God of War: Ascension- More like Redundancy.

     It's true- I believe this game should be called God of War: Redundancy.  Where could they go after Kratos "died" with an image of a Phoenix in the third game?  He pretty much left anything remotely Greek as a trail of corpses and the land a wake of massive collateral damages across the country.  Really, what's left? 
     So instead of having Kratos rise above the havoc he has spread, or having to deal with the ramifications his actions have caused, we end up with a prequel.  A time before he became a "god," but after the slaying of his family.  In the 5 games that have been released, we know what we're in for, more wholesale slaughter fueled by a rage that will lay waste to most of the Mediterranean world.

     Come on Sony Santa Monica, where's our progression?  The innovation?  Why not have Kratos travel to a distant land- Egypt, Norway, or Japan- they all have a wealth of mythological things to draw upon.  Have Kratos deal with what he's done.  He should have to fill the void left by an empty Olympus, maybe find stand-in gods.  We should be looking at a potential new phase- this is a HUGE opportunity.  A wonderful chance to carve a new path for our most recent God of War.
     Or- why not have someone else on a quest for vengeance aimed at Kratos?  From either side.  Kratos or the quest taker.  Maybe even a split game- half as one, half as the other.  Seriously- someone, somewhere has to have enough hate and maybe the blessing of a foreign god to help salvage what's left of Greece.  Kratos cannot be the only one with a heart full of revenge.  The subtext of the foreign god is they could be using the person as a pawn to gain a footing in the now open country.  A sort of deity sized political take over. 

     So after all these years we've gained a new beautiful looking version of the game, but it's the same-old rehash.  Granted, the multiplayer may be interesting, but I'll give the game a go, if out of nothing other than it's a decent entertainment even if we know where Kratos has been and where he'll be going after this.  It's VERY familiar territory.
     In essence I believe that they've squeezed the fruit of this game's juices out- and they are now trying to squeeze a bit of blood from the compressed stone it's become.  Only I'm decently certain the blood is from the hand squeezing, and not the stone.

     PS: I noticed this is a time before he learned to lift the chest lids.  He just smashes the tops instead.