Sony Santa Monica has launched an updated patch for God of War: Ascension that drastically reduces the difficulty level on the “Trial of Archimedes” level.
Apparently enough people complained about the level that Sony released the 1.03 patch to tweak the stage that pits you against three waves of successive enemies with little to no health orbs between each wave. Which strikes us as weird for a few reasons. First, the whole point of the level is to see how players dealt with these challenges from a strategic standpoint. You’re supposed to be challenged. Secondly, when did complaining to a developer about how hard a game is become a viable option? We guess when enough people point out that your game isn’t being enjoyed that much.
”We received extensive feedback from the community that the “Trial of Archimedes” section (Chapter 28) near the end of the game was excessively challenging,” said Sony Santa Monica’s Aaron Kaufman.
“In every God of War game, establishing a well-paced difficulty ramp towards the end of the game is paramount to us. Based on player response, the degree of challenge offered here was short of our goal of being perfectly balanced.
“In the 1.03 update, at the end of each elevator stage (three total), players will now receive a measured amount of green health orbs and a nominal amount of blue magic orbs. This change affects all difficulty levels. We are confident this revision will address feedback regarding “Trial of Archimedes” while still preserving the level of challenge appropriate for this late section of the game.”
This update also affects all difficulty settings for the game, from Easy mode all the way up to Titan mode. What do you think? Was the level so hard that it required a system wide nerfing? Let us know.
Published: Mar 27, 2013 07:59 am