God of War: Sons of Sparta Review: A Teen Kratos Tale
Embrace the Mildly Amusing Adventures of Teen Kratos
God of War: Sons of Sparta is a metroidvania that takes players on a journey through the early life of Kratos, the franchise's iconic protagonist. While it offers compelling combat, the game's exploration and movement feel too rigid, leaving it feeling muddled and confused. Despite a few bright spots, the game's identity crisis makes it difficult to recommend, as it struggles to live up to the standards set by the rest of the God of War franchise.
A Prequel with a Unique Twist
Sons of Sparta is set during a pivotal time in Kratos' life, when he and his brother Deimos were coming of age in the Spartan army. The game explores their quest to find another missing teen, Vasilis, as they encounter mythical beasts, monsters, and cultists. While the story provides an interesting look into Kratos' past, it feels removable from the rest of the canon, and the early stages of Kratos' life are not particularly engaging.
Rigid Movement and Exploration
The game's movement controls are overly rigid, with Kratos walking like a living tank. The fastest movement option is to constantly roll, and even as a teenager, Kratos is not very agile. The exploration is also lacking, with many powers granted by finding boons from the gods, which are color-coded to specific situations and inflexible otherwise. The puzzle design feels overly rigid, with only one tool to interact with specific objects.
Smart and Layered Combat System
Despite the rigid movement and exploration, the combat system is smart and layered. Kratos is equipped with a simple spear that lasts him throughout the game, and combat starts relatively simple with a series of swipes and parries that can be upgraded. As you unlock more boons, you're encouraged to incorporate magic into your repertoire, making the combat more complex and satisfying.
Unique Health Regeneration System
One of the game's creative touches is its health regeneration system, which allows you to sip from a flask for as briefly or as long as you need. This adds a layer of tension to combat, as you need to find safety and quickly assess how much healing you might need to make it through the next few moments of combat.
Visual Style and Story Richness
The game's visual style is often beautiful, with painterly backgrounds and a faux-pixel-art art style. The story eventually becomes surprisingly rich, exploring the motivations of its lead characters and finding emotional resonance. However, the plot machinations of tracking Vasilis are dull, and the game's frozen wasteland biome is a brief but agonizing slog.
Difficult to Recommend
Despite its strengths, God of War: Sons of Sparta is difficult to recommend due to its rigid movement and exploration, which are core aspects of the metroidvania genre. While the combat system is smart and layered, and the story eventually becomes rich, the overall experience is slowed down by the game's slow pace and confusing design choices. The game's identity crisis makes it feel like a half-finished product, and it struggles to live up to the standards set by the rest of the God of War franchise.
