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The Greek myths, those vivid tales of gods and monsters, have been retold through the centuries via whatever artistic medium is popular at the time. From the loose oral-poetic tradition of their origins through literature, sculpture, painting and, more recently, theatre and film, the towering cast of Olympus has never strayed far from the western consciousness - these myths maintain their power even though their relevance as religious instruction faded long ago. God of War brought the myths (or, at least, the spirit of the myths) to video games, and Sony's series has remained true to its source, presenting the guts and glory of the ancient Greeks in perhaps their most spectacular and garish form yet.This prequel maintains the myth, just, but does little to embellish it. The God of War series is beginning to stray from its source material as each new tale in the series presents us with fresh gods and monsters to batter and revile, but their theme is always unwavering vengeance, and their style is always gore, fortissimo gore. Despite the huge number of ways to rip and rend your opponents, the action is increasingly without meaning or a broader purpose.
Ascension begins with just such a gruesome scene: protagonist Kratos, chained atop a stone column, is being tortured by one of the Furies, a repugnant netherworld goddess who raises her arms to flatter her breasts before seeping attack bugs from her pores. Break free of her grip and it's mythology as usual as you're propelled through the world, dissolving grunts into crimson mist with your Blades of Chaos, killing off larger, named foes via the series' divisive QTE finishing moves, and hauling yourself through the scenery by latching onto the glinting hook points.
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