demo compared to the opening of GOW3 was a little weak but compared to the demo of GOW3 it was so much better. The colors are more vibrant and the lighting is incredible. Overall the game play was more fluid in my opinion. I like that they focus on one weapon because to be honest not many used the different weapons the series had before. Having the ability to R1 enemy weapons adds a good mix to the combat.

But it was the demo and it isn't the full game. So hopefully the full game will deliver. I think it will. The trailer with the snake still gets me pumped.


EDIT: When the LAST OF US demo is playable.....post spoiler free hyperbole please
 
Indeed.

I think the core mechanics of the God of War series are fine. I enjoy how 'fluid' the combat feels. Nevertheless, I would welcome a more deeper combat system with a more wide moveset. I would also welcome a brand new character, storyline and settings.

Well your blades weren't even upgrades so there are multiples tiers of upgrades to be had still. That being said it had the best base set of moves of any of the games. I feel it's pretty deep, though I always welcome it to become deeper.

I feel that more diversity is what is needed versus just deeper sets of combos.
 
I think they should:

Keep the core mechanics
Keep the epic scale
Maybe keep the name

Drop Kratos and greek mithology.

I love greek mithology but i think we already killed almost everything greeks created.

I think they should do something similar to bioshock infinite. Create something new while maintaining the essence.
 
I doubt they'd drop Kratos. He's extremely popular. Just make up some time travel storyline and have him fight in other time periods/places.
 
I was playing GOW3 and the combat feels better than GOWA.

Every hit feels satisfying. Sure, it's no Metal Gear Rising, but I actually enjoyed it more than GOWA.

I hope the demo felt like this simply because this is Kratos without his upgrades.
 
Like I said before we didn't see the full opening.

The last of demo wont be available at launch btw.
I know this now! *tears* it is evil because you can select it from the menu though. It then takes you to a special section with a countdown that says 0000 and says press start to Launch demo! Then it just opens up the store to buy Uncharted dlc... Evil man. Evil

*now with evil picture*
rpnKqU2.jpg

Please don't post people's personal info for the lurkers. It's there only for gaffers.
Thanks man. That was weird..
 
I know this now! *tears* it is evil because you can select it from the menu though. And it takes you to a special section with a countdown that says 0000 and says press start to Launch demo! Then it just opens up the store to buy Uncharted dlc... Evil man. Evil

Thanks man. That was weird..
Anymore impressions?
 
Massive upgrade graphically in my opinion

textures, geometry, shading, and huge improvement in lighting

I think as good as gow 3 looks, it kind of falls flat in comparison.

The hate I am reading here is just crazy. The combat system is incredible...

each to their own I guess..

Massive?

As, someone mentioned the amount of dynamic light sources in GOW3 just isn't present in Acension..maybe this isn't final code? Also the overall lighting and IQ, from what I've seen, looks better in GOW3, not liking the brown look to it.

Another thing did they tone down the blood? Doesn't seem to have that shiny sheen to it anymore.

Look at this fight with Hercules, all the dynamic light sources and blood splatter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLv8Wj_M10g
 
Massive?

As, someone mentioned the amount of dynamic light sources in GOW3 just isn't present in Acension..maybe this isn't final code? Also the overall lighting and IQ, from what I've seen, looks better in GOW3, not liking the brown look to it.

Another thing did they tone down the blood? Doesn't seem to have that shiny sheen to it anymore.

Look at this fight with Hercules, all the dynamic light sources and blood splatter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLv8Wj_M10g

My favourite fight in the entire game. Graphically, GOW3 here looks better than GOWA here. Just look at how good the IQ, lighting, shading and motion blur is. Hell, the music is fantastic too. Sound effects are nice and meaty.

I know this now! *tears* it is evil because you can select it from the menu though. It then takes you to a special section with a countdown that says 0000 and says press start to Launch demo! Then it just opens up the store to buy Uncharted dlc... Evil man. Evil

*now with evil picture*
rpnKqU2.jpg


Thanks man. That was weird..
So, is GOWA a good game?
 
Massive?

As, someone mentioned the amount of dynamic light sources in GOW3 just isn't present in Acension..maybe this isn't final code? Also the overall lighting and IQ, from what I've seen, looks better in GOW3, not liking the brown look to it.

Another thing did they tone down the blood? Doesn't seem to have that shiny sheen to it anymore.

Look at this fight with Hercules, all the dynamic light sources and blood splatter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLv8Wj_M10g

its a demo.
 
I thought the demo was okay, but I think maybe I'm just burned out on GOW.

The key with God of War is to not play a bunch of them in a row, otherwise you'll be bored to death. They're great games, but there's relatively little innovation from one to the next. I can only ever play one at a time, with months between these days.

Still looking forward to Ascension next week.
 
I think incorporating hand combat in GOWA ascension is the best thing to ever happen.

seriously, its like a revelation. It plays so amazingly well and I think it adds a lot of depth to the combat now. Not to mention feeling more visceral compared to other gow titles.
 
you havent seen any of its other scenes...........?I mean, you just gave the hercules chapter as an example....and how far is that in the gow3 again?

I didn't give anything as an example. I'm not arguing that GOW3 looks better or worse or whatever.

I'm trying to follow their argument. If the argument is about about the dynamic light sources (from Kratos' basic weapons) and blood effects, then those things would likely be present in this demo which is 99% complete. They aren't going to suddenly change the blood effects later in the game.

The weapon effects might change. And of course the rest of the game isn't going to be brown, we already know that.
 
Am I missing something in the GOWA demo?

Hand to hand combat?

Also, the game shows a sword that you can pic up, then immediately disappears? What is up with that.
 
It was a classy super-wide screen .gif of slamming the boss's head into the side of the thing while the whole deal rotates.

Am I missing something in the GOWA demo?

Hand to hand combat?

Also, the game shows a sword that you can pic up, then immediately disappears? What is up with that.

When you don't have a weapon, circle button does punches or a kick. Experiment with it in different parts of a combo or while holding L1. Also tapping the button vs. holding does different things sometimes.

Do you mean the weapon you pick up does not appear in Kratos' hand or on his back? Or do you mean you can't even use it after picking it up? The HUD tells you what weapon you're holding, but it is kind of weird that there's no visual cue on the character model.
 
Massive?

As, someone mentioned the amount of dynamic light sources in GOW3 just isn't present in Acension..maybe this isn't final code? Also the overall lighting and IQ, from what I've seen, looks better in GOW3, not liking the brown look to it.

Another thing did they tone down the blood? Doesn't seem to have that shiny sheen to it anymore.

Look at this fight with Hercules, all the dynamic light sources and blood splatter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLv8Wj_M10g

The blades actual do give off light, it's just very subtle. I just went back and checked, and in the first area when you drop down, if you go to a part where the floor geometry is very close you can see how his blades glowing hits the floor. I'm not sure if they cut the dynamic part but I can see the blades light giving off a reflect on the floor that seems 1:1, it disappears the second he puts his blades away for instance, and I saw the light basically tracking to a swing he was doing, perfectly.

And while that area is probably the best looking area in the game, it's in an enclosed environment where they can spend that much on lighting. There seems to be more lighting overall in larger environments if the GoW:A demos are anything to go by, and the area of that fight is very simple in terms of geometry, another area where Ascension seems to have III beat.

It's not like they've been sitting around twiddling their thumbs and suddenly decided, "hey let's spend more of our poly budget on the environment", they've been improving the tech side since III. Any scene from III put into the Ascension engine would look better by default, and would look much better if they redid the whole scene with the improvements they've made sine III.
 
It was a classy super-wide screen .gif of slamming the boss's head into the side of the thing while the whole deal rotates.



When you don't have a weapon, circle button does punches or a kick. Experiment with it in different parts of a combo or while holding L1. Also tapping the button vs. holding does different things sometimes.

Do you mean the weapon you pick up does not appear in Kratos' hand or on his back? Or do you mean you can't even use it after picking it up? The HUD tells you what weapon you're holding, but it is kind of weird that there's no visual cue on the character model.

So can you actually use the sword in the demo? Because I never managed to figure out how. The sword just disappears on the character and I go back to using the blades.
 
Gow 3 does not look better than GOWA.

I really have no idea what people are seeing.
Definetly, I was playing GoW 3 today and I was amazed by how good it still looks, then I played the GoW: A demo and it definetly looks better than GoW3.

I think people shouldn't worry about the color palette since the Total Recall Demo was full of color :D

Did someone notice that some combat mechanics were changed from the Total Recall Demo like:

- They added sprint with L3 or R3 (don't remember) in the Prison demo.

- In the TR Demo L1 + X was a bomb like attack and in the Prison demo it was the parry when you upgrade the blades to lvl. 2.

- The parry in the TR Demo was like in previous games minus the fleece.
 
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