Within five minutes, I’m already being barked at by Spartan instructors, poking enemies with a spear, and listening to an older Kratos quietly narrate events he clearly doesn’t enjoy revisiting. So it’s pretty clear from the start that this is not trying to be the modern God of War games in pixel form. Is it any good? Let’s jump in!
Sons of Sparta immediately positions itself as something smaller and more contained. You’re playing a young Kratos during his Spartan training years, fighting alongside Deimos, inside a classic 2D Metroidvania framework that lacks that typical cinematic spectacle but trades it in for structure and repetition. It’s a bold pivot for a franchise that built its modern identity on camera tricks and emotional close-ups, and it takes a moment to recalibrate your expectations. Once you do, the game slowly starts to make sense on its own terms.
A quieter kind of origin story
The framing works in its favor. Having older Kratos recount these moments gives the whole thing a more subdued tone, less about power fantasy and more about obligation, discipline, and becoming someone before you fully understand what that means. That being said, the story mainly gives the developers room to jump between locations without overexplaining every transition, which helps keep the pacing tight.
There isn’t a lot of dialogue here, and exchanges between young Kratos and Deimos are short and often sharp; nothing here tries to force big emotional moments. Although it has less impact than the last God of War, the dialogue does carry weight thanks to the stellar voice acting. Hearing Terrence C. Carson return as older Kratos immediately grounds the whole experience in the Greek-era legacy. His delivery is calm, almost distant, like someone telling a story they’ve already made peace with. As a fan of the franchise, it’s almost emotional hearing the original voice return to tell this story. Younger Kratos and Deimos hold their own, too, and while their lines are minimal, there’s enough tension in their back-and-forth to sell the brother dynamic without turning it into melodrama. It might not be the biggest part of the game, but the story does matter. Without that consistency in tone, this could’ve felt like a disconnected side project, instead it feels right at home in this legendary franchise.
Gifts of Olympus and the slow burn of progression
Now, let’s talk about the gameplay a bit more since it’s so different from what we’re used to in God of War games. For the first time in the franchise, this is a proper Metroidvania, not a nostalgia platformer with a map slapped on top.
You explore a connected world made up of training grounds, temples, underground ruins, and mythological arenas, constantly running into blocked paths that clearly signal “come back later.” Progression revolves around the Gifts of Olympus, which are divine abilities that double as combat tools and traversal upgrades. A ranged Solar Sling lets you activate distant switches and break specific barriers. Other powers open vertical routes, defensive options, or new ways to control enemies.
What I liked is that these upgrades don’t feel arbitrary. Each new ability reshapes spaces you thought you already understood, making backtracking feel purposeful instead of a drag. Returning to earlier zones often reveals shortcuts, hidden encounters, or upgrade rooms that genuinely improve your build, and that feedback loop is where the game starts to click. It’s all pretty classic Metroidvania, but it’s a good one. It certainly doesn’t innovate the genre and never reaches true excellence like some of the recent Metroidvania games, but it’s a fun experience nevertheless.
Exploration plays a bigger role than I expected. Side paths hide upgrades, strange NPC encounters, and optional rooms that quietly feed into how the game wraps up. There’s no aggressive quest system telling you what matters. You’re expected to read the map, remember blocked routes, and experiment with your abilities. It feels old-school in that sense, and I appreciated the confidence. That said, the map UI could have been clearer. I had a few moments where I wandered longer than necessary, unsure whether I was missing something obvious or simply hadn’t unlocked the right tool yet.
Spear, shield, and a different kind of Kratos
As with any other Metroidvania, exploration is just one side of the coin, comba tis the other side here. Combat is built entirely around Kratos’ spear and shield, and that decision defines the flow of everything.
Without the Blades of Chaos, fights become more controlled. You poke, reposition, block, parry, and manage spacing instead of wiping rooms with wide arcs. Timing matters more than aggression, and several enemy types punish panic dodging hard. At its best, this creates a satisfying rhythm where defense feeds into offense, and learning attack patterns actually pays off. At its weakest, combat can feel a bit light and too basic. Hits don’t always carry that iconic impact you instinctively associate with God of War, and while boss fights introduce interesting mechanics, none of them left a lasting impression on me. They’re solid, sometimes clever, but rarely iconic. This isn’t a game of massive setpieces or overwhelming power moments; it’s more controlled than that. On paper, that’s nothing game-breaking, but it does take me out of the God of War fantasy a bit. I’m used to big and iconic bosses that leave a lasting impression long after the credits roll. In this game, I won’t remember most of the bosses in a couple of months. A shame really.
Pixel gods and familiar monsters
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room and probably the most divisive aspect of the game, its graphics. Visually, Sons of Sparta walks a careful line between retro and modern. The pixel art is clean and expressive, with fluid animations and readable silhouettes, while lighting and particle effects add just enough flair to keep things from feeling flat. Some early environments blur together, but once the map opens up, the game becomes more confident with its color palettes and biome identity. Enemy design sticks closely to Greek mythology, harpies, gorgons, minotaurs, undead soldiers, and familiar territory, but handled with enough variation to avoid feeling like a checklist.
On PS5, performance stayed mostly stable at 60fps during my playthrough, with quick loading between areas and only minor dips during heavier combat moments. But does it look good? Well, not really. I’m not the biggest fan of the visual style, but that’s just my personal opinion. In a world where games like Ori and Silksong exist in the same genre, it feels a bit ‘lazy’ to pick this pixelated style for a franchise this big. Sure, there are some gorgeous locations and set pieces along the way, but generally speaking,g I was a bit underwhelmed with the presentation.
Conclusion
Halfway through the game, I stopped comparing it to the big God of War entries and just let it be what it is; that helped a lot. Some fights could’ve hit harder. A few bosses are cool in the moment but don’t really stick. The map made me circle back more than once, wondering if I missed something obvious. And yet… I kept going. It’s not spectacular. It’s not one of those “you have to play this” entries in the franchise. But it’s a solid, surprisingly thoughtful Metroidvania with Kratos at the center, and once I met it on its own terms, I genuinely enjoyed my time with it.
