14 DAY TRIAL // The big surprise was not that a new God of War video game was in development at the Santa Monica Sony studios, but that the new game was ready to add multiplayer to the franchise, which for three core games has only focused on the adventures of the Spartan Kratos.
Fans of the franchise were happy to learn the details for the new cooperative and competitive modes, and it seems that multiplayer might increase the appeal of God of War: Ascension.
Jesse Divnich, who is an analyst working for EEDAR, spoke to GamesIndustry and stated, “EEDAR has run numerous studies on the impact on multiplayer on game sales. We have found that when executed properly, multiplayer does have a positive impact on initial and long-term sales.”
The analyst says that there’s a big difference between experiences in which the multiplayer side of the game is simply an add-on that has little connection to the actual world and story and those gamers that seem to mix the two elements in innovative ways.
He added, “We are confident that the Santa Monica Studio recognizes the common pitfalls. As a studio with a great pedigree, I am sure any multiplayer component will be additive to the God of War experience and not simply a tacked on feature.”
Ascension will allow each player to customize his own hero, complete with traits and weapons, and then take them out into the game world, joining other Spartans to take out mythical beats and then fighting them in order to get experience and other rewards.
The single player of the new God of War will be a prequel and the development team says that players will see Kratos as never before and will get a chance to explore his humanity.
God of War: Ascension will be launched during spring 2013 and remains a PlayStation 3 excusive title.