PS3 God of War: Ascension - Multiplayer Beta

[wholehole]

I spent a bit of time playing this last night and was quite impressed with what they've done. Considering I didn't think it was going to work at all, it was a nice surprise.

The only game mode available in the beta is Favour of the Gods, both team and ffa flavours. You have to run around the arena, gain favour at each of the altars dotted around and defend your captured altars from the enemy team. It only takes about 5-10 seconds (depending on whether it is currently captured or not) so the altars can switch sides frequently. Each altar you capture gains your team "Favour" and it's these points that allow you to win the match, around 8000 for the team game.

There's no explanation of how the game works so most players are treating it like a standard deathmatch and just killing each other over and over. You get points for kills but the lion's share is gained by capturing the altars. Hopefully this will change in time as everyone gets more familiar and it'll make the matches slightly less one-sided.
The combat is standard God of War fare with weak and strong attacks, block, dodge and a kick. You have a two special moves at your disposal which are dependent on the weapon you have equipped, a magic spell and a choice of various items. Round that out with a ranged throw, the ability to parry weak attacks and executions and you've got something that's fast, responsive and violent.

They've included an experience and leveling system which unlocks better armour to improve your stats and grants you points to spend on unlocking or upgrading new abilities.

It's worth having a go if you're a PS+ subscriber as it's a bit different to other multiplayer games out there. Should be a fun little distraction when the full game is released.