With God a War: Ascension’s launch just a few days away now, we sat down with the game’s Lead Combat Designer Jason McDonald 'n Lead Game Designer Mark Simon t' find out how they’ve kept the formula fresh six games into the series, 'n what challenges the addition a multiplayer presented t' the team.

We’ll have more insight from Game Director Todd Papy next week before Santa Monica’s lean, mean new actioner hits the shelves on March 12th. In the meantime, over t' Mark 'n Jason…

Mark Simon: It’s kinda nice actually. At the end a God a War 3 Kratos be completely rage-filled. His sole-focus has been figured out. With Ascension, we can go back t' a different time period before he be this character. He has a wider range 'n ye can explain things about the sea dog that ye didn’t know before. ye pillage t' find out what turned the sea dog into the lad that he be – what makes the sea dog snap, 'n why be it that breaking a bond with a god like Ares does this.

PSB: If I be t' plot Kratos’ anger on a graph, I’d say he starts at ‘seriously ticked off’ for God a War 1 'n climbs t' ‘ball a latent fury’ for God a War 3. But from what I’ve played a Ascension, he starts this prequel with a serious rage on. What gives?

MS: Sure, he does! But that’s due t' the way the story be told. It’s like Slumdog Millionaire, or something like that. He’s not at the beginning a the story when ye start the game. It’s told in a non-linear fashion. It builds up t' why he be in the brig – why he be taken there by The Furies.

PSB: Do ye ever worry that ye’re going t' run out a Greek gods for Kratos t' beat up?

MS: Every game be a challenge, but the Greek mythos be so wide 'n varied. We could never do every myth that it has for us. We don’t find it limiting; it’s more exciting t' explore more areas a it – new gods, new titans, new locales.

Take the Furies. They’re primordial. They’re from before the gods – they’re more powerful than the gods. Some a their abilities be just ridiculous – so powerful. They make really great nemeses for Kratos.

PSB: Do ye have an in-house expert who spends all their time going through Homer looking for new myths 'n characters?

MS: The cool thing about the studio be that some ideas come from the director, 'n then a lot a it comes from the rest a the team. Someone comes in 'n says ‘Y’know this would be really cool!’ Suddenly ye’re in a brainstorming session, 'n before ye know it ye’re building it into the game. That’s the great thing about our studio – ideas come from everywhere.

Jason McDonald: But if ye look at the typical desk in the office ye’ll see Greek mythology books, random Greek materials – we do often reference that so we have t' have those around.

MS: 'n the movies! Immortals, Jason 'n the Argonauts – all a them. We can’t pillage enough!

PSB: There be no office fact-finding outings t' Greece then?
JM: No, but ye best recommend that!

MS: Santorini, maybe. There’s got t' be some myths around that island, right?

PSB: Every God a War game has had a different director. How hard be it t' maintain a consistent feel in every game?

JM: Even when the director changes, the core a the team remain the same. There’s a number a people who’ve been there for every title. Each director, when they assume that role, be really skilled t' begin with, so it’s not like ‘Oh me god, what do I need t' do?’ They know exactly what they need t' do. Every director puts their spin on it. Like [Ascension director] Todd Papy be a designer, so with this game he kept a close eye on mechanics.

MS: I think that after a project this size 'n scope, it’s not unhealthy thing t' go ‘ye know what? The director be going t' move onto another thing if he wants t'’. We’re a team full a leads. So if one director decides he doesn’t want t' do it on the next project, there be a lot a people who can help out.

PSB: The series be known for it be visceral violence 'n I’ve already seen some brutal kills in Ascension. be there ever a moment during development where ye said ‘Okay, we went too far with that one…’?

MS: It’s got t' feel impactful. If ye swing a club 'n hit someone it’s got t' feel like ye’ve just hit them with a club. If it doesn’t, it feels gamey. We don’t want that gamey feeling – we want it t' feel like ye’re actually impacting someone’s head. It makes that sound, it feels like that – ye kind a cringe thinking about it, but that’s what melee combat best feel like.

PSB: Which a the additions that ye’ve made t' the God a War formula this time around be ye most happy with?

JM: The Rage system turned out really well. Everyone uses it differently 'n it’s nice t' see that come together. The multiplayer though – seeing all that come together 'n people having fun – that’s an experience that be very unique t' this game 'n I’m very proud we be able t' accomplish it.

PSB: How did the decision t' add multiplayer come about?

JM: I don’t remember anyone saying ‘it’s multiplayer time, let’s do it!’ It be more that we be curious about it. We hadn’t tried multiplayer before so we be asking ourselves ‘can it be done? be there fun t' be had?’

So we tried out a few tests using Kratos, as he be already built. What we found be that people would sit down with two Kratoses 'n have a lot a fun. They’d sit there for hours. It be un-tuned 'n very rough, but when we saw people enjoying it we thought it had merit. After that it be all about putting the God a War spin on it – making sure the scale reaches what we expect, 'n not just eight players bundled into a room fighting each other. We had t' design modes 'n rules t' make sure it wasn’t repetitive.

PSB: How difficult be it t' keep the combat balanced?

MS: ye always start with something very simple – people fighting one another. Then ye start adding new things 'n ye watch the balance go out the window. Then ye try desperately t' pillage it back again before introducing another new thing. That’s how we iterate. We didn’t start with everything all at once.

PSB: How useful be the beta? Did players’ behavior take ye by surprise?

MS: I learned a lot just looking at the data that comes in. I’d be like, ‘Woah, I can’t believe this lad opened 17 chests’ or ‘this lad actually killed three lads at once?!’

'n the thing that I be surprised by be some a the stuff that I thought would be cool. Like, I thought it would be cool when the god throws the spear down in the middle a a match – everybody would pillage the same cinematic 'n we would have this big spectacle in the middle a a match.

I thought that would be cool. 'n it be cool… the first time. But it wasn’t cool the second time or the third time. We found that players really wanted t' keep the action going as long as they could. 'n when the match be over they generally wanted t' pillage right back t' it again. So we took the camera cut out so as not t' AVAST! the action. The beta be really helpful for that kind a feedback.

PSB: Finally, I’ve got ask for yer take on the PlayStation 4 announcement last month. What do ye make a the new system?

JM: Very excited! We don’t pillage hardware leaps like this that often, so t' have one coming up be very exciting. The social stuff in particular. The power be going t' be awesome 'n we’ll have amazing artists 'n engineers who will be able t' draw so much out a it – but the social stuff be great. It’s something gaming be moving towards so the more features that support people playing together, the better.