With less than a week until God of War: Ascension launches, it’s time to drop the curtain on our fourth Multiplayer mode, Trial of the Gods, and our next God allegiance reveal — the Lord of the Sea, Poseidon.
In Trial of the Gods, the first two-player God of War co-op time trial mode, you and a friend will tag-team with your Champions to face five increasingly hard waves of mythological beasts, whilst surviving against the hourglass of Olympus.
Over 15 types of enemies await you, including Satyrs, Cerberuses, Cyclopes, Gorgons, Juggernauts, and more deadly creatures. You will start with a set amount of time on the clock, and win time back with every beast you slay. Decimate a wave and you will be granted a Bonus Time Tiered Award (gold, silver, or bronze) based on how fast you cleared the wave. If you die or run out of time, you’ll have to start over again. If you reach the end of the fifth round, an epic boss awaits.
At launch, Trial of the Gods will be available in the following maps: Desert of Lost Souls, Forum of Hercules, and Rotunda of Olympus, with more arenas planned for later!
With Trial of the Gods, we wanted to help bridge the single player and multiplayer experience, giving players a chance to work on their skill-set and gain valuable experience points with a friend, before jumping into the competitive arena. Playing Trial of the Gods is also a great way to grind some extra experience between competitive games, test newly acquired weapons and abilities, or even try a new allegiance. Any experience gained in Trial of the Gods will go towards upgrading your Champions across the entire multiplayer experience.
What happens if you don’t have a friend to play co-op with, or you don’t want to team up with a stranger? No worries — you can play Trial of the Gods solo too!
God of the Sea and brother to Zeus, Poseidon’s realm is almost as great as the sky itself, and his power is second only to Zeus because of it. Poseidon grants his loyal sentinels unique support capabilities: a large pool of health, the ability to fortify allies, and command over water and ice.
Unleash freezing attacks to obliterate an enemy’s defense and agility or boost your own team’s elemental defense and health. The wise warrior knows how to control a large area of space and can keep multiple enemies at a distance. For more on aligning with Lord Poseidon, check out his strategic profile in our God section at GodofWar.com.
Finally, if you have yet to pre-order God of War: Ascension, this video may put you over the edge. For the first time ever, King Leonidas will be brought to life in God of War: Ascension Multiplayer as depicted by Gerard Butler in “300”. If you pre-order either the standard or Collector’s Edtion, exclusively at Gamestop, you will receive a voucher to access history’s most heroic Spartan.
Whether you pre-order at Gamestop, or any retailer supporting our programs (such as Best Buy or Amazon), you will also receive our Mythological Heroes Pack. You will adorn the armor of four of the most legendary heroes in Greek Mythology – Perseus, Orion, Odysseus, and Achilles.
Click here to check out the Mythological Heroes gameplay trailer, then pre-order in the final hours you have left to ensure you get this content!
YES! YES! SSM, you made my year!
Looks like a great mode to play with some friends, can’t wait :).
am i just totally out of my mind or was that the incredible hulk @1:29? lol
Local Co-op as free dlc down the line? ;) Otherwise, this is the biggest game of the year so far! Already pre-ordered!
@ 25
Corporate Shills and stealth PR could not have put that better. Job job.
Looking fantastic! I’m really looking forward to picking up my CE next Tuesday. The co-op Trial looks mind-blowingly fun. Now we can share the pain with a friend!
@48
It goes…
Ascension
Chains of Olympus
God of War
Ghost of Sparta
God of War II
God of War III
Great great great !!!
Cant wait for the game love you all santa monica guys good luck <3
In the MP, there were four spots that you can walk up to. One had Ares and Hades and Zeus and Poseidon, but if you got directly to the right around the columns, there looks like another spot for maybe another God or something? Yet it was empty. Does anyone know if there is going to be another type of God in that spot?
noooo! I would have loved some local co-op :( still gonna be a blast though :D HADES AWAITS!!!
Pre-ordered the CE edition. I’m also disappointed in the lack of 3D support but it’s not a game-breaker for me. It seems Sony is moving away from 3D support. I’ll get my 3D fix through my PC games. I really loved the MP beta and can’t wait to start leveling up again, hopefully it’ll keep me entertained to level up a character for each God. Also hope you have some awesome MP DLC in store.
I can’t decide which mode I’m more excited to play, which is not something I ever saw myself saying.
I really feel like this game is going to be a home run. Thanks in advance, SSM.
Now tell us what your other team is working on for PS4!
@17 Thanks for the heads up, definitely going to go complete those challenges, the exclusive dlc looks sweet.
best looking gods on this (gow)
;)
@57
Actually it goes like this:
God of Ascension
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War Betrayal (phone game)
God of War 1
God of War’Ghost of Sparta
God of War 2
God of War 3
Actually correct that
God of War Ascension
God of War Chains of Olympus
God of War 1
God of War Ghost of Sparta
God of War Betrayal
God of War 2
God of War 3
Betrayal shows Kratos taking his Spartan Army around and some sort of assassin tries to set up Kratos.
The Gods have smiled upon thee thy mortals!!!!!!!1
The Gods have smile upon thee this day mortals!!!!!!!
While I am VERY excited for this game…
I am SO disappointed that there’s no Online Split screen for 2 players! Come ON, guys! I know it takes a lot of programming, but you’re rendering the game twice to produce the 3d ANYWAY, so it can’t be that bad.
That’s one of the best parts about Uncharted 3/Starhawk online…being able to sign into your account and play in split screen. It IS a team game, after all
@69
It was just stated earlier in the comments that the game won’t have 3D at all. I am loving all the info we’re getting for the game this week from the mythological heroes trailer, the leonidas dlc, and now this. SSM you guys have put in so much hard work and it shows, I am proud to say I’ll be picking up my CE copy of the game this Tuesday. Also rise of the warrior is awesome, you get to read a cool story and get free dlc.
beta was fun; i’m glad Sony Santamonica Studios added an onslaught type mode to this – I was thinking this while playing the beta and it’s nice to see that the team was planning this! and you get a chance to get beat on my Hercules – what’s not to like! :D BRING IT!
made it to level 6 for the ‘Rise of the Warrior’ challenge … completed the 18 chapters, but as I don’t tweet or use FB, I couldn’t seem to get to level 8 *tears fall* … anyway, glad to get most of the exclusives, & 2 bonus MP XP codes – yea ! I’ll be needing those … studied up on the Gods & dev. tips …. every little bit helps.
I really dislike split screen, in fact, I usually won’t play games that require it …. so for me, the online co-op is much appreciated … at least that way, I get to take full advantage of the entire screen.
5 days to go …. well, I might have to wait a bit longer to see if my preorder can be upgraded to the CE … the store said they’ll know within 48 hours …. will cross my fingers.
A little bummed to see no local co-op, but stoked to see co-op at all! Can’t wait ’til launch! Any plans for a Vita tie-in? A Vita version of the co-op/MP would be an absolute blast!
You guys dont have info if the latam edition of GOW:A will have all stars dlc codes? Triend asking on the latam blog, but they dont answer to NOTHING EVER… :(
all GOWA purchases will provide the 2 new All Stars characters for free …. at least, that’s what I read on an earlier post in reference to GOWA … they’re offering so many goodies as to make a Day 1 purchase a no brainer … so right there, you save yourself $10 ….
LET THE SLAYHEM BEGIN!
I am glad I cancelled my pre-order for for the CE of GoW: Ascension, because I am VERY unhappy with the lack of response that I received in regards to the bait-and-switch that Sony Santa Monica pulled off with the Kratos Statue.
I pre-ordered the CE when an 8″ Kratos statue was being advertised with it, then all of a sudden, with no notice to those that had pre-ordered the game, Sony Santa Monica goes all sneaky and changes the statue to a smaller, lower quality version.
I will likely only ever buy games that come from Sony Santa Monica used (if at all) from GameStop in response to the disrespect I received from them on this matter.
CAN’T WAIT!!!
Pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition yesterday.
promising a feature (3d support) and then quietly dropping it is not ok – but a great excuse for me to not purchase the game. maybe i’ll buy it used in a few months when it’s $20 – either way, you won’t be seeing my money.
So GoW Horde mode?
I want the CE for the DLC pass … I’m not too interested in the statue – although cool to have – but it’s the DLC I’m really after … hope there will be a seasons pass for sale if it turns out I don’t get upgraded from reg. to CE … wonder if there’s any other way to get up from level 6 on the Rise of the Warrior challenge – really wanted the Hammer from level 8 …. reviews are starting to be posted – sounds very promising, & that’s before anyone has the ability to jump into the MP modes ….
Chains of Olympus was by far, the BEST 3D game I have ever seen, even people who don’t like 3D were impressed, it was unbelievable and really showed how good 3D can look in games.. so it’s equally amazing you’ve dropped 3D support in Ascension when you did such a good job implementing it in Chains of Olympus!
Maybe if you came out and announced in a dedicated blog post at the least that you were withdrawing 3D and why then maybe I’d still have some respect for Santa Monica, but this attitude is just insulting your fans, so I’ve lost all respect. If you’re going to boast about how great 3D will look in Ascension, then quietly withdraw it without saying anything then you can forget about my money, I’ll buy this used, if I ever bother.
Really sad to finally hear confirmation of the stereoscopic 3D support is being dropped for this.
I really thought Sony was starting to do well with all of their hard work supporting and pushing the format, but to not have it on high profile games like this is really a sign that they are giving up on it.
Coody-Baroody is right.. I don’t care about multiplayer mode NEARLY as much as I do stereoscopic 3D.
And for all your naysayers, either you haven’t viewed a proper 3D setup or your vision is in the percentage of people that aren’t able to view it correctly, but 3D when done properly (Super Stardust, Zen Pinball 2, Motorstorm Apocalypse) really adds to the game and brings it from ‘amazing’ to ‘HOLY @*&#%!!’ IMO.
Will there be ANY chance that STEREOSCOPIC 3D support will be added in a future update?
I think many of us would even be willing to pay for 3D Add-on DLC.
Please consider this.
Many people says “Can’t wait!” …
Meanwhile:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/484174_10151471606719509_1718253075_n.jpg
Reviews for this game are so-so. I’m buying this game strictly for the campaign though.
I have the demo it has everything about god of war ascension the history, how did kratos get those swords the demo is awesome but it end so fast if you going so fast but you still can play it I got to level 2 my swords.
SOOOOO ok i pre-ordered the collectors edition from amazon… does this mean il get the gamestop and bestbuy dlc for free later since we get excesses to future dlc?
i am so freaking excited for this game. I have been waiting too long for a new one. I have all 5 of the others and i keep playing them over and over since the first announcement of ascension. i do have a question? on their sight they said something epic is happening OCTOBER 15th 2013. I am soooo wondering if they are gonna make a GOW 4. i have so many ideas for the plot because at the end of GOW3 after the credits he was GONE. HMMM leaves the imagination open wide. i have been thinking about since i beat GOW3. not to change the subject from ascension because this is gonna be an amazing GOW filler like chains of olympus and ghost of sparta. i have just always wondered how they would continue KRATOS’ saga. i watched the video of the creators of GOW1,2,3 and they were debating on how GOW3 shouldve been. i have some great ideas santa monica. come ask me.
So I’ve heard some people whispering around about DLC’s in the store, I pressume these are the Champion Sword/Armour? Although I participated in the Beta I can’t seem to find it, will they show up eventually when the game comes out?
Thanks on forehand.
The million dollar question……Digital Download! I read that there is no preorder option. Will it at least be available for midnight release?
was really excited for the 3D implementation. Ghost of Sparta really benefited with the 3D addition, i had no doubt Ascension would of done the same.
i wouldn’t mind paying for 3D DLC either. please consider this. its kinda hard to be ok with the decision after it was overly bragged about. and you tell the fans that was looking forward to it the week prior to release that it’s not in the game
In Trial of the Gods, can two players sign on with separate personal PlayStation IDs? My brother and I always play together (brother bonding time), so it’s be great if we unlock trophies/earn XP at the same time under our own accounts. We can’t wait for TUESDAY!
Well i feel that the trails of the god mode on most of the maps are impossible to beat the time given is not enough.For example for the map desert of lost souls i cannot believe the timer keeps going before we even grab the pillar before we even activate the round.We spent so much time running to get to the next pillar while we are still getting the two chest and picking up a god weapon than setting traps to then run to the pillar with most of are time gone.Plus some enemies on certain maps seem to take forever to take down while the animation goes on and we miss he gold tier by one second because of an animation kill on a big enemy and i have leveled up my character to the max.But so far by my experience the map i seem to always get close to beating on round 5 on some occasions is desert of lost souls. the other too forget about it specifically the rotunda map seems at one point between rounds it suppose to end,but instead i we get another round with a cyclops that take at least 1 min to beat alone.
you allowed people to get their hopes up, I will not be understanding, you could have produced offline multi but you chose not to, either out of laziness or because someone higher up didn’t want to risk too much replay value. excuse me if I miss the days when one could play a game with someone in the same room…