A new God of War game exploring Kratos’ early days in a completely different genre wasn’t something I had on my bingo card for 2026, but it certainly was a breath of fresh air I appreciated. Sons of Sparta takes the iconic PlayStation franchise to a 2.5D metroidvania-style action platformer genre, while exploring the early days of Kratos alongside his brother Deimos. The prequel title was shadow-dropped during PlayStation’s State of Play last week and was overshadowed by the understandably bigger announcement of God of War Trilogy Remake. However, the way Sons of Sparta not only adds layers to the characterisation of Ghost of Sparta but also explores the reasoning behind his understanding and questioning of Spartan values, it adds value to the story that the remake trilogy is set to re-tell.

My introduction to Kratos was through his Norse saga, a battle-hardened, wary general who knows the value of restraint. His past in the Greek realm was only hinted at here and there throughout the duology, with the most coming in the Valhalla DLC for Ragnarok, set after the events of the two games. As such, before Sons of Sparta, I didn’t really have firsthand knowledge of Kratos’ past, which led him to become the kind of ‘calm and reasonable’ god he is in the Norse saga. And while I wouldn’t dare to go so far as to say I understand all of his motivations after playing just one Greek era game, the narrative does shine on what duty means to Kratos.

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God of War: Sons of Sparta Review – World and the Story

God of War: Sons of Sparta is a prequel to all of the previous games in the series. The story is narrated by adult Kratos, who teaches his daughter Calliope what duty means by sharing a story from his teenage years.

The story of Kratos

Like every God of War, the story of Sons of Sparta is the story of Kratos, but it’s a very different Kratos from any of his previous iterations. Here, he isn’t a general in his prime or a father trying to keep his son safe, but rather a promising young warrior itching to prove his might, portraying strength and honour as his duty as a Spartan. Equipped with a spear and a shield, the young Spartan is accompanied by his brother Deimos, who ends up being the emotional anchor, the one who grounds Kratos and helps him discover his humanity and humility.

The two brothers possess Eiren’s Pass, which allows them to venture out of Sparta and go on an expedition during an ongoing war. Kratos is also at the top of his class and working to qualify for the Vanguard Circle that will let him lead his own unit. During one of the initial missions where the two brothers are tasked to recover a chisel, they learn that one of their classmates, Vasilis, is missing; however, nobody is looking for him. While Kratos is initially dismissive of his missing classmate, he soon gets tangled up in discovering his fate on Deimos’s insistence. While I won’t discuss Vasilis’s fate or the ending of the game to avoid spoilers, I will say that it significantly affects Kratos and helps him understand what camaraderie and duty mean.

Sons of Sparta is a story of brotherhood, and Deimos emerges as one of the most significant characters in it. While the brotherhood between Kratos and Deimos is nothing like that between Kratos and Mimir in the Norse saga, it, in its own way, brings out the humanity and perspective of the young Spartan. Deimos pushes Kratos to make the right calls, to care for and to look for those that need his help, and is always there to face the world together, as Sons of Sparta.

The world of Laconia

Sons of Sparta takes place in Laconia, which is the region in ancient Greece where Sparta was located. As a sidescroller metroidvania game, the entire map is essentially a series of interconnected platformer levels depicting different areas or biomes across Laconia. Although the studio tries to distinguish the different sections with a different background and enemy type, after a while, all of it sort of blends in, well, almost all, except Sparta itself.

Sparta is the heart and centre of Laconia. While it is just two levels, technically much smaller than any of the other areas, the different NPCs and diversity make it far more lively. While Sparta is certainly the catalyst to start the story, it barely has any significant presence throughout the majority of the game. While from a design perspective, I understand the choices the developers made, focusing more on the wilderness of Laconia, the gamer in me can’t help but wish there were more of Sparta.

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God of War: Sons of Sparta Review: Gameplay and design

The Gifts of Olympus

God of War: Sons of Sparta is a metroidvania through and through. For those unaware, Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action games, known for its non-linear exploration, where you have to obtain certain key items to unlock new areas of previously explored sections, and find new routes. In Sons of Sparta, these are the magic items of Gifts of Olympus, ranging from the Solar Sling of Apollo, one of the first unlock to Victory Sandals of Nike.

The Spear and the Shield

Aside from the magic items, the crux of Kratos’ combat is with his offensive spear and defensive shield. If you have played any recent action game, more than likely the combat won’t be anything unfamiliar to you. Kratos has a light attack and a heavy attack with the spear, which he can use in combination to balance between speed and power. As for defence, the trusted shield from the Norse saga makes a return, albeit in a Greek variant.

There are multiple spears in the game, each bringing in a certain special ability that can help Kratos in combat in different ways. Both the shield and the spear have different attachment parts, which you can swap out to prioritise different skills and abilities.

Overall, the weapons and the builds were simple enough that I didn’t have to worry about min-maxing stats to craft a perfect build like in an RPG, and while that may dishearten some players for being too simple, to me, it meant I could simply focus on timing my attacks and dodging more to defeat a particularly strong enemy.

The Skills of Spartan

The game also features two skill menus, Offensive Aggression and Defensive Instincts. The former one focuses on offensive skills and has two skill trees, Melee and Technique, while the latter one includes three skill trees, Dodge, Evade, and Defend.

While the skill trees do bring a sense of progression, they failed to make any significant gameplay impact for me. Especially since, instead of a traditional XP and levelling up system, Sons of Sparta’s skills are unlocked by spending Blood Orbs. This expendable currency is also used to level up your weapons alongside other things. This meant, more often than not, I was focusing on upgrading my spears and shield, which unintentionally led me to deprioritise unlocking new skills.

All in all, the gameplay loop of God of War: Sons of Sparta is comat is familer, but at times quite shallow.

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God of War: Sons of Sparta Review: Graphics, Audio, and Performance

God of War typically has had a more or less realistic art-style, or at least as realistic as you can be on the PS2, depicting gods and monsters. However, Sons of Sparta brings in a unique art style, emulating a very hand-drawn pixelated look, which is a first for the series.

The most interesting part about the audio and voice acting is the return of T.C. Carlson as Kratos, reprising his role from the original Greek saga. As someone more familiar with the Norse Saga game, I don’t have the nostalgic attachment to the original voice of the ghost of Sparta. To me, Christopher Judge is what Kratos should sound like. However, after playing through Sons of Sparta, I understand why Santa Monica bought TC back.

The game is a very low-demand title on PS5 and runs with power save on my PS5. Considering its scope and performance, I am quite surprised that PlayStation did not release this title on PC as well.

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God of War: Sons of Sparta Review: In Conclusion

Sons of Sparta wasn’t something I was aware of. It came as a total surprise and ended up being a welcoming one at that. It is undoubtedly a side game that fleshes out Kratos’ characteristics, which I’m sure will affect the upcoming God of War Trilogy remake.

The game is fun, but it leaves a lot to be desired. While the combat is fun, the skill and weapons builds can feel shallow at times. The art style is something new, but it fits in really well with the franchise as well as the 2.5D scope of the game.

All in all, God of War: Sons of Sparta is a great game and is worth playing for every fan of the franchise.

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• Reviewed on: PS5 (Code provided by PlayStation)
• Platform(s): PS5
• Developer(s): Mega Cat Studios, Sony Santa Monica
• Publisher(s): PlayStation Studios
• Release date: February 12, 2026