How to play God of War: Ascension on Mac

Game summary

Vengeance is born in the fires of betrayal in this prequel to the best-selling God of War franchise. Six months have passed since Kratos stood over the bodies of his wife and child, his hands stained with their blood - tricked by Ares into murdering the only people he ever loved. Swearing to avenge them, Kratos broke the blood oath that bound him to Ares, but oaths to Olympus are not so easily broken... Sentenced to an eternity chained within a prison for the living damned, Kratos battles insanity at the hands of the Furies. He will be tested as he seeks freedom, redemption for his sins, and the clarity to avenge his family.
First released: Mar 2013

Play God of War: Ascension on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play God of War: Ascension on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

God of War: Ascension installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install God of War: Ascension like you would on any PC.
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🕹 Editor's notes

God Of War: Ascension. Worthy of being in the franchise?

We all know how legendary the classic God Of War franchise is, and this PS3 and PS Now exclusive game, God Of War: Ascension, is an excellent addition. The story starts with Kratos chained up like a mad prisoner awaiting his execution. 

You might be disappointed to learn that, unlike in the other God Of War games, the Ascension shows a little softer side to the former revenge-seeking, blood-thirsty Spartan who doesn't know anything but victory and killing.

This was expected since bringing in a compassionate side of Kratos was emphasized by Sony Santa Monica. However, you'd be pleased to know that the softer side of Kratos still kicks some glorious mythological creatures' butts in the most violent ways throughout the game.

To put it clearly, it has everything that you would expect in a God Of War franchise. From Epic boss fights to the classic whirling blades, legendary and mythical monsters as big as cities, cinematic combats, and many more to keep you entertained and satisfied.

The only downside for some players is that Ascension is a prequel, i.e. Before Kratos became dark and evil. It somehow defeats the purpose of the demigod being ferocious in the early games, so it's a bit odd.  

We think it is refreshing that the creators show a side of Kratos we've never seen before. The game is packed with legendary fights and action throughout, and honestly? Sony Santa Monica has outdone themselves with the graphics because the game is gorgeous. 

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