Ghost of Sparta, Ascension, and other ungodly surprises

A long time ago, I was convinced to play 4 God of War games, and I thought it would be a brilliant idea to split it into two videos, and, in essence, double the view count without much work. That was Part 1 and Part 2. Th?at was three years ago. That was a ??better time. That was video.jbsgame.com.

Since then, two more God of War game have been released, and I can finally make Part 3. Ghost of Sparta and Ascension ?;for your gory pleasure, then a bunch of demos because I felt 18 minutes was a good video l??ength.

Also, The Gaming Brit is Esoteric.

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Improvements to matchmaking are also in the works

The next update for God of War: Ascension will address some issues with multiplayer as well as? add a couple of features. For starters, Sony Santa Monica intends to raise the level cap from 30 up to 40 while adding one i??tem, two relics, and an ultimate magic for all of the game's allegiances.

Update 1.04 also adds the option to see your statistics from the main menu, addresses problems with audio dropping, promises better-optimized matchmaking, and has fixes for unlocking the Spear of Destiny and Barbarian Hammer alongside&n?bsp;other tweaks to weapon-shard drops.

Let's hope this support continues for months to come. Are you still playing Ascension's multiplayer? Sounds li??ke the team is about to announce downloadable content.

God of War: Ascen??sion Update Brings New Features and Fixes [PlayStation Blog]

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The Trial of Archimedes is now a shadow of its former self

When God of War: Ascension came out, people seemed to f??orget that it was an action game, and occasionally may put up a fight. Much like the penultimate fight in the first God of War (against the Kratos clones), Ascension has a similarly taxing area -- th??e Trial of Archimedes.

Enough people complained, and now, Sony has rolled out a patch to make the area easier. How much easier? Well, it basically ruined the entire area. See, the whole point of the Trial is that it's a test of your abili??ty to cope with attrition. You have to go through three waves of enemies, with barely any health items to recover your stamina.

Now, post-patch you receive health and magic orbs at the end of every wave. To add insult to injury, this update "affects all difficulty levels" according to Sony. See, I would have ?been perfectly fine with an update that helped players who wanted to tackle the Easy difficulty, but to go all the way up to Titan Mode? It cheapens the most fun part of the game for people who want an actual challenge.

If you're about to play the game for the first time, don't patch it, and just try the base build first. I promise, it's not that hard. If all else fails, check out my guide. This nerf was the major focus of th?is new patch, but a few aesthetic multiplayer customization options have been added as well?.

God of War: Ascension [PlayStation Blog]

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Trial of Archimedes giving you trouble?

God of War: Ascension has been giving a lot of people trouble over the past few days, but if you play your cards right, it doesn't have to be a difficult experience -- or, say, nearly as difficult as Metal Gear Rising.

Like Onimusha and Devil May Cry before it, a lot of the game's edge can be taken off with careful planning of ??your weapon experience levels, and a few other tips along the way.

Tame non-story spoilers incoming. I’d recommend saving this article if you get stuck, and need a quick reference:

Single player:

• Here's your top tip for every God of War game. Upgrade your blades first (your main weapon), to the maximum, before anything else. Don't get caught up putting a few thousand red orbs into spells and other things -- power up your blades first and foremost.

  25,000 experience for higher-level blades may seem like a lot, next to the temping 1,000 magic upgrade, but all of the red orbs you earn do add up. I was able to max out my blades far before the Trial of Archimedes (easily the hardest part of the game), so it is possible even though it may seem daunting.

• Choosing where to go next in terms of leveling up is very tricky. Ares is great as it gives you early access to magic and rage. Zeus has one of the most formidable magic attacks in the game. Hades is extremely useful for leeching life.

  Poseidon's ice blades are great for earning more red orbs (more on this in a second), but don't need to be upgraded, necessarily. After maxing out your blades, try going for Zeus, then Ares, then Hades, then Poseidon.

• Although Poseidon's ice blades aren't worth upgrading for a long while, they're easily worth using in general most of the time. Defeating enemies with them will yield large red orbs, which can yield dividends as you upgrade your other abilities.

  I used the ice blades through most of the game, only switching to other elements during particularly tough battles. Don't underestimate the ability of Poseidon's red orb distribution to power up everything else you have.

• Break every object you come across. A lot of them are filled with red orbs that could be the difference between an upgrade for a big fight. Likewise, break all the creature eggs during the parts that have them.

• Make sure and use your throwing grapple for smaller enemies. It's highly effective and works for disabling multiple enemies at once.

• When you earn them, the Hades blades and the accompanying abilities are really good for stun locking weaker enemies.

• The camera can get extremely showboaty at times, and occasionally, this is completely on purpose, to block out hidden items on camera. Make sure you check every nook and cranny for hidden objects and white or red chests. For instance, don't go up a ladder until you've checked a corner.

  This is more of a gene??ral action game tip, as you'll eventually develop a "sixth sense" as to where hidden paths are as opposed to story related paths that will lock you out of prior areas.

  Don't worry about missing some white chests -- there are more Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feather chests than you need to fully upgrade your health and magic.

• You can't earn trophies in New Game+ mode, if that matters to you. This is just a fair warning in case you try to go through it for your Platinum.

• This isn't an in-game tip per se, but if you're looking for your PlayStation All-Stars Isaac and Zeus character codes, it's on the back of the Last of Us demo card inside your case. It doesn't unlock until March 19 and it's super easy to miss.

Trial of Archimedes:

This is the main reason why I wrote this guide, as it was highly requested. If you want to experience the full difficulty, do not patch the game before you beat it, as developer Todd Papy has confirmed that the Trial will be patched soon.

• Stage 1 - First off, equip Hades' blades for the majority of this area for a chance to earn green orbs and keep your health topped off.

  This is the hardest portion of the hardest area in the entire game, but this also your opportunity to liberally use your magic, as the Gorgons will allow you?? to replenish your magic orbs if you initiate the brutal kill minigame (R1 after the red icon appears over their heads).

  Feel free to let Zeus' lighting spell fly as you take down the Gorgons and the Sirens. Grapple the Sirens when the whit?e icon appears above their heads to stun other enemies in their proximity -- you can chain stun two Sirens lik??e this.

  Use your L2+Square and L2+Triangle powers liberally throughout this entire experience -- it's really easy to forget that you have them. If you keep rolling, use your combat items (L2+Square, L2+ Triangle), and burst magic and then earn it back with the Gorgons, you should be ok.

• Stage 2 - Use your full magic meter that you got from the Gorgons to make short work of the warriors, then brutal kill them for a much needed health boost. Grapple the Harpies immediately (you don't need the white indicator) and throw them off the cliff for a one-hit kill.

  When the Talos appears, all you have to do is not get cornered and he will go down easily. Make sure you keep track of the direction of the fire, and head to the top of the screen as often as possible.

• Stage 3 - This is the easiest stage, but it's also fairly easy to die after losing so much health and magic from the other portions. Watch the walls and stay in the middle, using your block more than your dodge rolling as much as possible.

  Use any magic you have on the Centaur, as the other enemies will be far easier. Remember to pull the Liches out of the ground with R1, and that blocking works against all their attacks.

Multiplayer:

• I recommend starting with the Hades faction. It has some of the most diverse abilities for new and experienced players alike.

• Here is a build to get you started:

  Faction: Hades
  Relic: Steal health with brutal kills
  Weapon: Sword (a great mix of speed and power, easy to learn)
  Spell: Life leech
  L2 ability: Health steal cloud

  This build makes it extremely easy to keep your health topped off, while giving yourself decent attack capabilities. From what I've seen, most of the factions are fairly balanced, except for Poseidon, which feels underpowered in this current vers??ion.

  You can easily change your faction with the Triangle button when customizing your champion, but all of them have different level tracks.

• Do not underestimate the effectiveness of regular Square-button attacks. Players often aren't used to constantly blocking and will be left open. Also, the few seconds after power attacks (L2+Square, L2+Triangle) are great opportunities for a combo with Square attacks.

• Learn the dance of heavy attacks and parrying. It's a game of rock, paper, scissors, as heavy attacks cancel parrying, parrying cancels light attacks, and light attacks can stop heavy attacks. Don't forget that you have L2+Square and L2+Triangle weapon attacks, and use them as often as possible, as their cooldown count is fairly low.

• Steal kills in deathmatch multiplayer as often as possible. If you see two to three enemies lying down ready to be grappled into a brutal kill, try to slash them with the Square button first -- grappling one of them may allow for temporary invincibility during the grapple animation, but someone else will sneak up and steal the other kills while you're only earning one.

  Likewise, use brutal kill grabs to avoid damage when you're low on health.

The post God of War: Ascension single?? and multiplayer guide appeared first on Destructoid.

On dubious morals and dubious presentation

In what may be considered a storm in a teacup, not quite gaining the same traction as other controversies, God of War: Ascension has caused a bit ??of a stir with a "misogynistic" Trophy, an award you get as part of the main campaign. 

The basic story is that Kratos, ever a beacon of sensitivity and consideration, beats the everloving crap out of a woman (a beatdown suffering from no shortage of upskirt camera angles) before impaling her on a spike. In fairness, the woman is evil, laughs off most of the violence, and appears unharmed afterward, but the real issue is the fact that, after the battle and a brief exchange with a male ally, players get a Trophy called "Bros Before?? Hos." 

The whole scenario was enough to disgust reviewer Adam Sessler, who called it a "gut-punch of miso??gyny" and confessed it colored the entire experience for him. Naturally, others have heard the clarion call to defend the game from any accusation of potential sexism, and there's been quite a scuffle over the whole thing. 

So what's the deal? Is it sexist? Is it a problem? In some ways yes, and in other ways, no. One thing I think it really does is expose a major issue with the way games are presented these days, and how developer??s should be careful in absolutely every element of a production. 

As far as the in-game content goes, I'm hard pressed to be too offended by Ascension, personally. I certainly don't begrudge anybody the right to be offended by it, but at the very l?east, I'd say the scenario as presented more? or less fits with Kratos' character. He's a violent, and rather unpleasant protagonist, who has been sacrificing defenseless men and women since the first game, let alone invulnerable women who can fight back. His is a world of Greek Gods and mythology, a world already famous for treachery, amorality, and characters generally considered none too nice.

It's also worth mentioning the Trophy itself is more of a reference to the aforementioned ally with whom Kratos speaks. The "Hos" are indeed a reference to the female villains, but the Trophy is not a direct reference to him beating them up. It was poorly timed, and an u??tterly insipid use of an equally insipid phrase, but it's important we correctly frame the context here. 

This is not to say the imagery contained within the game isn't potentially distressing for some audience members, but then again, that's why games have warnings, and I think anybody jumping into the God of War series at this point has a full grasp of the content it displays. Again, this is not to say those with a problem should be shouted down or silenced, simply to say that this is what God of War is. 

It's perfectly acceptable to have a "hero" we may disagree with, who may even be morally repugnant to us. I recently fell in love with the House of Cards&n?bsp;trilogy -- the original UK show -- and found Francis Urquhart a thoroughly compelling protagonist. I find his morals dismaying, his ethics alarming and his politics utterly terrifying. He's a hard conservative with contempt for the poor, he's a murderer, a backstabber, and altogether dangerous to know.

Yet, he's also charming, and deliberately takes the viewer into his confidence, breaking the fourth wall to turn us into his sympathizers whether we like it or not -- a fact he gleefully points out. It works with horrific effectiveness, causing us to constantly examine who we're rooting fo?r and why we're so enthralled with a man we find so utterly despicable. When games attempt this, I c?an't help but be excited. 

However, games are always hamstrung by the fact they are, of course, games. Francis Urquhart may force us along for the ride, but we are only on a ride -- belted in, strapped up, and passively following along. Is it impossible for gaming to give us an Urquhart? Not at all. It may be harder, but it's not impossible. In fact??, it's been done several times over. 

Anti-heroes with questionable morals aren't exactly new to videogames. Saints Row 2 puts players into the booties of a psychopathic manchild, a character we would have to view as a villain protagonist at best. His or her idea of retribution is shockingly disproportionate, and not once is it ever portrayed as a bad thing. Volition Games was able to get away with this through sheer audacity, ?ramping up its narrative to such utter extremes that we have to laugh along with its ridiculousness. We are disarmed by the silliness of it all, and it allows us to be willing accomplices in our avatar's endeavors without feeling too guilty. 

Humor isn't the only method of successfully presenting a villainous protagonist, of course. For all its documented problems, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men was at least a fascinating exercise in allowing players into the lives of two thoroughly irredeemable human beings. Amoral at best, dangerously insane at worst, Kane and Lynch are excellent examples of playable characters whose actions, however complicit we are in them, rema??in nonetheless disagreeable. We're not supposed to like, or feel sorry, for these characters. We're a??iding them, we want to see how their story ends, but the game frequently reminds us that they're scum, true lowlifes who essentially survive, but never get to live. 

It's all about the presentation in the end, and this is where God of War: Ascension really fouled up. The problem with Trophies (and Achievements) is that they have increasingly become punchlines, pithily named pop-ups appearing at the end of any majo??????????????????????????r chapter in a videogame. Playing through any na??rrative campaign, we expect to hear the familiar chime accompanied by a witty summary at the end of any major boss fight or cutscene. For the player increasingly steeped in Xbox 360 and PS3 gaming, a significant event in a story feels almost naked without it. This, however, is clearly presenting an issue in some scenarios.

Without the "Bros Before Hos" crack, Ascension provid?es a shocking, potentially disturbing, sequence -- one that is in keeping with Kratos' questionable brand of heroism. With it, the whole thing is presented as a joke, which can then be taken as a mockery of violence against women. It is not, however, the first time a game's content ?has been undermined by Trophies. 

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (and be warned we've got spoilers coming) features a character by the name of Pigsy, who naturally inspires a slew of porcine puns in the game's Achievements/Trophies. Phrases like "Swine Flew" and "What a Pig" all pop up through the course of?? the game, hoping to inspire a cheap smile with a little light wordplay. This is relatively inoffensive stuff, until a late chapter that attempts to tug at our heartstrings, and fails through no fault of the writing itself.

Essentially, Pigsy dies in an attempt to save the heroes from a group of enemy death machines, a moment played not for laughs, but for te?ars. Pigsy was something of a joke chara??cter up until that point, but comes through in a fairly archetypal display of self-sacrifice, one that's really not badly done. Until, of course, the Achievement "Smoky Bacon" pops up, reducing the entire scene to a joke. At that moment, any attempt to build an emotional response from the audience is lost, any sense of sadness immediately shattered. Pigsy's death, far from being a noble display of affection and respect for his allies, is now a gentle goof, complete with punchline. 

Can you imagine your response to The Lion King if, when Simba discovers his father's body in the ravine, a subtitle displaying the message, "MuFAILsa" popped up? Or perhaps if, in Final Fantasy VII, that famous death scene was punctuated with the phras??e, "Anyone fancy a kebab?" It would ruin the entire atmosphere, and bring you out of any feeling the content was trying to evoke from its audience. 

This is the risk posed by Achievements and Trophies, though it needn't always be a detriment. Portal 2 used the system as part of a joke, in which its main antagonist announces "the part where he kills you," followed by a chapter note confirming this was indeed the part where he kills you, followed then by an Achievement popping up called -- you guessed it -- "The Part Where He Kills You." Perfectly timed, and a very clever way of using something unique to games t?o enhance the narrative experience. This was a joke only a game could make, and it needn't just be for comedy. 

There's a prevailing attitude that Achievements and Trophies are meaningless -- pointless distractions that are best ignored. Indeed, you can even turn off notifications for them in most cases. However, some people like them, others find them largely acceptable, and altogether there's a clear point to be made in their impact on the way we approach and respond to games. Without that Trophy in Ascension, and its use of a pathetic and tacky sentiment, I dare say Sessler would not have been so damning in his appraisal of the game. Without that Achievement in Portal 2, a good joke would not quite have been hammered home. These systems are a part of gaming now, linked closely to t??he experience, and should be respected -- a savvy developer can exploit them to great storytelling advantage, while an ignorant one can unwi??ttingly create a faux pas. 

It's one extra element to consider? when your game contains shocking or questionable content, even more so when your antagonist is a Kratos, a Lynch, or a Saints Row gang leader. Presentation is key, and if games want to keep evoking that masterfully malevolent Francis Urquhart -- which I hope they do -- the?y'd best seriously consider how all elements of a videogame, even the throwaway ones, can effect that presentation.

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Dis sh*t Kra ... tos

How do you top something that was already considered ov??er-the-top? Especially when this particular brand of over-the-top has become pretty familiar since in past eight years?

We all know that God of War's protagonist, Kratos, is an angry, super powerful killing machine that takes down even the biggest gods and monsters without even a hint of ever breaking his hardened scowl. So even more of that in yet another series game would be ... well, it would be fine, really. More God of War is never a bad thing, right?

But how about some emotion for a change? How about a backstory? How about some motivati??on that goes beyond simple anger?

As I see it, the God of War franchise could have progressed in one of two ways. Either go bigger, or go deeper. Thankfully, God of War: Ascension does both.

God of War: Ascension (PlayStation 3)
Developer: Sony Santa Monica
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release: March 12, 2013
MSRP: $59.99

This prequel story kicks off not long after Kratos killed his family, at a time where he is still dealing with that pain. He's now out to cut ties with Ares for this terrible act he was tricked into, and Ares has three horrible sisters known as the Furies, Ascension's antagonists, out to punish him for trying to break his oath with the god. These Furies capture, confine, and c?ontinuously torture Kratos. This manages to spark and grow ??that head-ripping rage in Kratos we've all come to know and love. 

Kratos is still in full-on badass territory in Ascension, but he's not quite to the level we're used to yet, with a slightly trim??mer build and less in the way of scars. You'll see him grow in both strength and rage over the course of the 8+ hour single-player campaign. It's not that he is weak at the beginning -- you'll even witness the acquisition of his Blades of Chaos --?? it's just that he ends up being so powerful by the end of the game that you can't help but feel like a god.

Developer Sony Santa Monica did a wonderful job of weaving its story into gameplay, making Ascension feel more like an adventure ??than ever before. Story beats are smartly tied into Kratos' journey, getting us away from the stage-boss-cinematic rotation of previous games. Some of the cinematic story bits tie directly into battles. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but Sony Santa Monica has pulled off one of the greatest bait-and-switch boss introductions ever.

A lot of the magic behind the God of War franchise is in how minimal work, like simple three-button combos, turns into brutally fantastic results on-screen. The hack-and-slash core mechanics of the series are s?till intact, though a new progression system adds elemental magic to the Blades of Chaos. Fire, ice, thunder, and soul magics are acquired at different points in the story, and they can be upgraded alongside the standard blades with red orbs. Fully upgraded, these elemental magic additions allow for some pretty explosive attacks -- ones that will prove highly useful in the final chapters of the game. Overall, combat feels and looks a bit tighter than before. This improved fluidity goes nicely with some additional moves to Kratos' arsenal.

World Weapons, like swords, clubs, spears, and shields, are found during gameplay, and can even be pulled from various enemies' hands. Kratos can now take the?se and use them as his own, with the circle button being dedicated to their use. Each weapon has its own feel and purpose. The sword is fast and chains nicely into Blades of Chaos combos, while the heavy club is slow, though it can be charged up to hit harder. Shields can be used both defensively and offensively, and spears, while finite in supply, can be thrown to hit enemies from a distance. The addition of W?orld Weapons alone makes for combat that feels much more varied than ever before. The game does a great job of placing these weapons in the best situations, so coming across one is always like finding the best toy on the playground.

The R1 button is now assigned to chain tethering, a supremely useful addition. A press of this button when faced toward a beat down enemy sporting a red halo initiates a zoomed in special kill -- that's always fun. Stuns, shield grabs, and other neat tricks are also assigned to this button/function. You're free to incorporate this long-ranged grapple into yo??ur move set, allowing for in-air juggles that look and feel fantastic. I loved being able to hold an enemy, leashed with one chain, while attacking others, and then later pulling that enemy in as a sort of finale. It's equally fun to take a tethered enemy and swing them around like a fleshy wrecking ball to take down other enemies.

There are also some new abilities that are tied to acquired items that let Kratos pull of some neat tricks. The most impressive of the bunch lets Kratos manipulate time for a specific object, letting him ruin or heal something to change its state. For example, a broken bridge can be made whole again. Another lets Kratos clone himse??lf to be in two places at once. Both of these are used heavily in the game's many puzzle sections, though both can also be used in battle.

The most welcome of Kratos' new bag of tricks has nothing to do with combat at all. Getting around between battles has always been a bit of a drag for the franchise, but now Kratos finds himself doing anything but walking with new movement skills. Expect running and jumping, swinging from chains, kicking through walls, and many other kinds of explosive entries into rooms this time around. Also, Kratos now muscles over cliffs and through ruins as a climber, with a grip strength that would make Nathan Drake jealous. And why walk when you can slide? Kratos can scrape down walls, slide through ruins, and glide over ice and metal now. Ascension is packed with new modes of movement to break up the action a?nd add some excitement to getting around. 

Kratos' brains are tested alongside his brawn in Ascension's many puzzle segments. While a couple of the less important puzzles hover dangerously near clunky territory, most are a nice challenge for your noggin, and a few are deviously constructed, forcing you to pull from every trick you've learned up to that point to solve them. The best of them add magical skills to the more ?standard stuff, like platforming and lever pulling.

Near the game's ending, a string of large scale puzzles are brilliantly strung together in an overall challenge that has you fighting (literally) to figure out what goes where. After some truly taxing trials and several smaller rewarding aha! moments, it all comes together to?? fo??rm one of the most clever and impressive level-based puzzles I've ever seen. The reward for all of this work is massive in more ways than one.

For as difficult as some of the puzzles are, they're nothing compared to some of the fighting challenges Ascension presents. Even with all of the changes to the God of War formula this game b?rings, locked-in-a-room, wave-based challenges are still the norm, and a few of them are so difficult that I wondered if I'd even finish the game. 

It feels like Sony Santa Monica wanted to increase the challenge to match Kratos' increased power and new arsenal, but there are a few times where it feels like they went a bit overboard. I can confidently state that I have never restarted from a checkpoint as many times as I did with God of War: Ascension. While I'll admit to having pretty poor reflexes, and I know that I'm not the best action game player out t?here, I'm willing to bet that just about everyone will have a pretty hard time with one particular challenge stretch near the end of the game. If you don't end up screaming at your television, I?'ll be surprised.

When God of War was new, prompted button presses during cinematic action excited us. Now this mechanic is commonplace, and some might say outdated. I wouldn't go as far as to say that Ascension relies on QTEs, nor would I say that they mar the experience, but they're still part of the gameplay here, and those that were hoping for something more interactive this time around may be disappointed. They have added some new interactions on top of the standard face button attacks, though the interspersed instances of timed dodging with the left analog stick do not feel that much different. I have a feeling they were going for something more dynamic, but ???it really is still just inputting a command within a set time frame to proceed through a cinematic. As always, there's a huge, flashy spectacle to go with these events, so they're at least entertaining for your eyes and ears.

Sony Santa Monica seems to be showing off that they know the PS3 inside and out with Ascension. I swear I could almost feel tension emanating from my PS3 while playing this game, as it seems that this team cranked every knob to the maximum level to make Ascension as stunning as possible.

Huge cinematic set pieces and boss battles are a mainstay of the franchise, with predecessor God of War III having some of the most fantastic man vs. god clashes ever to grace a television screen. Somehow they've managed to top that with Ascension, with backdrops and beasts that seem?? to push the limits of what's possible for the hardware. The environments are a new high for the franchise -- some outstanding work has been done to give this game m??uch more atmosphere than any of its predecessors. Throughout the game you'll find brilliant use of scale, making Kratos as small as possible, and his enemies as big as possible, sometimes ridiculously so.  The single-player campaign is a constant string of "wow" moments that I'm sure will stand out in your mind for years to come.

For maximum enjoyment, do not let anyone spoil the big moments God of War: Ascension for you. Find the biggest ?screen and the loude??st sound system you can, crank it up, and dive in.

Even outside the fantastic boss battles Ascension never stops being impressive. Visually, the game usual?ly hovers at merely beautiful, but it often ramps up to jaw-droppingly gorgeous, making for a game that could just as easily entertain hands-off spectators.  From the glossy textures, slick animations, and ultra-realistic lighting, there's a shine and polish that runs throughout the game that makes it a perfect send-off for the PS3.

There are a few scuffs that missed polish, though. One of the biggest of these are sound dropouts. The problem was apparent ??in our preview sessions, later in the released demo, and now in the final code. Sometimes, at critical moments, the music, background sound effects, or even a primary sound will not be heard. Seeing a massive gate door come crashing down without an accompanying sound effect was funny, but having key emotional moments marred by the music stopping momentarily was less enjoyable. This seemed to happen most during background loading or saving.

Other smaller bugs managed t??o crawl up from the depths, though they're small gripes in an otherwise smooth experience. Every time Kratos slid down a ladder, the sliding sound effect would not stop as long as he rem??ained on the ladder, even if he was done sliding. Sometimes enemies would spawn behind barriers, or get caught in item boxes, too. One graphical glitch had the entire stage and characters going black, with only lighting and particle effects showing. This was one of the prettiest looking game glitches I've ever witnessed.

My only real grip??e on intended effects is on the screen shaking effect, which was taken overboard in places. Everything from the ground rumbling to large monster movement to weapon impact has the screen shaking. Sometimes the combined effect of the three ends up being dizzying, especially in segments where Kratos' on-screen presence is small. Trying to keep track of Kratos and his enemies while everything shook was frustrating at times. I found myself having to pause and look away from the screen to get my bearings.

I feel bad griping about these issues as Ascension was such a thrilling ride overall. It's l??ike g??riping about squeaking wheels on one short segment of the fastest, craziest, most thrilling rollercoaster ever. And like a great coaster, you'll want to get right back on for another ride. 

While online multiplayer is a new concept for the franchise, I'm glad to say that God of War: Ascension's multiplayer isn't some tacked on mess that was included to be able to put a bulletpoint on the box. Multiplayer in Ascension is surprisingly deep and refreshingly unique. I can't wait?? until this ga??me goes live so I can slash and bash some more faces.

You'll start out with a muscular but otherwise blank slate of a warrior when first jumping into Ascension's multiplayer. Pledging your alliance to one of four gods -- Zeus, Ares, Hades, or Poseidon -- helps determi?ne what your character will become, with each choice bringing its own strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.

Your choice also starts you at the bottom of a skill tree that you'll climb as you fight in battles and gain experience. Experience is earned by winning, of course, but kill streaks and other challenges will also reward you with points. For example, Labors, which are "commandments from the gods," give you very specific goals to knock out while fighting. They have you doing things like attacking a statue in a stage three times, with successful completion bringing both experience point??s and armor unloc??ks.

This experience will?? go not only into your character and his abilities, but also into his armor and weapons. Depending on your god alliance, working up this skill tree will gradually unlock more unique armor and items to use in future battles. Experience also goes into earning Relics, which are passive abilities that give you battle perks. For example, the Relic of Regeneration refills a player's magic bar for each successful grapple or throw.

Combat is pulled straight from the single-player game, though there are smaller differences tied to each alliance, and perhaps a greater focus on defense, blocking, and parrying. All characters have light and strong attacks, all can block and launch, and all have grapple moves and finishers. Special item-specific attacks are tied to each of the three weapon types, and are used by holding down L1 and hitting either the light or strong attack buttons. These powe?rful moves have a cool down timer attached to them, as do alliance-specific "god item" special attacks. 

All of the alliances seem to have access to the same core weapons -- hammers, swords, and spears. But magics, strengths, weaknesses, specific resistances,?? an?d other stats are tied to your alliance.

The fighting is fast and flashy in Ascension's multiplayer, much like it is in the single-player campaign. Basically, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to throw a bunch of Kratos-types in one room to fight it out, this will serve as an answer. What's great about the combat system is how approachable it is -- anyone that has played any God of War game wil?l be able to pick t??his up and start slashing. 

I played against other press members for a few hours prior to launch, going through the various multiplayer modes in some increasingly competitive bouts. Early free-for-all matches, called Favor of the Gods, had every warrior out for himself, out to kill to see who would reach 8,000 favor points (you're killing to sacrifice bodies to your chosen god) first. Those that slashed the fastest seemed to win early on, but I? think that effective blocking and smart use of other abilities, like the powerful ?magic spells, won out eventually. 

This evolved into a four-on-four team version of Favor of the Gods, with the first team to pull in 8,000 favor points winning. These matches were fast and crazy -- imagine three or four players of one team frantically slashing away at one cornered opponent, with Ascension's fiery effects lighting up the screen. Some might say that the flashiness of the attacks makes the action a bit hard to follow, but my strategy of swinging the fastest until the air? cleared seemed to serve me well.

Capture the Flag continued with the four-on-four teams, with the standard mode r??oles applying. It was a nice change of pace from the free-for-all matches, though the stages these matches played out in kept things inte??resting. Another mode called Trial of the Gods has players teaming up to go against waves of enemies together to see how long they can survive. 

It seems Sony Santa Monica had some fun with the stage design for multiplayer. Each are packed with plenty of toys like spawning weapons and power-ups;  portals for health and magic refills are scattered about as well. Add in teleporting ports, item chests, fire traps, catapults, fire bombs, flame turrets, and more, and you've got a crazy sort of funhouse feel that keeps the combat light and fun. It's like being in a wild, attrac??tion-packed theme park with bottomless toyboxes placed about. It's all staged just so that no one could find themselves taking it too seriously. This made it so that I was more than happy to jump back in for another round every time. 

In the rare instance that you have a chance to look around the stages, you'll appreciate ??how much detail work was put into them. Aside fro??m the varied obstacles they all present, there's also some kind of secondary goal for each. Whether it be fire bombing people in the distance or poking out a massive cyclops' eye, there's never a dull moment. 

Multiplayer is everywhere right now, but there aren't many games that offer fast, accessible, melee-based fighting like Ascension does. Tacked on? Hardly. Ascension's multiplayer is a daring move that pays off big. It's a game in its own right, worth the price of admission on its on for online gamers looking for a new kind of challenge. Fans of games like Capcom's Power Stone will be thrilled.

Ascension had challenges coming from every direction from early on. Some of the franchise's core mechanics have grown a bit tired over the past year?s, which had gamers questioning the need for another title. Beyond this, some questioned the need for a prequel story. Most of all, the idea of a multiplayer addition was initially off-putting to voca?l series fans. But, like Kratos, Sony Santa Monica ripped through every one of these challenges with their bare hands to bring us a game that is so fantastic that it should make anyone that ever questioned them feel bad for doing so.

God of War has never looked or played better than this. Kratos? has never been as deep or interesting as this. They've set the bar so high that I have no idea how they'll be able to follow this one up. Sony Santa Monica should be proud. Series fans should be proud. 

The post Review: God of War: Ascension appeared first on Destructoid.

Fight waves of monsters with a friend

God of War: Ascension's fourth multipalyer mode is Trial of the Gods, a two-player co-op (or solo) mode where you have to face fi??ve i?ncreasingly difficult waves of enemies. The twist here is that you're racing against the clock while fighting the monsters.

Every beast you kill adds time to your clock, and you'll get bonus time depending on how fast you defeated a wave. Once all five waves are cleared,?? you'll have to face off a??gainst some kind of boss. Any experience gained in Trial of the Gods mode will also go towards upgrading your character in the multiplayer versus modes.

God of War: Ascension: Trial of the Gods Revealed [PlayStation.Blog]

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Weirdest tie-in ever

Wow. I totally forgot this was happening. So yeah, King Leonidas from the movie 300 is in God of War: Ascension as a multiplayer character. You can play as the Ki?ng of Spartans only i??f you pre-order the game from GameStop.

Pre-ordering Ascension from any other retailer will get you The Mythological Heroes Pack. T??his will let you play as Perseus, Orion, Odysseus, and Achilles.

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Also, new trailer

Later today, look for the shiny new single-player demo for God of War: Ascension on the PlayStation Network, not too far ahead of the March 12 release date. From what Sony tells us, it sounds like it's the same one I played earlier this year. If so, you'll play through the game's opening, getting a taste of the first 30 minutes or so. I hope this is the case, because that demo was really great.&n??bsp;

I pledged an oath in blood to point you to this new Ascension trailer, released today. ??In it you'll see Kratos being all sweet, soft, and emotional. Well, for a bit, anyway. 

Finally, the History channel show Vikings has partnered with Sony in a few ways. There's a multiplayer DLC we??apon created in partnership with History that will be included exclusively with copies of the game purchased at Best Buy. It's the hammer of Thor, Mjolnir. 

The post God of War: Ascension single-??player demo on PSN today appeared first on Destructoid.

Single-player unveiled

We've been seeing bits of pieces of upcoming PS3 game God of War: Ascension since last year, but we've really only seen it's multiplayer side. That changed this week when director Todd Pappy and his team unveiled the game's single play?er side at a press event in Los Angeles. And instead of some controlled, limited demo, they just plopped dow??n the first 30 minutes of the game in front of us, letting us play it as if we just popped in the disc. And instead of forcing me to recap the whole thing for you, they've given us video of exactly what I played.

 In the video above you aren't seeing my play through, but you are seeing pretty close to what I experienced. You'll see for yourself how good it is.?? 

God of War: Ascension  (PS3)
Developer: Sony Santa Monica
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Releases: Spring 2013 

Kratos' roots are unveiled in Ascension. While he's still easily classified as a badass, he's perhaps a bit less hardened in this prequel story. He certainly doesn't look like? ?much of a badass in the game's opening.

After being tortured endlessly by the Fury, the game opens with our hero bound to a platform, with both arms and legs chained. The hideous Fury Queen comes to beat K?ratos while he's down, but a poorly aimed attack from one of her gross, sharp appendages creates an opportunity for his escape. 

The action slowly ramps up from basic control training to a full-on chase, with the Fury Queen throwing every trick she has at you -- level traps, waves of nasty bu??gs, bugs possessing humans to turn them into beasts, and eventually bugs diving into and possessing the body of a frozen, stories tall ancient brute that? I think called Aegean the Hecatonchires. If I'm right, all credit goes to Google's amazing ability to take misspelled text and turn it into something usable.

As you'll see in the play through video, the fight slowly scales in scope, from ground level brawls, to in the sky and off the side of cliffs, to later in a moving chunk of ground and bui??lding in the sky, held by the reanimated of the previously mentioned ancient monster. And then, as always, huge, crazy bosses. They've done some really great work with scale and scope to keep the wows coming. I found myself wow-ing aloud constantly while playing through what you're seeing.

Fighting in the boxed off, floating prison you'll see in the middle of the play-through was a bit unnerving, from both a fear of heigh??ts standpoint and from the tight, constantly moving play space where waves of enemies continued to appear. This is where the opening jumped from 'nice' to 'yessssss' for me. The tension level also turned up quite a bit starting from this point, gradually increasing up to the hands-y final boss battle (you'll see what I mean).&?nbsp;

I found myself digging into the game's new World Weapon System from here on out, which has Kratos using new gear like swords and spears alongside his usual blades. The sword I picked up earlier in the stage was great for close-quarters attacks, and I liked playing with the unique finishers that the sword added to Kratos' arsenal. I'll admit that I show a bit l?ess finesse in attacks and combo-ing as the grand finale neared (frantic button mash city!), but there was never a time where I didn't feel like a killing machine. They've absolutely nailed that feeling.

You'll see for yourself how satisfyingly nuts things become in the opening's final battle, so I won't get into it too much. The only thing this video won't give you is color on how Ascension feels. My first takeaway is that it's smoother than ever before, and that Kratos has n?ever moved so well. It might be hard to put a finger on what exactly was overhauled for this outing from watching a gameplay, but you definitely feel it when playing.

His new moves also feel nice. If yo?u want a break from slinging chains, new weapons like the previously mentioned sword feel faster and more responsive. Mixing up the action between the two adds a new dimension to God of War combat that I'm looking forwar??d to exploring more. Oh, and Kratos can slide down walls now. This feels and looks fantastic. 

One of the game's staff had to c?ut me off after this boss battle, as this was not some finite demo. It could have kept going as someone from S?ony told me that we were playing a final build. Damn that guy!

But that's how well Sony Santa Monica has done with God of War: Ascension's single-player -- I wanted to keep going. Get ready, as this is going to be really good. Even from my limited half-hour taste, I can't see God of War fans being any less than absolutely thrilled with Ascension.  

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Warning: video may cause depression

If you love beautiful voices and r?eally depressing footage of innocent people dying, I have the ?perfect video for you!

This new God of War: Ascension live-action trailer spot shows Kratos getting his smile on, and, uh, certain things happen that prevent him from enjoying himself for more than a few seconds. The spot is set to air during the Super Bowl this Sunday, but you can watch it now if you want. There's absolutely no spoilers involved if you've ever played a God of War game before.

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So much God of War

That "snazzy" Garnet Red PlayStation 3 will be available in North America later this year, but you're going to have to get a whole lot of God of War should you want the limited-edition console. Sony has announced the God of War: Ascension Legacy Bundle, priced at $349.99 and due out alongside the ne??w game o??n March 12, 2013.

For the money, Sony is offering a 500GB console, a 30-day trial for PlayStation Plus, God of War Saga -- which is a compilation of the three PS3 titles in the series, in addition to the two PlayStation Portable games -- and, lastly, a fresh new copy of Ascension. I want to believe that someone out ther?e has been patiently waiting all of these years for ??a package like this to get into the series.

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Scheduled for late next month

The half-minute teaser video for single-player in God of War: Ascension looked good, but there wasn't a whole lot of substance to be found in the footage. Thankfully, the powers that be are gearing up to p??ut multiplayer on the backbu??rner and start promoting the single-player campaign.

"We have more single-player details to unravel and showcase as we rage towards our launch on March 12th," writes Santa Monica Studio community strategist Aaron Kaufman on the PlayStation Blog. "Most importantly, in late February, we'll be bringing you a full-fledged single-player demo! We'll be announcing details in the com??ing weeks, so stay tuned.??"

This demo will be different than what was shown at E3 (and included with Blu-ray copies of Total Recall), by the way. Let's hope the wait is worth it.

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Elevator pitch

Much of the promotional work on God of War: Ascension has been centered around the game's new multiplayer mode. Which is fine, but I think most long-time fans will be buying this prequel for its single-player campaign, leaving multiplayer to fill the role of cherry on top (or unnecessary distraction, as the case may ultimately be). If you're desperate, IGN has a new story-focused teaser trailer.

Fair warning: the video clocks in at a mere 30 seconds, just long enough to remind us why God of War as a series has made it this far. Indeed, the foo??tage contains f??luid, technically impressive battles against awesome mythological creatures. SCE Santa Monica Studio gets a star.

God of War: Ascension - single-player trailer [IGN]

The post Have a short God of War: Ascension single-player?? teaser appeared first on Destructoid.

What do you think of the multiplayer?

The team behind God of War: Ascension has shared a behin?d the scenes videos showing how they started life on the multiplayer component to the game. The video spans over two years of the development process, and it's really cool seeing how freaked out some of the team members were in the beginning. It's understandably a stressful endeavor adding a multipla??yer mode to a series that has only been known for single-player.

The multiplayer beta is open to all PlayStation Plus subscribers now and I'm curious as to what you think of the multiplayer. I've yet to get my hands on it, but based on all the videos I've seen it looks like a super gory version of Power Stone.

God of War ??Ascension Multipla??yer Beta Begins Today for PlayStation Plus [PlayStation.Blog]

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Do it. Do it now!

Because every God of War fan ever requested multiplayer as the number one must-have new feature in the upcoming God of War: Ascension (lol), Sony is having a beta for it. You can sign up for free here by logging in with your Sony ID. After that, just cross your fingers and h?ope.

You have until mid-day 12/7 to sign up, so go do it. As funny as it is to joke about multiplayer in a series that didn't need it, you never know how it might turn out. Mass Effect 3 had a pretty solid campaign and a fun multiplayer component (among man??y others before it), so it can be done.

As for the game itself, I hope it's better than the franchise's third entry, as I felt it was a step down from God of War 2 in just about every imaginable way.

God of War: Ascension Beta Sign-up Now Live [All Games Beta]

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"Huh?" seemed to be the common reaction to the announcement of multiplayer in God of War: Ascension. I have since warmed up to the concept, though it is admittedly different. Sometimes, it's wort??h exploring such options just to see where they tak?e you.

The Penny Arcade Report chatted with Ascension director Todd Papy about how and why "Favor ??of the Gods" came about. "I understand it’s a franchise," he said. "I'm not going to take Kratos into space and say, 'Okay! You're on Mars!' But I understand this is a franchise.

"People expect certain things because of that, but?? it's more about how can we take what they expect and freshen it up to make it feel new? I worry more about complacency than I do the new stuff. The reason for that is after awhile it might start feeling stale. To me, if you’re not pushing, you're losing ground."

So, where did multiplayer come from? "At the end of God of War III, there's a challenge mode, where you can fight Kratos on Kratos. One of our content designers got it working where you could actually play against each other. That was really the genesis of the multiplayer," explained Papy. "It was like, 'Oh shit, we could do this!'" And they totally did. The longevity of the mode post-release seems quest?ionable, but I like that they're trying in the first place.

God of War: Ascension’s multi??player feels like a hi-def Power Stone 2, with eviscerations [PA Report]

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Last weekend, Sony hosted a panel featuring members of the development team at Sony Santa Monica working on God of War: Ascension. Moderated by PlayStation.Blog's Jeff Rubenstein, the group discussed how the series has evolved over the years, some of David Jaffe's decision-making process and the character of Kratos. And, at the end, they revealed the first of Ascension's Furies, Kratos' major opposition in the upcoming preq??uel.

The above video is about 11 minutes of the best material in the full, hour-long presentation, saving you the effort if your interest in God of War isn't en?ough to devote an hour to listening to people talk about it. Worth a watch.

The post Highlights from Sony’s God of War PAX panel appeared first on Destructoid.

Now that we're getting some quality time here at gamescom 2012 with Kratos' latest outing, God of War: Ascension, here are some key things you should know about the upcoming se?ries prequel for PS3. Five things. 

And we're talking about the good ol' single-player campaign here, and not the multiplayer side. More on that later.

The main takeaway here is that the classic God of War gameplay you'd expect is here, though it has been beefed up and cleaned up a bit. While Kratos is slightly smaller and less badass, the gameplay and story promise to be bigger and better than in any ??pas?t series title. 

1. Animals gonna die

If you regularly read this website you know that I'm a big fan of animals. Insane, almost. But that didn't stop me from ripping the head of the the muscle-bound, elephant-headed boss Elephantaur open to expose his brain and then have it fall out, bl??ood gushing. Don't tell the ASPCA, but I ripped this humanoid pachyderm to shreds and I liked it.  

Goats, elephants, sea creatures and more are going to die by Kratos' hand in God of War: Ascension. Even standard enemies, like the goat-headed grunts, move around like humans, but are more angry, and they probably bleed a bit more. Some of these beasts lean more toward the animal s?ide of things, making it a bit unsettling to rip their heads open or tear their arms off. 

2. That's not the Kraken

If you've seen footage or h??ave read previous preview coverage, the end of the playable demo for Ascension has Kratos running up a huge tentacle and then jumping off it into the water, blades out, headed directly into the mouth of a huge, tentacle-y sea creature. Despite what it looks like, it's not the mythical Kraken that others have said it might be. SCEA Santa Monica's Mark Simon tells us that he's actually called Charybdis. Kratos will go up against him repeatedly during the stage in spread out encounters, working up to what's sure to be a messy, bloody battle.

3. Kratos once had a softer side 

Being a prequel, Kratos hasn't be??en through the wringer yet. He's not as hardened as we're used to seeing him, and while he's plenty mad, he's not nearly as pissed off as you might be used to. In fact, in this demo he shows that he cares for humans. In one scene he pushed a human out of harm's way, saving him from flying spears, though in typical Kratos fashion didn't seem to care much about the other two humans that died right before saving this guy. At least there was some compassion in that tortured soul at one time. 

His body is also a bit softer. This younger Kratos is leaner, an??d closer to a human than a demigod. He's still tough, but he'd go down easier in a fight than he would in the future. And he doesn't have his trademark scar yet.

4. Not too long, not too short

God of War: Ascension has its work cut out for it as it has to set up Kratos' backstory -- that's a big story to tell. Mark Simon says that it is about as long as the first God of War game, if ??not a bit longer. From recent play testing he estimated that there's about 8 hours of?? gameplay in the single-player campaign.

5. Ascension feels good, man. 

The game's engine was done and tightened up long ago, and there's plenty of God of War-making experience under the team's belt by now, so for t?his go around they were able to f?ocus on refinements that improve the player experience. These range from streamlining button input to tweaking combat. 

For example, Kratos' climbing controls and experience are much more robust than they've been in past games. With the changes and improvements to the control, and the new ability to climb irregular surfaces and around corners, Kratos' wall scaling might even make Uncharted's Nathan Drake proud. 

There's big attacks, nasty combos, and massive mini-game style finishers that all feel great, as you'd expect. This is the most important thing to get right, and they nailed it. The feeling is familiar, but fine-tuned. Expect combat that ?has fast, tight response from face button inputs, and combo-ing that feels like it would in a fighting game. 

Kratos has his chains, of course, but he has a huge bag of new tricks this time around. He pick up and use t??he weapons of his enemies, and each of these secondary weapons has its own special attack, usable after filling up a rage meter.  In my play time I picked up swords and spears, and I quickly learned to work them into my regular move set and combos. I also was able to work in his new grabbing/grappling powers, which are tied into special moves of their own. 

New powers, like being ab?le to rewind time to "heal" a broken environment, and then being able to break it again, were shown in the demo, and have puzzle-like uses. 

God of War: Ascension will be released for the PS3 in ea??rly 2013. 

The post gamescom: God of ?War Ascension: 5? things you need to know appeared first on Destructoid.

The official blog for God of War has posted a new Q/A with the Lead Character Concept Artist for God of War: Ascension, Izzy, which takes an in-depth look at the first ever multiplayer boss encounter for the series, Polyphemus.

Fo??r those not up on their Greek mythology, Polyphemus is quite possibly the most famous cyclops ever. The son of Poseidon and the nymph Thoosa, Polyphemus plays a significant role in the myth of Odysseus when he captures the returning sailors and begins eating them, two at a time, until the Greeks manage to get him drunk and blind him with a sharpened branch to enable their escape. Polyphemu??s would later pray to his father for vengeance, causing further problems on the voyage.

Sony Santa Monica has played with the mythos a bit, making Polyphemus into a full-on Titan (still the son of Poseidon; try not to think about it) and Izzy -- also responsible for the gory "Elephantaur" -- goes futher? into the inspiration and approach to making this massive bad guy.

Make sure to read through to the end for a nauseatingly graphic description of how Kratos hi??mself would deal with this one-eyed monstrosity. Eugh.

MONSTERS OF ASCENSION: POLYPHEMUS [Official God of War Blog]

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So, yes, we became more than a little fixated on the elephant creature from the God of War: Ascension demonstration at the Sony press conference. ??What of it? Here's another screenshot of the mysterious beast, plus a handful of other gorgeous images taken from the gam??e's single- and multiplayer modes.

To the person or persons responsible for wrangling this media: I think you just broke a record, at least for me. Never before have I encountered screenshots sized 10240 x 5760 pi?xels. I almost feel bad about downscaling everything. Almost.

The post E3: Th??ese God of War:? Ascension screenshots are shiny appeared first on Destructoid.

ELEPHANT CONFIRMED! Coming March 12, 2013.

The post E3: God of War: Ascension: ELEPHANT CONFIRMED! appeared first on Destructoid.

There's a new addition to the God of War series of games on the horizon. I mean, really far down the horizon. God of War: Ascension, a prequel currently in production, was just announced to the public. Nevertheless, we at Dtoid.TV are about to hook up four lucky viewers with fully paid Amazon pre-orders of the upcoming PS3 title, cou??rtesy of Sony.

Watch Mash Tactics tomorrow, 4p.m. to 8p.m. PDT, to find out how to win. King Foom will be playing God of War titles past, and the winners will ?be selected throughout the show. If you own a PS3, you're probably picking up this title anyway, so come for your chance to get it free!

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