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Shadow Dropped

God of War series is probably PlayStation’s biggest franchises. Especially the two newest main entries God of War and God of War Ragnarök. I have played and enjoyed them, but I have to admit that they sometimes are kinda hard for me. God of War Sons of Sparta release was shadow dropped at the latest State of Play.

I played God of War Sons of Sparta on PS5 Pro.

Plot

Follow young Kratos and his brother Deimos and their life as Spartans. After a fellow cadet goes missing, Kratos and Deimos goes to find him and embark on an adventure that will put their training and Spartan spirit to the test. As much as I did play it, I find the story to be intriguing and it was nice to see other side of Kratos, and his relationship with his brother. Not that Kratos who is always mad and tense.

Gameplay, controls, audio and visuals

God of War Sons of Sparta is a 2D Metroidvania game. I put it right here: the game was too hard for me to finish completely. I did play about half way until I realised I cannot finish this, but as much as I played I did find good and bad about the gameplay. Kratos has one main weapon that is a spear and shield. The combat and defence skills can be also upgraded with along the weapons and shield. The gear can be upgrade and so can the health, magic and spirit meters. But I did find upgrading the meters to be difficult, because players must find offerings for the gods (that must be put in the temples). But getting the specific offerings require beating spawing tough enemies on the spot. Which couple first was easy to collect but as the game progress it becomes more difficult to beat even basic enemies.

The combat was good and bad. I think the only move that felt good was when parrying hit the right spot. Other wise I would’ve liked the enemies to stumble or something when I hit them to give more room to do something. Also aiming with the spear was often off. I mean, the smaller enemies was difficult to hit. God of War Sons of Sparta definitely takes some skills to play and I seemingly don’t have it. Controlling Kratos did feel good, as good as a 2D game could be. What I liked the most was Kratos’s dodge move.

The game is fully voice acted and I liked that. It always brings the characters more alive and gives them personality. Visually God of War Sons of Sparta looks good as a pixelated game. Nothing much to add to that. First I did got little confused about the layout of the levels, but thankfully there is a good map showing always the way.

Verdict

This game wasn’t for me, to be honest, as it was too difficult to finish. It doesn’t mean it is a bad game, quite contrary I would’ve liked to see it through. But it became too intricate and difficult about half way point. Do I recommend God of War Sons of Sparta to anyone? Well, yes. I think some God of War fans are eager to play this and general Metroidvania fans as well.

God of War Sons of Sparta is only available on PS5 (reviewed on PS5 Pro).

(Review copy kindly provided by the publisher)

SCORE:

4/5

“It was nice to see other side of Kratos. Not that who is always mad and tense.”

RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2026
GENRE: Action / Platformer
DEVELOPER: Santa Monica Studio/Mega Cat Studios
PUBLISHER: Sony
PLATFORMS: PS5 (reviewed on PS5 Pro)

 

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