Weekend Reading: The Adrenaline Burst of God of War: Ascension Multiplayer

I’ve played quite a bit of the multiplayer beta for the God of War: Ascension and each session of the game, regardless of the time spent and the mode I tried out, left me with something that video games rarely give me anymore: a slight tremble in my hands.

The reason is the adrenaline that’s pumping through my body under command of my brain when I am playing God of War: Ascension, generated by the simple yet engaging gameplay and the quick, tough, exciting battles that the game delivers.

The fighter I control can break an enemy in half a second only to lose half his heart in a few seconds and then get killed himself via a sword to the chest.

I remember the same sensation hitting me when I was young and playing Carmageddon on my PC or when engaging in long duels in the arcade version of Mortal Kombat and I welcome its return.

It shows me that games still have the power to influence me on a biological level.

I am also a little disappointed that the adrenaline release of God of War: Ascension is an event, a remarkable occurrence, given the array of techniques that current developers can use to deliver something similar.

I don’t expect strategy games or role-playing games to flood me with adrenaline as their beauty is more cerebral and takes long to be revealed.

But action games and shooters have been tame in the last few years and found no clear ways to again surprise jaded audiences, even when upping the blood and violence quotient.

God of War: Ascension seems to have found a way to create experiences that are constantly exciting and it will be interesting to see how the fan community welcomes the new multiplayer modes when the game is officially launched, during late March.