God of War Sons of Sparta

While the format won’t click with every God of War fan, the 2D action-Metroidvania approach is a welcome change. The foundations are solid, even if it doesn’t push the genre the way the best Metroidvanias do. For anyone who likes both God of War and Metroidvanias, it’s an easy pick. It’s short, but it’s a fun ride.

A brave 2D prequel that looks at Kratos's childhood but struggles to live up to the series' legendary weight.

Sony’s latest State of Play was full of surprises that players weren’t expecting from both old franchises and now, but perhaps the most unexpected was a new God of War title developed by a studio about as far as you could get from Santa Monica Studio’s AAA pedigree: Mega Cat Studios. A retro-first developer that’s made some of the latest titles to be released for the Sega Genesis and NES, the concept of Cory Barlog lending out the likeness off Kratos to another indie studio was something players would have never expected from 2026’s Sony Interactive Entertainment, where so many of their signat...

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For a while, the God of War series was incredibly tired. The straw that broke the camel's back was God of War: Ascension — a perfectly fine hack-and-slasher in its own right, but it was so similar to what came before it that fatigue for Kratos' angry adventures really started to settle in.

God of War Sons of Sparta offers a fresh take on the iconic action franchise that won't be everyone's cup of tea. On top of representing a significant – and undoubtedly scaled-down – departure for the beloved series, it also suffers from a slow start. That said, Sons of Sparta comes into its own a few hours in, delivering a compelling prequel story supported by a solid metroidvania structure. It also "clicks" on the PlayStation Portal, looking and playing like a game that was made for the portable device.

I’ve been following the exploits of Kratos and his terrible, no good, very bad life since 2005. The God of War franchise has maintained an impressive level of action game quality for over 20 years while delivering an engaging, often emotional story. Sons of Sparta doesn’t fill in any important narrative gaps. It does offer a worthwhile look at a point in Kratos’ life before the gods decided to put him through hell (often literally), but the gameplay is frustrating and competing in a gen...

I really wanted to love God of War: Sons of Sparta. As someone who is fascinated by Ancient Greek mythology, adores a 2D Metroidvania or two, and has played and almost finished every God of War game going – curse you Ragnarök for being so long! – the shadow drop of Sons of Sparta had me very excited, giggling with glee like someone who was just seduced by a swan. Upon playing this prequel though, my excitement soon drained to a mundane ‘meh’ kind of vibe. You see, God of War: Sons of Sparta, despite carrying the pedigree of such an iconic franchise upon its burly shoulders, is merely an OK gam...

God of War Sons of Sparta unfortunately failed to make me feel anything at all. The combat is sterile and not particularly deep, the Metroidvania elements are paint-by-numbers boring, and the story, while sometimes impactful, doesn't add much to the series lore in any interesting ways. I really don't know who this game was made for.