Hi guys,
Happy to be back to tell you about some new surprises from PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. More costumes? More minions? Well, okay, yes. But also more new characters!
Our newest challengers are Isaac Clarke from Electronic Arts’ Dead Space, and Zeus from… well, from some of the foundational myths of Western society, but also from a little PlayStation game you might know called God of War by SCEA Santa Monica Studio.
How did these two emerge as All-Stars from the vast PlayStation multiverse? Synchronicity. We were talking with some friends over at EA who were hard at work on Dead Space 3, and with a lot of Dead Space fans on our team and all the cool tools at Isaac’s disposal, some quick concepts emerged and we knew he’d be a great addition. We’ve also wanted to add another “heavy,” hard-hitting character into All-Stars (Big Daddy was getting lonely), and with all the work on God of War: Ascension around Sony Santa Monica, Zeus emerged as a perfect fit.
As you might remember, Zeus is kind of an arrogant jerk, but one thing you can say for him is that he does not mess around. As King of the Gods, he’s a big guy, used to getting his way, and he hits HARD. Of course he’s got some cool combos, but his primary offense is centered around fewer, but more powerful strikes that generate a ton of AP and send enemies flying. He can power up virtually all of his attacks into a “charged” version with all kinds of new effects, giving him one of the biggest move lists in the game. Super-armored rushing punches, a clone move, teleports, and lightning bolts–lots and lots of lightning bolts. Your best bet against Zeus is to stay on his good side (aka behind him), or far away.
His level 1 is a giant Lightning Clap that lacks range but has a great area of effect. Level 2 lets Zeus take to the skies and fly anywhere before exploding in a deadly lightning storm. His level 3 “Wrath of Zeus” takes you to Olympus to fight a godlike 100-foot tall Zeus, and in true boss-fight form, he can wipe out half the screen with a single strike.
Through a combination of playtesting and staying true to his original series, Isaac emerged over the course of development as a strong mid-range fighter using the unique weapons and Kinesis/Stasis abilities you’ll recognize from the Dead Space series (think somewhere between Drake and Jak, with a lot of twists). He has some very interesting long-range options (the Bouncing Bola acts like sniper rifle that bounces off of walls, getting more powerful with each bounce) and he’s got some great moves up close, but just as in Dead Space, he’s at his best keeping foes safely out of his face. He can advance or retreat while firing his trusty Plasma Cutter, toss proximity mines, use Stasis attacks to freeze opponents, or spin slowly moving Ripper blades at enemies with a blast of Kinesis torque.
His level 1 super fires a supercharged stasis burst and then overloads his Plasma Cutter, which can be aimed anywhere, even at very long range. His level 2 super overloads his Kinesis module creating a bubble that launches nearby enemies away at “terminal” velocity, and Isaac’s level 3 takes you into space where he blows the airlock, sucking everyone into space for a quick game of something like “Asteroids” where Isaac flies around blasting opponents and space debris into dust.
Finally, what better to welcome new characters than with a new stage? The new “Graveyard” level mashes up MediEvil‘s Graveyard opening with… The Unfinished Swan. While we start in recognizable MediEvil territory (complete with pop-up zombies and a wisecracking gargoyle), the “Swan” elements are shown off with a mid-match whiteout and ink splatters that slowly reveal the emerging structures. There are lots of little Swan touches throughout the stage, from the hidden labyrinth, to a balloon, the King, and of course the Unfinished Swan itself makes a cameo.
So how do All-Stars fans get their hands on the new stuff? The new DLC pack hits the PlayStation Store on March 19th. As before with the recently released “Fearless” stage, the new “Graveyard” stage will be free in online ranked matches and $1.99 if you want to own it. As for Zeus and Isaac, I’m very happy to announce they will come to North America FREE as a redeemable downloadable voucher code packed in with the new God of War: Ascension, which launches on March 12th. When Zeus and Isaac Clarke go live in All-Stars on March 19th (one week later), you can use your code to redeem them any time after they are live. For anybody who doesn’t pick up God of War: Ascension (but of course that’s only crazy people–it’s got what I think is the most epic final battle in the series’ history), the characters will also be for sale in the PSN Store for $4.99 each.
I’ll have some more details coming on the new challengers in the coming weeks — until then, see you online!
Never played Dead Space but Isaac looks like he could be fun. Zeus looks pretty cool too, I figured once you started doing other characters from those franchises Zeus would be first (aside from the two coles). I’m not complaining about it though.
Hey if you wanna do another character from an already covered franchise that would be a challenge (and definitely different than other people), may I suggest Calypso? He could fight with his magic powers and some of the prizes he’s given out (like the boxing glove he gave to No-Face).
Just a thought.
Oh and I like everyone else would really love to see Crash and Spyro. At least Crash.
@LuiSpartanMIMIMI
Oh get over it. It’s DLC, there’s not a big limit on how many characters they can introduce. Plus there’s nothing wrong with having 2 characters from the same franchise.
@Saeed-Al-Dosary
Please tell me you’re joking. A game does not have to meet some arbitrary quota of female characters to not be sexist.
Oh and fighting games like Mortal Kombat Street Fighter etc. can make up whole new characters to fill out their roster. Superbot can’t.
Honestly how the hell is Elena or Chloe going to play different than Drake?
Hi Seth.
Do you know if this was Superbot’s final work or is there still more characters or at least a stage to be released by them?
Terribly disappointed about these DLC characters. Including Zeus is just a kick to the guts of fans and supporters of this game.
Including Zeus just to promote yet another God of War game is really a horrible thing to do while also making a quick buck. Nobody ever requested this Zeus character.
What happened to Mortal Kombat rep? Almost anyone would have been better than yet another GoW rep. Omar Kendell said he’d love to see MK rep being included surely Netherrealms and SSM can work out a deal especially since they got Kratos.
I have supported this game since pre-order and bought all DLC + minions in full, I feel very disappointed that fans are totally being ignored here with the inclusion of Zeus.
Props and kudos on the stage though.
I´m a huge Playstation fan and so I really like this game. The new stage looks great and Isaac surely is a nice 3rd party character to add to the roster.
I´m just really dissapointed with Zeus. He seems more like an easy pick to advertise the new GoW game than a character people actually asked for. It just feels like he doesn´t fit in this game.
I do not understand why Zeus gets put over characters like Abe for example. The Oddworld developers want Abe in this game, but it seems they are just being ignored…aswell as the fans. That really bothers me.
I´m definitely going to buy the stage and maybe Isaac. I´m sorry about Zeus, since I do not want to spend money on a character hardly anyone asked for.
@151 – Spyro is a “Skylander” now, and since he’s available for all consoles and lost his Sony Status, I doubt you’ll ever see him in this.
Similar with Mortal Kombat. They’d much rather include as many niche, Sony-only characters as they can, as opposed to someone who could indirectly advertise content available on the competition as well.
will we be getting
1) more characters
2) costumes
3) stages
Liking the game play for both characters. Anyways, like the others stated, will there be anymore DLC content like characters, costumes etc.
Hehe, great, more characters!
Not my first choice, but I’ll make sure to support this game at least as long as the game supports us!^^
The more the merrier!
I hope more characters and stages will join in the future, maybe an RPG Rep? We will see.^^
I just want to say, despite everything many people say on the internet, I don’t think any other company ever interacted so well with the fans and tried their best to make a lot of content.
I can feel your enthusiasm about the game, and don’t take criticism too hard.
Kudos to everyone at Superbot and SSM!
As many have pointed out, the characters look great, but they don’t necessarily scream Playstation All-Star. Particulary Zeus, whose recognition comes more from general knowledge of Greek mythology rather than actual God of War video game lore. Either way, I’m still glad to see add-on content in the works :-)
The thing that I try to keep in mind is that an ‘All-Star’ in real sports can sometimes be a skilled rookie player, so to be a Playstation ‘All-Star’ doesn’t mean that you have to be a part of a long running franchise to be picked for the ‘All-Star Team’. Kat from Gravity Rush, for example, was a great addition & a great game.
Maybe you can put in more trophies in this next update? :) Please
And please work in the negotiations to bring Cloud Sora and Riku into the game and Maybe Sephiroth thank you! :)
I’m a little disappointed that these characters have little relevance in PlayStation history, but still, we’re getting two new characters and a new stage, and I can’t argue with more content. Keep on rolling out the DLC!
So I was wondering since the last dlc bunch was titled overtime on psn, and this dlc bunch is called 2x overtime, is there only one more dlc bunch after it called 3x overtime (the highest the matches go into overtime), or will there be more dlc characters after it? I realize you cannot give any specifics details on plans, but I was just wondering if we can expect many more awesome characters and cool stages. Thank you in advance.
Hey, Seth! I know people are really asking for 3rd party characters but the game should also include a large amount of characters from first party titles throughout Playstation’s massive life span. Characters like Wander, Jeanne D’Arc, Robbit, Dart Feld, Rudy Roughnight, Blasto, UberHero, Toan, Q*Bert (Yes he is a PS character owned by Columbia/Sony and was on PS1……Atleast as a minion) Ico, Vib-Ribbon (Atleast a stage) Gabe Logan.
We still need to get 3rd parties like Crash, Spyro, Cloud, Snake, Klonoa, Abe, Rayman etc. But alot of 1st parties need representation too.
@1 i swear you stole that comment from the ign boards…..
Ascension is getting ALOT of extra incentives to buy the game. the last of us demo (when ready), rise of warrior challenges(lots of dlc), and now this…
i was already planning to get it, but man this is overboard…
Are you guys working on Host Migration?
My god go play online, ESPECIALLY RANKED and look at the amount of rage quitters there are.
BTW Seth can toros 4th costume be your avatar :3?
Are you guys working on Open Party Invites? It would be nice not to keep adding and deleting others to play with friends. Also if you haven’t answered this, is a 1v1 ranked mode coming in the future? Thanks for the work you guys put into the game and I hope you guys can work deals out with the characters the PSAS community desire! Good Luck
Zeus and Isaac? Weird choice of characters….
I have some ideas..
FROM SONY IP:
WANDER (ICO TEAM needs to think again about this) PS2
ROBBIT (Jumping Flash) PSX
TAG (Modanation Racers) PS3
LAMMY_ PSX
TOMBA_PSX
KUTARO (THE PUPPETER)PS3
IOTA_(Tearaway) PSVITA
KNACK_PS4
DART_PSX
that (PRIMAL)chick PS2
JOURNEY CHARACTER (JOURNEY)
(LAST OF US) CHARACTERS..PS3
NEFARIOUS maybe (RATCHET AND CLANCK)
FROM 3RD PARTY IDEAS
OLD SNAKE (MGS4)
LARA CROFT (TOMB RAIDER)
CLOUD (Final fantasy 7)
CRASH BANDICOOT
SPYRO
ABE (Oddworld)
PYRAMID HEAD (Sillent hill)
SCORPION (MORTAL KOMBAT)_he and kratos fights together in mk9 anyway :D..its time for revenge
CHELL (PORTAL)
STAGES
SHADOW COLLOSUS-
SHAO KANH ARENA
RAPTURE CITY-
LAST OF US/TOKIO JUNGLE-
NSANITY ISLAND
TERAWAY STAGE
PUPPETER STAGE (THIS WILL BE AWESOME)
JOURNEY DESERT/MOTOR STORM
GRAN TURISMO/ MOD NATION RACERS
What do you think :D
The rumours about Abe being canceled as DLC was really a slap in the face for us Oddworld fans.
But unfortunately the rumour has to be true, since Oddworld Inhabitants and the fans wanted Abe in this game for a really long time now and he still wasn´t announced yet.
With that in mind, i think that Zeus could have taken Abe´s place instead, which makes his inclusion even worse for me. :(
You guys really did a great job with the stage and Isaac, though.
I’m loving this game so most as the characters are awesome so I’m wondering if playstation characters Crash Bandicoot , Spyro and Lara Croft are going to be in this game at some point as they started their first years of gaming life on the ps1.
Also I was glad to hear that Tag can be unlocked as a minon but I would like to know if there is any chance of him being a fighter as Modnation Racers was a popular ps3 game and still is.
$5/character is a giant flaming ripoff. $5/both characters wouldnt be too bad.
But why are these 2 just blatant advertisements for newly released games? We need more representation of actual PS franchises.
Well at least its not as bad as having two Coles….
Doubt you read in this far Seth, but it really is disheartening to hear Abe got cancelled. I won’t support this game anymore after all the excitement I had before. Utter disapointment for all Playstation fans and this is not a representation for Playstation history because Playstation history is not a failure.
Super system NEEDS to go in a sequel! It NEEDS to go. Can’t stress this enough. Ring out or bust. The comparison to smash is flattery at this point as Smash is just a excellent game with excellent mechanics and options.
Will the arcade sticks be fixed this time? L2 and R2 does not work
Well I guess upgrading my PS3 to the 500 GB Red one is a great idea since I’ll get free PS All Stars content, and The Last of Us Demo, because Ascension is bundled in it.
Wait, so if Kat and Emmett are going to get trophies, will I automatically get the trophy if I’ve already beaten the game with them, or will I have to do it again?
I just saw that you left a comment saying there will be trophies and you are going to add in trophies for Kat and Emmet, thanks!
Also, please add in some older Sony characters like Legend of Dragoon.
hello seth, I wonder if this DLC that comes with the game Ascencions Of War Gow, tabem turn to Brazil or this promotion will be restricted to USA and Canada?
Will GOW:A have digital release? If so, does this free DLC apply there as well?
add mega man x for the love of god
I enjoyed the characters choice, especially Zeus. However they are too expensive!
Have you ever considered making a Season Pass or something similar?
And about the new costumes for Kat and Emmet, are they going to be avaliable for the people who bought the pre-order!
Shall we change the title to “Characters that have appeared on Playstation: Battle Royale”? How did we get so many 3rd party characters but not the ones that fans have been screaming about since the game was announced?And I think we should balance Kratos before adding his buds.
/rant
But I’m glad this game isn’t dead yet. Thanks for the new content anyway.
Thank you Sony for these great DLCs and thank you for letting me get them for free with the GoW copy. As far as for future DLCs I’d love to see Joe from the Last of Us and an assassins creed character. it’d be insane to have those two character as part of the roster. Please make it happen at least Joe. THANKS I CAN’T WAIT…
Zeus looks overpowered. At least, his 3rd level does. We’ll see how they play. At $5 per character, I might hold off for a PS+ Special. I could see $2/character, but not $5.
At least the levels look sweet.
Keep the DLCs coming as many as you want you got my support. Man I love Play Station All-Star Battle Royal.
that offer free characters who have playstation 3 on purchasing God of war Ascension and what happens to those who have not will be able to get playstation 3 as free since the other option is to pay at the store? assassins creed any male character in the game?
+ xamoel_bros, I agree with many of your character suggestions. I would add the following:
Hotsuma (Shinobi)
Rikimuru (Tenchu)
Ayame (Tenchu)
Alex Mercer (Prototype)
Ada Wong (Resident Evil)
Tony Hawk (Any Tony Hawk game for PS1, 2, etc)
Reiko Nagase (Ridge Racer)
Lance (Contra Shattered Solider)
Allura (Trapt) – Just think of her moves all involving traps
Where’s the Resistance representative Seth?
Thanks set, is better knowing you actually heard the opinions and tried to include him, bit issues presented, it’s better than saying nothing, making us think you preferred a certain character over the ones we asked for.
I can’t say I’m disappointed with the characters themselves, but I am disappointed by the price for these characters. If they were bigger characters maybe I could see that but I haven’t played past the for Dead Space or God of War because they just weren’t my kind of game. The characters that everyone keep asking for just don’t make sense to me, I could maybe understand Crash and Spyro, MAYBE. But Snake would probably be hard to obtain and Clouds just….. No. I despise FF7 with a passion that fills my soul, go with like 9 or 8 if you do that, or even 13 (my favorite) But who I really want to see more than anyone else is Sora from Kingdom Hearts. I would pay any amount of money for him to be a playable character. But kudos for releasing more characters and stages.
Geez ……..you guys why is there so much hate even tough this game is still being worked on, it”s most certainly a godsend. Although, i hope there is actual A list PlayStation All Star underway ,i will continue to keep my fingers crossed for (Konami/MGS Rep) Ground Zeroes Big Boss, Lara Croft 2013,(FF/PSP Rep) Zack Fair,
(PSVita Rep) AC:Liberation Aveline or Escape Plan Lil and Laarg. Since there is now Villains (referring to Zeus)in PSASBR, sifting to that topic please Seth Killian ,Santa Monica Studios and company, please add (ff7) Sephiroth,
(CvsSNK2/SF Rep) Shin Akuma and more online/offline challenge modes.stock n time is getting dull.
Hellyeah Keep’em coming!!
Common on people support the game there is no going back from here and maybe eventually something great will come…hopefully.
It would seem I need a new memory for my PSVita seeing as I have the game in both PS3 and PSVita but I only play it on Vita, unless I have friends over. Anyway my memory is already full! How am I supposed to get them if I don’t have space! Meh guess I’ll have to start saving if I want to buy a new memory and this new DLC. But seriously though please just try and get Crash into this game
My jaw is on the floor with awed-ness that there’s a level based on THE UNFINISHED SWAN coming to this. Awesome, inspired, and hopefully opens up the floodgate of possibilities for levels based on other beloved indie games down the road — Journey? Sound Shapes? Retro City Rampage? :)))
Also very impressed with how quickly this 2nd pair of characters is being released after the 1st pair just weeks ago — and it definitely sweetens the deal for those of us picking up GoWA. Keep up the great work! My friends & I love this game!!
no way this gets answered, but what if you are downloading god of war ascension?
The next upcoming characters are awesome.
I’m really hoping that more items are added to the game though, either with patches or in downloadable packs.
Groovitron, anyone?
A lot of dedicated users on various forums like GameFAQ’s have come up with some amazing ideas for stages and items, and even some characters. You and your team should give ’em a look-over, Mr. Killian. I guarantee you’ll be impressed.