There are two things I dislike a lot from Sony’s current approach to Playstation 5 exclusives. The first one is the fact they obviously pivot towards the huge, sprawling, expensive, cinematic AAA games meant to be “reasons for one to buy a Playstation 5”. I think they have been lacking in variety over the past few years in that regard. The second main issue is the fact they usually announce games years before they are actually shipped, in an attempt to generate buzz and hype; I honestly don’t think this strategy always works. So when they decided to stealth drop a brand new God of War spinoff during their latest State of Play, one that’s small in size, pixelated, and available immediately after the end of the show, it felt like they were listening to my complaints.

God of War: Sons of Sparta is exactly the kind of game I hope they start releasing more often. It’s not full-priced, it’s not a hardware-pushing juggernaut, and it’s not one of the company’s many failed attempts at releasing a live service in a market already saturated to the brim with them. The game, which is also a prequel to the entire franchise’s lore as a whole, is a 2D, pixel art-based metroidvania developed by a smaller dev team, with help from Santa Monica Studio. Now, if you want me to tell you that this is one of the best metroidvanias out in the market, uh, well, let’s start talking about it in depth, shall we?

The combat is the game’s main highlight, even if it’s a bit one-note. Boss battles are great, though.

God of War: Sons of Sparta stars a teenage Kratos and his brother, Deimos (of Ghost of Sparta fame), in a personal quest to find a missing person. It is their first quest after finally being allowed to leave the city walls of Sparta, being able to explore the world around them, and its many perils. This is a very interesting addition to the overall God of War canon as it showcases an untraumatized Kratos, one who still believes in the Greek gods, deeply loyal to his brother, able to showcase emotions with some sort of ease, in a world not yet bleak as seen in the beginning of the first God of War game. Kratos is not yet a god, nor an almighty beefcake. He is just a very talented boy working his hardest to become part of the Spartan army.

In terms of worldbuilding and storytelling, God of War: Sons of Sparta does an impressive lot despite its limitations. The voice acting is great, be it from young Kratos, or “older” Kratos, voiced by the original trilogy’s own Terrence C. Carson, who’s telling his adventures to his daughter, prior to the events from the first God of War game. That being said, the action is constantly paused by unskippable dialogue sections or cinematics, which, in this game’s case, are comprised of pixel art characters shaking their heads in disbelief while a lot of exposition is being blabbered on the bottom of the screen.

I love the fact that the goddess Nike gifts you… a pair of shoes.

Now, for the metroidvania part. God of War: Sons of Sparta is… good. Not amazing, not mind-boggling… just a decent metroidvania like countless others in the market. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel or bring in new elements of its own to the mix. Nope, you’re getting a competent but extraordinarily by-the-books exploration-heavy platformer, with just one tiny little element brought over from God of War. If you’re thinking it’s the Blades of Chaos, I’m sorry to inform you that this isn’t the case. You’re tied to a spear for most of the time, with the exception of a few additional weapons. The element in question is the equipment system from the more modern God of War games, which, as you may already know, isn’t the deepest or most customizable system in the market.

But that isn’t me saying that the combat is bad, even if it’s a bit one-note. Given how Kratos is just a kid, he’s not very strong, meaning that you have to constantly rely on dodges and parrying in order to defeat your enemies. Your spear doesn’t dish out a lot of damage, and in order to use your secondary weapons (ranging from a sling to an enchanted sword), you gotta spend magic points. You can upgrade your weapons by completing certain objectives, and bringing back tributes to the respective temples you acquired these items for. Dealing with common enemies becomes boring after a while, since many of them are just a reskin of one another, but boss battles can be a challenge. At times, a bit too tough, with a very steep difficulty spike, but they are, without a doubt, the most entertaining sections this game has to offer.

Your brother occasionally helps you out during a few boss battles.

God of War: Sons of Sparta isn’t the longest metroidvania in the market (you can beat it in about 10-ish hours), but it certainly is packed to the brim with side areas and content. Maybe too much, in fact. Each new area you discover has its own set of secondary objectives, as well as the aforementioned hidden areas containing challenges that reward you with weapon upgrades upon completing them. I couldn’t help but feel like some of these secondary objectives felt excessive and redundant after a while, as most of them would only reward you with blood orbs, used to upgrade like half a dozen stats scattered in a very small skill tree. It’s fun to look for hidden treasure, especially since you can use the controller’s speakers to literally listen to spirits telling you about nearby secrets, however.

For the most part, the graphics are just okay. But every now and then, you’ll be greeted by a gorgeous background.

As for its presentation, God of War: Sons of Sparta is, once again… well, good. Not great, not terrible, just pretty decent all around. I’ll say that its sound department, despite suffering from the occasional synchronization glitch, was the game’s overall highlight, as the soundtrack was composed by Bear McCreary, the same composer behind the latest God of War games. And, as previously mentioned, the voice acting is pretty good, though I don’t think a game like this needed the amount of snarky quips delivered by both main characters it actually has. I get it, they’re teens, but that somewhat ruins the immersion of its Ancient Greece setting, as these quips just end up sounding a bit too Marvel-y.

The visuals are decent enough, but you will always feel like there are much prettier pixel art metroidvanias out in the market. God of War: Sons of Sparta might have the occasional interesting vista, but it will never wow you with a jaw-dropping area theme or character design. It’s obviously not the kind of game that will test the limits of the Playstation 5’s hardware. Then again, it never feels dull. I know I’ve mentioned this countless times during this review, but let’s say it once again: it just feels… good.

It almost feels like a quarter of my time spent with this game was inside Sparta’s sewers.

God of War: Sons of Sparta is a very interesting prologue to the series as a whole, and a welcome return to the franchise’s original Greek setting, but as a metroidvania… I mean, it’s good, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen and played dozens of times before, especially in a post-Silksong and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown world. But I still love the fact it exists. The fact it’s somewhat unambitious and smaller in scope might actually be my favorite thing about it. This is a type of game I missed from Sony, something more focused, streamlined, to the point. I’d rather have three or four games like Sons of Sparta a year then yet another live service whose servers will be shut off after just two or three months.

God of War: Sons of Sparta is available now on PS5.

Reviewed on PS5.