No one was happier than I when God of War Sons of Sparta was shadowdropped following Sony’s storming February 12 State of Play showcase. The glittering presentation was signed off with an epic God of War Trilogy Remake announcement, and then had the gall to drop the long-rumored God of War Metroidvania title as an immediate release.
I have God of War tattoos, and I’ve played and finished every game multiple times—I understand I get zero ‘cool’ points for this, but I just want to underline my love for Santa Monica’s incredible series. I forfeited much-needed sleep to jump straight into Sons of Sparta, and I’ve spent plenty of time butchering and bouncing around.
My overriding feeling right now is emotional ambivalence. On one hand, this is a fun God of War-themed game telling a new story and giving one of gaming’s biggest icons an early background; on the other, it’s a simple Metroidvania that has some issues and fails to meaningfully push the genre forward.
God of War Sons of Sparta Review
Sons of Sparta is an on-the-nose title, as you guide Kratos and his brother Deimos through their formative Spartan years. Santa Monica and Mega Cat Studios have turned back the clock, taking Kratos out of Scandinavia and bringing him back to where it all began—Greece.
Even in this stage of their life, the brothers are capable warriors, and you end up battling all manner of creatures. I was delighted to see so many familiar enemies from Cyclops’ to Satyrs to Gorgons. I was even happy to be bombarded by the relentless nature of dive-bombing fire birds again.
Some gory execution kills show that the young warriors can go toe-to-toe with some of mythology’s most dangerous foes, and the coming-of-age tale even has the audacity to have OG Kratos voice actor Terrence C. Carson narrate the game’s events to a young Calliope—Kratos’ daughter.
The story and the setting are the game’s obvious strength. It sets up the events of God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and gives us insight into how Kratos morphed into the bloodthirsty general he became later in life. You spend the majority of the game looking for another Spartan-in-training, and it’s nice to see the different demeanors of the more relaxed and jokey Deimos, compared to Kratos’ more stoic and serious nature.
I found the story didn’t move at a particularly fast pace, and it’s a lot of going out into the world, finding an item, speaking to a person, coming back to Sparta, going back out, and rinse and repeat. I also wished we had more Kratos and Calliope narration and interactions to keep the world feeling animated and provide exposition that could’ve negated repeated Sparta visits.
Any God of War fan will still have fun seeing Kratos in this trimmed-down, scaled-back form, and you can’t beat a good origin story.
Not A God of Metroidvanias
If the term ‘Metroidvania‘ has somehow escaped your grasp, it’s quite simple: The world is full of interconnected biomes, involves a lot of backtracking, and you constantly acquire new items to help you reach areas you couldn’t reach previously and aid progression.
The formula for the genre is quite specific, and Sons of Sparta rigidly sticks to it. You gain the ability to run faster (which, annoyingly, comes at the expense of Spirit), and you obtain an item to climb walls and access new areas; it’s standard fare.
I didn’t necessarily want to be wowed by Sons of Sparta, but the game feels very safe. It’s a first for the God of War franchise, and Mega Cat Studios is the one handling the development, so there’s understandably an err of caution lingering over the game like a big judgmental cloud ready to strike like a bolt of Zeus’ lightning.
There are some nice ideas, like the multi-purpose stone head, which can reveal hidden areas and absorb toxic substances, making for some fun puzzles. However, I spent more time nitpicking over the fiddly nature of items and how frequently I had to cycle between them, sometimes in a short space of time.
Sons of Sparta’s main disappointment is the combat, which is shocking given that this is a franchise lauded for its clean and crisp combat systems. In the same way that this is the most basic version of Kratos we’ve ever seen, so is the combat. Attacking is very rudimentary and quite boring for the first few hours. Gone are the pages worth of combos capable with the Blades of Chaos or Leviathan Axe.
You’ll mainly find yourself focusing on dodging and parrying, with many abilities feeling tacked on rather than contributing to your offensive output. It’s not bad, but it could be better. I have to point out how frustrating combat encounters can be, though. Firstly, nine times out of 10, enemies won’t aggro you, meaning they’ll walk to the end of a ledge and stay there.
You can chip away at them and score some easy hits for sure, but sometimes it’s very difficult to reach them and face them properly. Kratos will come into contact with them, bounce off, and it leaves you relying on magic to attack from range, or jumping at them, landing one hit, climbing back up, and repeating until they are cooked. It’s also not ideal if you want to get past and head somewhere quickly.
It goes in Sons of Sparta’s favor that I actually really liked the use of the retro-inspired graphics and music—It won’t be everyone’s cup of Olympian tea. The pastel-like backgrounds are rich with real depth and vibrancy, and the darkness and dankness of hostile caves are amplified by the intricate design details. There’s also a familiar God of War-flavored motif to the score, which will delight all long-time fans.
God of War Sons of Sparta Review Verdict
With Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Hollow Knight: Silksong showing what else Metroidvanias can do, God of War Sons of Sparta feels like just another game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, and the story, artistic level design, and music are a wonderfully intertwining partnership—much like Kratos and Deimos.
If the ‘God of War’ name was not attached to the title, I think it could have hurt the score even more and made this borderline unmemorable. This is a solid if unspectacular attempt to make a God of War Metroidvania, and there’s room for improvement if Santa Monica goes Greek again.
Plenty of time has passed since the launch of Sons of Sparta. If you agree or disagree with this review, I encourage you to check out the free-to-join Insider Gaming Discord and share your feelings. All feedback is welcome!
Check out more Insider Gaming reviews: High On Life 2, REANIMAL, Romeo Is A Dead Man, HumanitZ 1.0, and Nioh 3.
God of War Sons of Sparta
7
