The latest iteration of the Playstation-exclusive Greek mythology-themed action adventure series God of War has been unveiled by Sony. Titled God of War: Ascension, the new game is set as a prequel to the God of War series. Sony announced that the title will be released come spring of 2013. The bad news is that game will have no multiplayer mode. This is quite puzzling since the trend in console games has been toward multiplayer interactivity. Series fans can now look forward to the return of the game’s protagonist, Kratos. To top off the reveal announcement, Sony also released a trailer for the game. Sadly, there is very little information provided by Sony. However, we can pick up a few hints from the trailer. The trailer shows Kratos bloodied and in the shadows. He is bound in chains and an omenous voice talks about “a time before Kratos became the monster known as the Ghost of Sparta.”
The good news is that the trailer, towards the end, shows off Kratos breaking off his chains and the voice announces “A time when he would break his blood oath to an unjust god, a time when he would no longer be bound in blood.” The final image of the trailer shows the image of the PS3. In religious and spiritual terms, the term “ascension” means going to heaven without having to die first. It has been used to refer to spiritual enlightenment or achieving a higher state of being.
Sony’s teaser is the culmination of several weeks’ anticipation marketing. Earlier, there was a mysterious image of Kratos posted on the the official Playstation page on Facebook. Last February, game retailer BT Games posted a God of War 4 product listing. Previously, composer Timothy Williams said that he was producing material for the fourth God of War installment. If all of the above aren’t clear enough indicators of God of War 4, last year Sony Santa Monica sent out recruitment ads looking for people to join the game’s development team. Interestingly enough, the ad mentioned a need for multiplayer services like player matchmaking and stat leaderboards. While the game is geared towards the PS3, the senior director of product development at Sony Santa Monica said that the God of War franchise might still make it to the mobile platforms or Playstation Vita format.