A coming-of-age story themed around duty, honor, and brotherhood, players control series protagonist Kratos, but in his youth during his training at the Agoge with his younger brother Deimos. After learning that one of their comrades has gone missing, the brothers travel throughout Laconia to find their friend, battling Greek mythological foes that encroach upon Sparta, strengthening their bond. The story is told by an adult Kratos as a lesson to his daughter Calliope during his time as a captain in the Spartan Army, before the character's tragedy as seen in the original God of War (2005).
The game is the second installment in the series to be presented as a two-dimensional (2D) action-platformer, after God of War: Betrayal (2007). It has a similar combination of combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements as other games in the series. Due to its setting taking place long before Kratos received his signature double-chained blades weapon, the Blades of Chaos, the character instead uses a traditional Spartan spear and shield, with additional items that grant special attacks and magical abilities. An offline multiplayer option is also available in a roguelite challenge mode; this is only the second installment in the series to offer multiplayer, after Ascension. The game also sees the return of TC Carson as adult Kratos, the character's original voice actor who last portrayed the role in Ascension; Christopher Judge played Kratos in the prior two Norse-based games. Antony Del Rio also reprises his role as young Kratos from Ghost of Sparta.
Sons of Sparta received mixed reviews from critics.
Gameplay
God of War Sons of Sparta is an action-platformer game with a two-dimensional (2D) art style similar to God of War: Betrayal (2007), the only other installment in the series to be a 2D side-scroller.[1] Unlike Betrayal, however, Sons of Sparta is in the Metroidvania style.[2] Players control the character Kratos in his youth as he trains at the Agoge with his brother Deimos.[3] Due to its setting taking place long before Kratos received his signature weapon, the double-chained blades called the Blades of Chaos, the character instead uses a traditional Spartan spear and shield—the Dory and Aspis, respectively—along with Gifts of Olympus that grant him special attacks and magical abilities which are required for game progression due to its Metroidvania style. One of these gifts include the Victory Sandals that grant enhanced speed and jumping.[4] Many familiar foes from prior Greek games appear, such as undead soldiers, harpies, minotaurs, Gorgons, cyclopes, wraiths, Sirens, and satyrs, as well as new enemies, like lampades, lamias, and fauns, and various boss opponents.[5]
The game retains the crafting system of the prior two installments—God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022)—in which the player collects resources that allows them to create new or upgrade existing attachments for both the Dory and Aspis, as well as for gouri (charm) attachments on one armor piece, the Belt of Tyche, providing better perks and enhanced abilities. Like previous games, the player also collects different colored orbs. Green orbs replenish the player's health, blue orbs replenish magic, allowing the use of magical abilities, gold orbs replenish spirit, an attribute that allows the use of special weapon abilities, and red orbs, referred to as blood orbs, act as experience points, which can be used to learn new offensive and defensive techniques for Dory, Aspis, and the Victory Sandals, and are also used in crafting. There are also chests that contain these orbs as well as various crafting resources. Defeating enemies grant random orbs, as does destroying inanimate objects. Namesake olive offerings at the temples of Dionysus, Nike, and Hestia also increase the maximum lengths of the health, spirit, and magic meters, respectively, while those at the temples of Apollo, Artemis, and Demeter help further improve the Dory, Aspis, and Belt of Tyche, respectively (e.g., the respective offensive and defensive stats for the Dory and Aspis, and increased gouri attachments for the Belt of Tyche).[4]
The game offers an offline multiplayer option (couch co-op), which can be played solo as Kratos or cooperatively with another player playing as Deimos. This roguelite challenge mode is called the Pit of Agonies. At the end of each level within the Pit, players are allowed to select an upgrade to a weapon or ability, but these upgrades only last for the duration of that challenge run. Each run-through unlocks further rewards that are permanently unlocked. Death resets the player back to the start of the Pit.[6] At launch, the mode could only be accessed after the player completed the main game,[7] but in a patch update on February 26, 2026, an option to input a cheat code was added that unlocks the multiplayer sooner.[8]
Plot
While in between deployments, Kratos (TC Carson), a captain of the Spartan Army, finds his daughter Calliope (Debi Derryberry) to scold her for disobeying her mother and neglecting her duty. When she begins to argue, he decides to relay a story from his past to teach her the meaning of duty. The story is from a time when a 13-year-old Kratos (Antony Del Rio) was still in training at the Agoge with his 11-year-old brother Deimos (Scott Menville).
While just outside of Sparta, Kratos battles a Cyclops. When he gets in trouble, he is rescued by his brother Deimos. Together, they return home to report of the dangers outside the city. The brothers are currently in possession of an Eiren's Pass, granting them permission to venture throughout Laconia. Kratos is also working on qualifying for the Vanguard Circle, the highest rank for a cadet that allows them to lead their own unit. While heading out for another assignment from Konstantinos, the headmaster of the Agoge, they find out that one of their classmates, Vasilis, went missing, and none of the authorities are doing anything about it. Deimos promises to help however he can, but Kratos is more dismissive of the matter.
During their mission, they come across traces of Vasilis, and after their return, Deimos confides in his doubts to Konstantinos about how Sparta abandoned their classmates seemingly against its own values. The headmaster agrees that the boy is right to question, but urged the two not to neglect their chores.
Getting their friends to cover for them, Deimos doubles down on the search effort. Kratos argues that Vasilis was a weak link, and that Sparta may have been better off without him, but his brother plays on his sympathy, calling him to imagine if it was Deimos that was lost. They come across many dangers, such as monsters overrunning a winery, and a cult occupying a granary, and continued effort puts a strain on their relationship, but they manage to reconcile. As the two brothers trace Vasilis's steps, they learn he was still trying to find ways to make himself useful to Sparta. Kratos feels great guilt as he comes to realize he was one of the people that pushed Vasilis away, rather than help him find his place, and he continues the search even against orders from Konstantinos.
Eventually, the two brothers manage to find Vasilis—he was killed by a chimaeric monster called Koteros, which they subsequently slay in return. They note he managed to shoot an arrow into the monster's eye, honoring him in death as a true Spartan warrior, and they bring him back to the city. Kratos takes the blame, both for disobedience, claiming he was the one to push for the search, and for letting Vasilis die, calling to be beat as punishment. Touched by the boy's resolve, Konstantinos waives the punishment, claiming beatings would not be necessary, however, he denies Kratos the chance to join the Vanguard Circle that year.
Back in the present, Kratos questions if Calliope understood why he told her the story. During the time, he also crafted her a wooden flute.
Development
In March 2025, Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb claimed that a "side-story" in the God of War franchise was in development and would return the series to its original Greek mythology setting in Ancient Greece. He also said it would release in 2025 before later stating it was delayed to 2026.[9][10] Around the same time, Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming said it would be a 2D Metroidvania game.[11] Neither Sony nor God of War's main developer, Santa Monica Studio, made any statements on a new entry until February 2026. During the company's State of Play presentation on February 12, Sony officially announced God of War Sons of Sparta and released it simultaneously that same day for the PlayStation 5 as part of the franchise's 20th-anniversary year. It was developed by Mega Cat Studios in collaboration with Santa Monica Studio.[12]
Sons of Sparta came about from an email that Mega Cat Studios sent Santa Monica Studio. According to game director Zack Manko, Mega Cat had always wanted to develop a God of War game, with the studio's chief executive officer James Deighan and executive producer Daniel Pesante both stating it had been at the top of their wishlist. After seeing the Raising Kratos (2019) documentary that Santa Monica had done for 2018's God of War, Pesante decided to take a leap of faith and email Santa Monica about their idea for a God of War game. Due to their specialty in retro games, one of their initial thoughts was what would God of War be like if it had come out on the PlayStation 1. Santa Monica's lead producer Jeff Ketcham said that Mega Cat had a love and passion for the series and turning God of War into pixel was unique. After he presented Mega Cat's idea to the rest of the Santa Monica team, the project was approved and they began conversating.[13]
Combat and level design
Ketcham said it took a lot of work and planning to transition God of War from 3D to 2D, and praised Mega Cat Studios for having those plans laid out from the beginning. Pixel artist Anna Nguyen said that one of the considerations that they had to make was transitioning the 3D combat to 2D and making it flow smoothly, since it would be limited to the 2D plane. She said that some of the animations were taken directly from the older games. Mega Cat developed a tool to take those animations and convert them to 2D spreadsheets, after which, the pixel artists would draw over them to create the animations.[5]
Combat designer Tyler Bryan said they tried to keep to the core of the God of War series, so they had the game start with a boss battle against a cyclops and ripping its eye out, two characteristics of the older Greek games. In addition to bringing back familiar enemies, they also brought in newer ones but tried to keep the feel of the Greek games. Art assistant TJ Tague noted how the franchise is known for its large boss battles so they used monsters and creatures from Greek mythology that players may not be as familiar with to create the boss battles for Sons of Sparta. He also said one of the most important things for them was to make sure that Kratos felt fun to play. Manko said that Kratos's base kit is all about his Spartan training and how he uses his spear and shield in combat.[5]
In designing the game's levels, Mega Cat worked with Santa Monica to ensure the levels fit not only this game but also the Greek setting, as well as the God of War universe. This was to ensure that the levels felt authentic to both Laconia and the series. Level designer Kevin Altman said their approach was to treat each level like they are their own character, going beyond visuals and looking at the color palette and shape language. To fill out the environments, Nguyen said they compared the in-game locations to the real world locations in Greece, and translated things such as plant life into the 2D environment so that each level was unique. One of the inspirations in designing the levels of Sons of Sparta was Pandora's Temple from the original God of War (2005) due to its many side rooms and puzzles.[14]
Writing and voice work
Sons of Sparta is the first full game to return to the franchise's Greek setting after the two prior entries, 2018's God of War and its 2022 sequel Ragnarök, were based on Norse mythology and set in ancient Scandinavia, although the latter's 2023 expansion pack, Valhalla, saw Kratos confronting parts of his past life, revisiting some areas and facing enemies from his time in Greece.[10] The game was written by Matt Sophos and Richard Zangrande Gaubert, the same team behind the Norse games.[15]
According to Gaubert, in deciding when to have the story take place, it was important for them to pick a pivotal point in Kratos's life and one that players had not seen before, and it also allowed them to explore some things from Greek mythology that they had not done in the prior Greek games. He noted that while the Kratos in this game is different from the one that players are familiar with, they would be able to see the future versions of the character, both from the prior Greek games as well as the Norse games. Sophos said that despite the games retro style, it did not stop them from bringing emotion to the story and they used the same mentality that they applied in writing the prior games.[16]
TC Carson portrays adult Kratos in Sons of Sparta, the character's original voice actor, reprising the role for the first time since God of War: Ascension (2013), acting as the narrator. In returning to the role, Carson said it was an opportunity to go back and create who the character was before Kratos's tragedy. Gaubert said they factored in Carson's prior portrayal but because of the setting of this game's story, they were able to show a different side to the character, that of being a family man in between wars. Manko noted that since the game takes place before Kratos came to despise the Olympian gods, this younger version of the character is more devout towards them. Antony Del Rio, reprising his role as young Kratos from God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010), noted how Kratos believes he is right in his ways, but throughout the game, he comes to question his decisions.[16]
Manko noted how players would see Kratos's brother Deimos and their relationship, and said it was a coming-of-age story where the brothers learn about themselves as well as what it means to be a Spartan.[13] Scott Menville portrays Deimos and according to him, Kratos is more strict to rules while Deimos is a bit more rebellious. Sophos said that because of that, Deimos allows the game to hit at its emotional core more and he pushes Kratos out of his comfort zone.[16] Debi Derryberry also reprises her role as Kratos's daughter Calliope, previously voicing her in God of War: Chains of Olympus (2008) and God of War III (2010).[3][15]
Music
Bear McCreary, who composed the music for the two Norse games, returned to score Sons of Sparta.[15] When McCreary heard that Santa Monica were doing a retro style God of War, he contacted the developers, interested in returning to compose. He was also glad to hear that Mega Cat Studios were behind it, feeling they bring authenticity to their games. Manko said they were thrilled to have McCreary scoring the game, as he grew up with these types of games and was familiar with the soundtracks and chiptunes of the retro style game music, as McCreary had also experimented with these sounds in his early days. McCreary said that he had always been interested to score a game in this style as they were what he grew up on, and Sons of Sparta was an opportunity to write a love letter on that as well as the music from his youth.[17]
According to McCreary, the game combines three major elements: God of War's Greek era, retro gaming aesthetics, and an epic emotional story. McCreary created three different sonic pallets for those elements and mixed and matched them together. For the Greek element, McCreary drew from Greek folk music, using instruments such as the kithara and aulos, stringed and woodwind instruments that were around during ancient Greek times. For the retro aspect, he used various samples and synthesis to create the retro style of chiptunes. For the emotional story, he used a full symphony and choir as he did on the Norse games. Manko noted the uniqueness of the score in how it blends the modern orchestral and choir sounds with the chiptunes, with McCreary stating his biggest challenge was balancing these sounds.[17]
Instead of writing separate themes for Kratos and Deimos, McCreary only wrote one theme for the both of them. He said although they are two separate characters, the game is about their relationship together. He wanted to have only one theme that evolved as their relationship changed throughout the game. His idea was to have a theme that represented them as children, claiming it would not have made sense to quote anything that he wrote for the Norse games or anything from the prior Greek games as those were different stories. He said the main themes of the game were duty, honor, and brotherhood, so he came up with a "beautiful, mournful" tune, which he said has nostalgia and is what he thinks that older Kratos would think of about his youth.[17]
Relating to the games that McCreary played in his own youth, he said those games would have a different theme for every area, and that was fun for him when scoring Sons of Sparta, instead of just having one theme that played throughout the entire game. PlayStation Studios Music senior music designer Sonia Coronado said that one of the things that surprised her in working with the music was that removing one element would change the score to some extent, and that was a challenge in implementing it into the game. She also said it was tricky to find areas of when to transition in and out of the music, as they did not want to just have it fade out or fade in.[17]
Release
Sons of Sparta was released worldwide for the PlayStation 5 on February 12, 2026. It is only available digitally in both a standard and deluxe edition. The Digital Deluxe Edition includes in-game rewards, as well as a digital art book, the game's soundtrack, and PlayStation Network avatars.[3]
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, Sons of Sparta received "mixed or average" reviews, with a score of 65 out of 100 based on 60 reviews.[18] The game has a 27% approval rating on OpenCritic based on 52 reviews.[19]
David Jaffe, the creator of the God of War franchise, derided the game for "its inability to reflect the license", calling it "generic" and "not God of War", while describing the portrayal of Kratos as "some generic boring little fucking kid", though stated that the gameplay is "serviceable" and that he is not opposed to a 2.5D game in the series, naming Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Neon Inferno, and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance as examples.[34] He also criticized the game's user interface, visual design, dialogue, and voice acting.[35]
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