We got to take a look at some of the upcoming titles on the Sony PlayStation 3. I anticipate a pretty good gaming season toward the end of the year, but I would say two games really stood out.

God of War Ascension:

I spoke with David Hewitt who manages the design team and he took me through a round. The game wasn’t finished, but it looked really good. Everything looks to be on a grander scale, and Kratos is still as grumpy and violent as ever. However, there was a puzzling moment where Kratos apparently saves someone. Freakish right? I think that may play into the overall story, but that’s just a hunch. But don’t worry, he’s still ripping minions apart and decapitating things. There was also some brain exposure. Yup, you read that right. They’ve also added a new dynamic to the game called “Life Cycle” where you can rebuild anything that’s been destroyed. You can rebuild completely or rebuild up to a certain point. There was a part of the demo where Kratos was able to navigate to another section of the map by climbing a partially destroyed area with the Life Cycle power. Rage mode has also been tweaked to automatically trigger once you’ve reached enough orbs. The designers feared that we weren’t using it enough so now they are forcing it! I complained that if it triggers, I don’t want to have it wasted on weaklings or have it triggered when I’ve just ended a big fight. However, David countered by letting me know that they’ve balanced the fights so that that shouldn’t happen too often, and Rage Mode happens more often all together so it shouldn’t bee too big a deal. We’ll see – the game comes out March 12th.

Assassins Creed III:

I was thoroughly impressed with the demo that was shown. I’ll be honest, Assassin’s creed hasn’t really been my favorite game. It’s really cool, and beautiful to look at, but for some reason, I just wasn’t drawn to it. However, I think that might change with Assassins Creed III. The game takes place around the Revolutionary War in the time-line of the United States and there are a few things I’d like to point out. First, our assassin’s movements through the trees looked really fluid. I note it because it must have been really hard to program. It’s trees! Not buildings, or rooftops, which are more flat and linear. I was really surprised at how well they pulled that off. Secondly, you can assassinate with any weapon – not just the hidden blade. This makes your assassinations a lot more fluid as well. I think you see the point I’m trying to make. Lastly, is ship combat. Yea, somehow or another, you end up commanding a ship, and it’s really cool. You see the guys raising the masts and all that other stuff. Your first mate is yelling orders and everyone is working as you steer the ship around the ocean. You’re battles are cool as you send cannon balls hurling through the air towards your enemies. It’s a really fun new dynamic to the game that I personally can’t wait to play.