God of War: Sons of Sparta review; strong brotherly story, solid metroidvania combat, but pacing sags and launch bugs linger.
God of War Sons of Sparta
Mega Cat Studios · Feb 12, 2026
About
Join young Kratos and Deimos, sons of Sparta, on a Greek odyssey as they discover the meaning of duty and honour.
An engaging and exciting 2D action-adventure brought to life from the talented pixel superstars at Mega Cat Studios. Experience retro classic gameplay with God of War’s signature spectacle, action, and heartfelt storytelling.
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Critic reviews
- 8.0God of War: Sons of Sparta succeeds because it knows its limits. It doesn’t try to overshadow Ragnarök, and it doesn’t need to.
- 7.0I spent 25 hours stabbing, exploring, and puzzle-solving as teenage Kratos and ended up loving God of War Sons of Sparta on PS Portal more than PS5
- 6.0God of War: Sons of Sparta is a bog standard retro-inspired Metroidvania. There’s energetic combat and strong boss fights, though neither can quite make up for the dreary exploration and boring story, resulting in an OK experience.
- 5.0There are things to like and even possibly love about God of War: Sons of Sparta. The combat system is smart and layered, the visual style is often beautiful, and the story eventually becomes surprisingly rich. But it's difficult to recommend, because so much of the metroidvania design--the core of the genre that Kratos has found himself in--is like that frozen wasteland: slowly plodding through, just trying to reach the next warm spot where it's fun again.
- For the God of War completionist, there is a story incentive to play through Sons of Sparta. It builds on Kratos’ character well, shows a part of his life we have not had the chance to experience, and there is at least one small detail related to modern Kratos and his son that I am glad I learned. But it underwhelms on nearly every aspect of Metroid-inspired design without outright failing. Controlling Kratos, fighting, and exploring just isn’t particularly fun on a basic level. A just below perfunctory genre experience alongside characters and in a setting I admit I like spending time with.
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