14 DAY TRIAL // Jason McDonald, the lead combat designer working on God of War: Ascension, says that the multiplayer side of the game was created because the team was curious about its potential rather than because the team wanted to tick another box on the cover.
The developer tells the official PlayStation Blog that "We tried out a few tests using Kratos, as he was already built. What we found was that people would sit down with two Kratoses and have a lot of fun. They’d sit there for hours. "
The first incarnation of multiplayer for God of War: Ascension was very rough, but the development team at Sony Santa Monica saw the potential of the game mode and decided to make it a centerpiece of the title.
McDonald adds, "After that it was all about putting the God of War spin on it – making sure the scale reaches what we expect, and not just eight players bundled into a room fighting each other. We had to design modes and rules to make sure it wasn’t repetitive."
The final version of the new God of War includes both a cooperative mode, allowing two players to join forces in order to take out waves of monsters and bosses, and competitive modes, which allow teams or individuals to battle for glory and experience.
When multiplayer was announced as a feature of Ascension, many long-term fans were skeptical, but Sony has shown it publicly ahead of launch and the experience managed to impress.
A lot of recent high-profile titles, including the Tomb Raider reboot, are adding multiplayer to keep the experience interesting in the long term.
Ascension is the last video game featuring Kratos to be launched on the PlayStation 3, and Sony Santa Monica is rumored to be working on a new game using similar mechanics for the PS4.
God of War: Ascension launches on March 12.