What do you do when your stated goal is to develop and expand your portfolio's biggest IPs so that they reach more and more consumers, but you don't have the internal resources to actually do so because games take so damn long and a TV series or film can't do it alone? Sony must have been pondering that question a bit lately, and with last week's shadow drop of God of War: Sons of Sparta, we got a few more sentences added to the answer that started with Lego Horizon Adventures: You outsource to - and collaborate with - smaller studios. And just like Lego Horizon Adventures, God of War: Sons of Sparta shows that it's difficult to match the quality level of the main games. Because even though Mega Cat Studios' game (with a little help from Sony Santa Monica's narrative team) is a likeable project with several good qualities, we are a long way from the generation-defining games that the God of War series has often offered. The whole is never greater than the sum of its parts, because none of them excel, but are instead either ordinary or uneven, and as a result, God of War: Sons of Sparta can neither be seriously recommended as a God of War game nor as a Metroidvania. A genre that the game, incidentally, reverently sticks to.
The story is a good example of the unevenness. For the first time since 2013, we are back in Greece. Not only that, but the time has been turned all the way back to Kratos' teenage years, where he, as a young, ambitious Spartan in the company of his brother Deimos, ventures outside the city walls to search for their more fumbling fellow citizen Vasilis. It starts off sluggishly and suffers from weak voice acting (at least in the dub we played), obviously a consequence of having adults portray teenage Kratos and tween Deimos. But slowly and surely, the story finds its footing as the plot unfolds and Kratos and Deimos develop as characters. It still seems like a clear distraction from the overall God of War mythology, but not an uninteresting one.
Another example is the combat system. There are plenty of good ideas in the game, but they are let down by the fact that it is fundamentally not fun enough to beat up enemies, who also tend to zone out at times, which does not help the dynamics of the fights. One of the good ideas is the upgrade system, which appears to be a simpler version of Ragnarök's, allowing you to modify your spear and shield to change your standard combination or give you a new special attack. Mega Cat Studios has wisely chosen to limit the number of materials and the frequency with which you find them, which is well balanced so that upgrading the tip of your spear or your belt actually feels like an event. Together with your skill tree and the abilities you continuously acquire in true Metroidvania style, this ensures that your approach to combat evolves well into the game. This is great, especially since it wouldn't have felt so lacklustre to beat up the classic gallery of Cyclopes, Satyrs, scorpions and whatever else populates ancient Greece. You simply don't feel the blows hitting the enemies because the animations are missing and the sound doesn't provide the necessary feedback. A major disappointment, considering that visceral combat has always been a hallmark of the series.
Other elements are more on the average side. This applies, for example, to the visuals, which offer a beautiful and quite picturesque pixel art with plenty of depth in the images. But the standard among its peers is high, and although it is nice to look at, it comes across as a discount version of the in every way superior Blasphemous 2. It would have suited God of War: Sons of Sparta to present a harsher and dirtier world, because there is something strangely harmless and clean-cut about Laconia that does not really fit with the history of the series. I can also point to the map design, which is largely classic Metroidvania without too many frills, or the abilities you are continuously granted by the gods, which, for one thing, are a little too similar to each other and do not sufficiently change the way you explore the world. One exception is the gift from Nike, which is, of course, a pair of shoes that give you access to the long jump and the classic double jump. The former in particular is fun to perform with its requirements for run-up and timing.
But despite the exceptions, the pattern continues. God of War: Sons of Sparta never falls flat, but it never becomes a truly exciting experience either, which is disappointing when we are dealing with a new game in one of Sony's best series. In fact, it is the first standalone game in the series since Ragnarök from 2022. God of War has always been a standard-bearer for PlayStation, so even though we are dealing with a side project, we can expect more. And there is something flat and decidedly uncinematic about Sons of Sparta that feels out of step with the otherwise crisp and, yes, cinematic standard that the latest games in particular have set: The unceremonious way you acquire new abilities; the abrupt transition from gameplay to cutscenes; and the blurry editing when you travel between the temples of the gods. In short, it lacks polish and good old-fashioned flair.
Yes, it's disappointing, and as I said, that disappointment has a lot to do with the legacy that needs to be upheld. Because when you meet Sons of Sparta on its own terms, there are also things to love.
I have already praised the progression, which gives you an incentive to look for upgrades that can strengthen teenage Kratos. I also like the way Mega Cat Studios incorporates small puzzles, primarily of a navigational nature, which give you access to improve Kratos. It might be a small platforming sequence or a puzzle that doesn't require a big detour but provides a reasonable reward. These kinds of distractions are archetypal God of War, and here Mega Cat Studios really captures the essence of the series.
And perhaps even more importantly, especially with the involvement of Santa Monica's narrative team in mind, the story captures, on a smaller scale, many of the interpersonal conflicts - which made God of War 2018 and Ragnarök (as well as Valhalla) so engaging - really well. Kratos' ambitions, which make him single-minded and difficult, are laid bare in a more down-to-earth narrative, and several layers are subtly added to his relationship with both his brother Deimos and the gods of Olympus. And it's great to hear TC Carson as Kratos again - even if his role as narrator is limited.
However, that doesn't change the fact that God of War: Sons of Sparta is an underwhelming experience. I had expected more solid craftsmanship and a lot more flair from the first spinoff since 2010. But Mega Cat Studios, Barlog and Santa Monica shouldn't lose heart, because the idea is good enough. I just expected more from the execution. So let me conclude with my favourite quote from the far superior God of War Ragnarök, spoken by a future Kratos in Sons of Sparta: Don't be sorry, be better!