PlayStation Plus members will be among the first to check out God of War: Ascension‘s new multiplayer aspect, with a beta service being released for the game shortly.
Game director Todd Papy took to the PlayStation Blog for the announcement, also hinting that there may be a “few other secret inroads” to accessing the beta for non-PS Plus members.
The upcoming hack-n’-slash-fest, which sits before the previous games in the series’ timeline, will place a heavier focus on multiplayer gaming, while still featuring a single player story. The beta will be multiplayer-only, but fans of the series will have enough experience of the single player mode by now.
The combat is 4v4, and involves the usual XP-gaining, levelling-up strategy seen in most online games nowadays. God of War: Ascension will also incorporate a form of class system, as players choose from four familiar Gods – Hades, Zeus, Poseidon and Ares – to pledge allegiance to, each with its own combat style and abilities.
God of War: Ascension will hit shelves in March 2013, so it’s a good sign that the beta is rolling out so early: Papy’s clearly looking to iron out as many bugs as possible before release.
We’ll keep you posted with more info as we get it, including a release date for the beta.