God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta Start Date and Details for PS+ Members Revealed

Sony has finally announced the beta start date for PS+ members and even included a trailer to commemorate the occasion. Aspiring warriors will get a chance to bash each others' heads in on January 8, 2013.

However, for those who participated in Sony's "Rise of the Warrior" challenge and won, beta access starts for you today! For the losers, the gods have "shown mercy" are granting you early access on December 16. You can redeem the codes at the game's official site.

For those interested in signing up fr the Rise of the Warrior challenge for exlcusive DLC items, added team challenges and more, you can sign up for it here.

The actual beta itself will offer the "Team Favor of the Gods," and the yet-to-be-seen "Favor of the Gods" game modes, which will play like the latter mode except there are no teams (duh). You'll fight to reach the requisite number of favor points from the Gods, earning points via kills, bonus brutal kills, opening chests, capturing domination points, and, if you’re skillful enough, performing executions using the Spear of Olympus. 

For tips, scoring details and whatnot, go drop by the beta page.

Players will be able to fight on the Desert of Lost Souls map, which features the massive Titan, Polyphemus. Multiplayer levels are broken into two categories, larger maps that feature big open environments (like the Desert of Lost Souls), and more compact areas, for a more close-quarters affair. For this, Sony is introducing the "Forum of Hercules" multiplayer arena level. God of War 3 fans might remember it as the stage where you pummeled Hercules' head in until he expired.

Here's God of War: Ascension's "Evil Ways" trailer to get you in the mood for some spartan-killing action.

Lastly, the beta will also give you access to the game's multiplayer tutorial level. There, you'll be able to "test your might" with both Zeus and Ares allegiances and experience the mode's player customization options and upgrades that will be in the final game.

Keep in mind, though, that this is still a beta, so expect bugs and whatnot to dampen your experience from time to time. So don't judge a game based on a beta, alright?

God of War: Ascension is set to hit on March 12, 2013 for the PS3.

Anyone excited for God of War's first foray into multiplayer or is it still the epic single-player experience for you?