Good morning PlayStation Blog. I’m here today to let you know that if you pick up the Extended Director’s Cut of Total Recall on Blu-ray when it launches in your region you’ll gain access to the E3 2012 God of War: Ascension single player demo.

Included within the Total Recall packaging will be an insert with a voucher code for you to download the demo from PS Store straight away.

This offer will be available in the following countries: UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Nordics, Australia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Israel, Turkey and South Africa.

(more…)

Score:

• 38 Comments 3 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

We are recruiting NOW for the God of War: Ascension multiplayer beta.

To be in with a chance of being a selected participant, please register on the God of War: Ascension beta sign-up page. You have until 12.00pm on Friday 7th December to register your interest.

Those chosen will be notified via email when the God of War: Ascension Beta is ready to be accessed, and will be able to access the God of War: Ascension section of PSN Beta. Once logged in to PSN Beta, you can then retrieve your voucher code and get started.

God of War: Ascension sees the debut of multiplayer to God of War for the very first time. So expect all the brutal combat and frenetic action of the God of War series in up to eight-player online battles.

See you in the arena, Spartans!

Score:

• 51 Comments 6 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Re-mastering both of the God of War PSP games in full HD for the PS3 God of War: Collection Volume II definitely had its share of challenges for us. The first goal we had was simply the daunting task of up-rezing the engine and content authored on a PSP running at 480 x 272 resolution and 30 frames per second to 1920 x 1080p at a steady 60 fps on the PS3. This required a custom PS3 version of our engine, coded in-house exclusively for Collection II, as well as a painstaking process by art team. We ended up going through every single character in the game and doubling or tripling polygon count by hand, as well as up-rezing and re-painting every texture across both games at 4x resolution on both characters and environments.
(more…)

Score:

• 58 Comments 3 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

Hi all,

I’ve got some really exciting news to share with you around a certain Spartan warrior which we all know and love…

Fresh from his incredible exploits in the recent God of War III, I can reveal that the mighty Kratos is heading to the PSP and PSPgo  in God of War: Ghost of Sparta!

It’s been a while since we last saw him on the PSP, where the original God of War: Chains of Olympus conquered all before with stunning visuals, gameplay and of course a game which you all loved playing. So what can you expect this time?

First of all it’s developed by the studio which brought the original PSP game, so the guys at Ready At Dawn Studios are well aware of what it takes to deliver another amazing title to the franchise. (lucky enough to play early code  and all I can say  it’s looking and playing incredibly well even at this very early stage:)

Graphically the guys are pushing the PSP to the limits with state-of-the-art visual technologies, higher quality environments and greater depth of scale which really help deliver on those huge crazy boss fights. Alongside this expect an improved weapon system, new magical powers, the list goes on…just think bigger and better!

Check out the screenshots below

Storyline

So serving as a prequel, this new journey picks up after God of War concludes, telling the story of Kratos’ ascension to power as the God of War. In his quest to rid the nightmares that haunt him, Kratos must face his dark past to prove his worthiness to the Gods — a journey that will reveal the origins of lost worlds, and finally answer long-awaited questions about Kratos’ tattoo, scar, and family. Armed with the deadly chained Blades of Chaos, he will once again have to overcome armies of mythological monsters, legions of undead soldiers, and amazingly dangerous and brutal landscapes throughout his merciless quest.

Roll on God of War: Ghost of Sparta, make sure you keep posted for further updates on this must have PSP title which by the way is out LATER THIS YEAR!

Any questions or feedback for the studio then please let me know.

Cheers

Richard

Score:

• 62 Comments 3 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook

God of War III has been one of the most popular titles on show here at E3, with players queuing up to swing the Chains of Olympus through the game’s opening level. I took a break from wanton decapitation to sit down with Adam Puhl, staff designer on the game.

Adam Puhl, staff designer of God of War III

“We’re finally getting the chance to show a playable version of God of War III at E3,” he told me, “which includes new weapons and abilities in a war between the Gods, the Titans and Kratos. We’re proud to be showcasing the new level of visceral combat in the game as well as the fantastic visuals.”

“We’re now able to show details such as Kratos’ muscles flexing in battle, his veins popping out and blood spraying across the battlefield and landing on his body, which really helps you feel more immersed in this world.”

When a lot of people saw the very first gameplay footage from the game, some claimed that it looked merely like ‘God of War II but with more pixels’; I asked Puhl how he would counter this argument.

“Well, there are a hell of a lot more pixels, that’s for sure,” he said, “but there’s a lot more than that. We’re revaluating the series and putting in a lot of the things that we have wanted since the first game. The Titan gameplay, for example, is incredible this time. In previous games you had glimpses of these enormous creatures that you were on top of, but this time it’s for real. You’re running on a living, moving creature and you have to react to that dynamic, and while people might say the gameplay feels the same, we wouldn’t want to reinvent the series and alienate people – you have to keep the essence of Kratos.”

God of War III isn’t the only game Kratos is appearing in at E3; he is also a playable character in Soulcalibur PSP, so I asked Puhl how involved he has been in this cameo.

“Myself and the guys from Santa Monica Studios worked with the Soul Calibur team and we found them to be fantastic – they had looked at Kratos’ character closely and he feels just right on Soulcalibur PSP. They even introduced some moves that even we hadn’t thought of, but suit him perfectly.”

God of War III is a single-player game, but I wondered if the team had ever considered experimenting with multiplayer.

“Personally, sure,” said Puhl. “I love multiplayer games and that stuff really excites me, but God of War is all about Kratos and if we threw another character in there it could become a distraction.”

It will also be the first time the series has featured Trophies, so I asked what Puhl thinks makes a good Trophy list.

“I like Trophies a lot, but they should feel right,” he replied. “It shouldn’t be like ‘you finished level one, here you go’. The play experience should be rewarding in itself, and Trophies should be another layer of reward for a particularly tricky task, such as ripping 20 civilians apart in a row. They should be a reason to go back and experiment with the game.”

So there you have it, I hope this gives you some indication of how the game is coming along and gets you excited about its March 2010 release. I know you guys love Trophies and I thought Puhl’s views on them were really interesting. Which Trophies would you like to see in God of War III? The development team may even be reading this…

Score:

• 32 Comments 5 Replies
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook