If you saw the God of War: Ascension trailer last week, you saw a joke. The trailer started with a distinctly Kratos-esque character glaring back at the player. Once the camera pulled back, the character donned a helmet and started attacking a giant Cyclops. Second later, the first character was joined by a second warrior.
The first character threw a chain at the Cyclops, pulling it off balance. The second character jumped onto the back of the Cyclops, pulling it back to expose the belly of the beast. Soon, the Cyclops was disemboweled. The developers then pointed out that the second character on the screen was a second player. What was being shown was not co-op, but rather four-on-four multiplayer.
The two players that were shown jumped down to join two other players in a large arena. Red-painted Spartans crossed swords, or hammers, with blue-painted Greeks fighting in battles that looked exactly like the typical God of War battles, except with other people controlling the combatants.
In the background of the battle was a Titan Cyclops that was chained down. The objective of this particular multiplayer arena is to capture a specific point on the map before the opposing team. The point in question tightens the chains on the Titan and brings him down into the world.
The winning team in this battle was rewarded with the Javelin of Olympus. The javelin came hurdling towards Earth for anyone to take. The player that grabbed the javelin shot glowing javelins at his opponents while making his way towards the vulnerable Titan. The player making his way towards the Titan finished off opposing players in a very God of War way that lasted slightly longer than a traditional fight involving Kratos.
Upon reaching the Titan, the rest of the team joined him to take on the Titan. The players throw chains at his head, pulling the Titan ever closer. The player with the javelin leapt at the Titan, slashing at his face. Shortly thereafter, the Titan’s chin split in half. In order to finish off the beast, the Spartans threw chains at the Cyclops’ eye, pulling him even closer. The warrior with the Javelin of Olympus charged the Titan, jumped and plunged the spear into its eye.
This is one of seven multiplayer maps available in God of War: Ascension. The first half of the game has players capturing different points while the second half focuses on killing the Titan. There has been no mention as to what the other maps will feature.
Multi-player will feature light RPG elements and the ability to choose between four patron deities (Hades, Ares, Zeus, and Poseidon) although they were not detailed as much.
The PlayStation Blog did a live stream featuring all things God of War: Ascension was posted today; the replay is available to view here.
(Via Games Radar)