?God Of War? Multiplayer Mode For ?Ascension? Revealed By Sony [PHOTOS]

With the God of War: Ascension release date set for Spring 2013, Sony and the game's developers are keeping their secrets closely guarded while they work to build excitement over the game. At a recent press event Sony Santa Monica and game director Todd Papy unveiled a first glimpse of the brand new multiplayer mode for God of War.

Multiplayer combat is as dramatic as single-player kills were in previous games, with gory beheadings and other forms of execution displayed in beautiful, detailed slow-motion. The multiplayer mode, called Execution, lets two teams of up to four players attempt to kell each other, using their fighting abilities as well as their surroundings. One big advantage of working with a teammate is the division of labor. Now one player can fight of monsters while the other deals with a puzzle or turns a crank.

Kratos is not playable in multiplayer, though he is still the central character of the one-player story mode. According to Game Informer, Todd Papy explained the train of thought that brought about this decision:

Papy explained that he didn't want online play to consist of a team of green Kratos' going up against a team of yellow Kratos', and he also didn't want to give a single player the benefit of having control of him. Nobody wants to be Robin, and we would have had a bunch of Robins, said Papy.

Players will level up their multiplayer mode characters and align themselves with a particular Greek god. Which god they choose decides the perks and special abilities your character will unlock. You also gain access to more powerful items including special customizable armor.

There are no female multiplayer characters in the game because they do not look pretty while carrying the armor and weapons, according to Pappy.

Sony hopes to offer seven multiplayer-maps for multiplayer matches, five of which will be large and unique environments (like the one pictured) as well as two small arenas. Papy also stated that the team is more concerned with quality than quantity, which is why they are focusing on just a few modes of play.

In the short multiplayer demonstration Sony showed two masked-humans double-teaming a Cyclops and then travelling by zipline to a second platform where they fought off a small army of monsters while the gigantic Polyphemus, Poseidon's Cyclops son from the Odyssey, struggled to free himself from chains in the background.

Sony declined to reveal any information regarding the single player mode for God of War: Ascension, which is a prequel to the previous three games. [WARNING: SPOILERS] It is believed that the game will follow Kratos at a time in his life before he became the God of War and took on the other Greek gods in combat, instead following Kratos as he deals with the immediate repercussions of being tricked into killing his family and swearing an oath to Ares. No new information regarding the story mode God Of War: Ascension was revealed at the latest press meeting.