God of War Sons of Sparta Review – A Tale of Two Brothers

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Sony surprised fans by releasing a new game, Sons of Sparta, unexpectedly. It’s a $30 game only available on PlayStation 5 and isn’t a large-scale production. Sons of Sparta changes things up from the main God of War games: instead of Kratos’ usual weapons, you’ll use a spear and shield, and the story shows a younger, less battle-worn version of him. The gameplay is also different – it’s a 2D action platformer with a retro feel, focusing on exploring levels, rather than the series’ typical 3D action-adventure style.

The game Sons of Sparta focuses on Kratos and his brother, Deimos. It’s set during Kratos’ harsh training as a Spartan soldier, long before the main story begins. Kratos and Deimos are young soldiers who have just started venturing outside the city of Sparta on missions.

From the start, Sons of Sparta immediately impresses with its striking visuals. The game uses a detailed pixel-art style that blends a retro look with impressive environments. The character and enemy designs are also excellent, making threats instantly recognizable. The audio is equally well-done, with impactful sound effects for attacks and parries, and a background score that perfectly matches the game’s atmosphere.

“The sheer variety of boss encounters in Sons of Sparta is quite impressive.”

The story begins with Kratos and Deimos being sent on a mission to gather certain tools. But the main plot kicks in when they discover a fellow trainee hasn’t returned from a training exercise. Kratos assumes the worst, believing the world is a dangerous place, but Deimos remains hopeful and convinces his brother to join the search.

As a fan, it’s honestly amazing to finally see a younger Kratos! We’re so used to him being either a furious warrior or a really brooding, quiet guy. But in this game, you get to see he actually has a sense of humor, and the back-and-forth with Deimos is genuinely funny. It’s also fascinating to see how much pride and duty he feels towards Sparta, knowing how things ultimately fall apart. And the relationship between him and Deimos? It’s just great – you know what happens later, so their brotherly connection feels extra meaningful and a little heartbreaking.

During your adventure, you’ll encounter a variety of enemies inspired by different myths. You’ll fight common foes like skeletons and wild animals, but also more unique creatures such as Centaurs, Cyclopses, and various birds. These birds often appear as challenging boss battles, and your first encounter with one will give you a good idea of what’s to come.

One of the best things about Sons of Sparta is the diverse range of boss battles. You’ll fight everything from powerful soldiers with special weapons to monstrous beasts. My favorite fight was against the bird boss, Apate. It had similar attacks to other birds in the game, but was even more challenging because it could attack from the air with bombs and poison.

The skill tree mainly lets you enhance your core attack and defense stats, though some of the added abilities aren’t always essential.

Battles in Sons of Sparta begin easily, but become more complex as you gain new skills and equipment. Similar to Ragnarok, the different parts of your spear provide unique abilities. The spear tip mainly offers passive boosts, while the handle modifies your core attack combos. The pommel unlocks special moves, like a slamming attack or a series of strong thrusts. These abilities complement the standard combat system where Kratos attacks, dodges, blocks, and parries.

The game works well overall, but exploration doesn’t feel very rewarding. You’ll often find large chests that only contain crafting supplies, and it’s rare to discover new gear with interesting abilities. However, the game’s main exploration system is great because it gives you real benefits – like increased damage and defense – for thoroughly exploring the expansive world.

The skill tree mainly improves your core combat skills, both attacking and defending, though some upgrades feel optional. For instance, you can unlock a powerful downward spear attack, and further upgrades make it cheaper to use and more damaging. Improving your defensive moves, like dodging and parrying, is more enjoyable because it opens up new opportunities to strike back at enemies.

Battles require careful resource management of your health, spirit, and magic. Magic powers the tools you’ll discover, while health and spirit are closely linked. Attacking enemies builds up your spirit, which you can spend by holding the R1 button during attacks. This reduces health damage but increases stun damage. Using spirit also makes enemies drop healing orbs. Stun an enemy, and you can perform a powerful instant kill that restores a significant amount of health, spirit, and magic.

I just finished playing Sons of Sparta, and wow, it’s a really great platformer! It feels so fresh and different from a lot of the other games out there. Plus, it’s not a huge time commitment – I beat it in about 10 hours, which is perfect for me.

My biggest issue with how Sons of Sparta handles combat and movement was the initially awkward controls. It’s unusual that the game only uses the analog stick for movement, considering fast-paced action games often play better with the D-pad. Also, a dedicated button for climbing ladders felt a bit extra, as most platformers let you climb by simply holding a direction. These were small annoyances, though, and I didn’t notice them as much after getting used to the controls.

Because of its simple visual style, Sons of Sparta doesn’t demand much from the PS5. The game consistently ran smoothly, with no slowdown even during intense battles with lots of enemies and effects. Loading screens were quick, which is helpful because the tougher bosses can be challenging. Players new to this type of game will appreciate the three difficulty levels, which are designed to suit different levels of experience with platformers and action games.

Sons of Sparta is a really enjoyable platformer that feels new and exciting. Its length – around 10 hours – is just right. The game manages to be lighthearted even though the fighting is intense and violent. While conversations between Kratos and Deimos sometimes drag on, their back-and-forth is still fun to listen to. Add in fantastic combat, especially during the challenging boss fights, and you have a thrilling take on the Spartan story.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

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2026-02-18 16:13