God of War Sons of Sparta review-in-progress: "Retro-style Metroidvania Kratos struggles to stand out so far, and I'm scratching my head for a reason to press on"

God of War Sons of Sparta's take on Kratos might not be the muscled master we know and love, but early hours with this prequel adventure show that developer Mega Cat Studios at least knows which boxes to mark off to ensure the mythical flavor remains intact. The problem is, these ticks are messy at best. Within seconds, young boy Kratos is going spear-to-eye with a massive cyclops, with his brother Deimos coming in clutch to assist, but the combat is floaty and slow, and player and enemy animations are clunky and ugly. When the cyclops keels over, I'm left shrugging instead of filled with the bombast and adrenaline God of War usually leaves me with.

In some ways, this makes sense. Barely in double-digit age, Kratos and Deimos have only just earned the Spartan right to travel outside of the city to prove themselves. Having played through the first few areas of God of War Sons of Sparta, each map at least pleasingly flags interconnected pathways as they spiral out from Sparta at the center. This God of War's stakes are far lower than the grandiose ones in the main series. It's more Hardy Boys in tone, with Kratos the bratty Spartan rules nerd who nevertheless knows how to leverage its warrior teachings to justify whatever action he wants to take, while Deimos is headstrong, passionate, and ready to run off to follow what his heart tells him is right (often literally, giving a reason for Kratos to explore solo before they reunite at cutscenes). The quest I've just been on has them following a trail of fur on the hunt for a missing fellow Spartan student in the sewers. It's obviously different from the God of War we're familiar with, but not a bad premise narratively.

Kratovania

That doesn't mean jumping around God of War Sons of Sparta's Metroidvania-style areas has to feel as unsatisfying as it does. Each screen is so large that the action can get lost when it happens, not that blocking or rolling to evade damage before mashing out attacks requires too much attention. When complexity is added, it's all through testing color-based knowledge. Red attacks you can't block, you have to dodge. Blue attacks you can't dodge, you have to block. Yellow attacks you must time with a parry. Purple attacks you must completely avoid. Enemy aura shields meanwhile, can glow specific colors you can negate with either spirit or magic attacks. It can feel a bit exhausting, feeling like a rote test of matching responses rather than any real natural sense of combat flow.

At least on normal difficulty it's not particularly hard, so the color matching won't make you sweat too much. Most enemies just grumble and barely react before inelegantly flopping to the floor. A stun meter can be filled up to allow Kratos to deliver finishing moves, but while this does result in gory blood splatter, the kill animations are dull, tame, and weightless. I can't help but think of the gory and constant executions you could perform in Blasphemous or The Last Faith, and it feels like God of War Sons of Sparta is gunning for a similar rhythm, but completely stumbles when it comes to having any sense of impact. Finishers here aren't just repetitive, but uninspired, Kratos simply swatting a foe using the tool he has in his hand and leaving some colorful particle effects briefly behind – there's no sense of impact to these whatsoever. It's actually a bit shocking considering brutal finishers are what the original God of War is best known for on PS2, and feels like an oversight.

Mechanically, there are some nice ideas. Objects in the environment can be flung around, like punting some pottery on an enemy to deal some damage and stun buildup, but it doesn't feel particularly integral. Likewise, the constant orb drops from foes (color coded, naturally, between red currency, blue magic, yellow spirit, and green health) can be nudged based on the skills you use. Spirit attacks, for instance, generate more stun but less damage, and also drop health on hit. Though, the orb drop amounts feel so nominal that I've yet to feel as if keeping this in mind has been make or break in any encounters so far – it's far from cementing a Doom-style resource loop. As often seems to be the case in God of War Sons of Sparta through the opening hours, it's often best to just mash away while dodging.

A slew of gear, each of which can be upgraded, provide slightly different stats and special moves to spend spirit on – presented similarly to those found in, say, God of Ragnarok, and a skill tree full of node-unlock branches present paths to improve Kratos. So far, accruing red orbs seems to be a pretty slow process (though can be grinded as enemies respawn when you rest at bonfire checkpoints like in Dark Souls). But, also, ability upgrades and gear changes seem basic enough to not really have to worry about them in the first place.

Bigger upgrades come from temples, which also house fast travel points. Each time you find one, Kratos acquires a new powerup that doubles as a weapon in combat and also a way to navigate obstacles and open up new paths. A sling, for instance, can hit switches from afar, or bonk enemies on the noggin. Likewise, a flaming branch can both set enemies alight, or burn away pesky thorns blocking passages. Optional challenge gauntlets that have you bash away at enemies give you gifts for the gods, which can then be brought back to temples to, say, boost Kratos' spear attack damage or increase magic. It's simple stuff, but as always in the Metroidvania genre there's some satisfaction to be had in unpicking paths through maps to get your mitts on goodies to tick off upgrades.

God of War Sons of Sparta guns for a retro aesthetic beyond simply being a 2D game with its pixelated visuals seem to match. But it's also quite ugly. While the dense, detailed backgrounds are fine, they miss the awe inspiring vistas of something like Blasphemous, Hollow Knight Silksong, or Death's Gambit. Player and enemy models on the other hand are just kind of ugly, which beyond being unappealing feel like they can muddy the action. More Nintendo DS-core than evoking the glory days of SNES or PS1 Metroidvania classics, they're constantly in movement in a way that creates a fuzz of color and silhouette. Perhaps drawn from 3D models with some kind of pixel effect over the top or something else, they just don't look great to me, nor do they feel good to interact with. A lack of definition goes some way to explaining why combat feels a bit lifeless.

God of War Sons of Sparta is disappointing so far. The main God of War series has set a high bar when it comes to satisfying, crunchy action, and its absence in this prequel is a let-down. It's especially rough when others in the busy Soulslike-flavored Metroidvania genre have been able to deliver exactly that throughout adventures that already gripped me much better by this point in play. This isn't a bad game, but it's only shaping up to be a perfectly serviceable one, which, as part of such a monumental series, and in a genre with so many all-timer bangers, could make this a swing, a miss, and a tumble right off the colossus. I'll keep playing, and would be glad to warm more to it, but if God of War Sons of Sparta has you wanting to play more like this, there's a whole heap of the best Metroidvania games that you might want to consider instead.

Take a look at our games like God of War list for more adventures that channel a bit of Kratos' energy.