Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 02/Mar 03:18

God of War Sons of Sparta – Review

Outside of the PC ports of the recent two God of War games, it has been a while since a new entry in the series came out. The last game already dates from 2022, and was the second adventure of Kratos with his son, Atreus. While we had hoped the next game would pick up where God of War Ragnarök left off, we were actually surprised with a spin-off prequel instead. In God of War Sons of Sparta, we go back to the days when Kratos was still a captain in the Spartan army, and things still seemed to be looking up for the moody protagonist. Story God of Wars Sons of Sparta is a prequel to the entire series and revolves around Kratos and his brother Deimos’ youth. The game is being told from Kratos’ perspective, as he tells this tale to his daughter. Back when Kratos and Deimos were still teenagers, they were trying to earn their place among the greatest Spartan warriors. This was, of course, not without its fair share of problems. The story starts with Kratos and Deimos slaying a cyclops, only to be scoffed at back in Sparta by the guard. Even so, the duo is determined to prove themselves, and as Kratos is trying to become part of the Vanguard Circle, he is also allowed to move outside more freely. That being said, the brothers learn that a fellow student, Vasilis, has gone missing, and nobody seems to be actively looking for him. Deimos convinces Kratos to look into it while they are out. In all honesty, the story actually takes a while to get going, and we weren’t immediately captivated by the introduction. A few hours into the game, however, we were getting into it, and we ended up becoming quite intrigued about what would happen next. The presentation isn’t too bad, but the overall pacing of the story feels a bit off in those early hours. Graphics Graphically, God of War Sons of Sparta is totally different than the mainline God of War games. You’ll be treated to a 2D pixelated side scroller here, which still fits nicely within the God of War universe. Some animations look somewhat 3D, but for the most part, you’ll be playing through a traditional Metroidvania title. There are enough set pieces and different backdrops to keep things entertaining, even though you’ll be backtracking through familiar scenes a lot throughout the experience. Character models and enemy designs look very detailed, and it was very cool to see more and more boss designs as we progressed through this short adventure title. Sound All in all, the sound design was not bad at all. You’ll be treated to music that is in sync with the graphical style of the game, which changes depending on the situation or the area you are in. The midi-like tunes are catchy and set the right atmosphere. The voice acting isn’t too bad either, but it felt uneven at times. Some performances here fall really flat, while others, like Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson, reprising his role as Kratos, are simply amazing. The sound effects also provide decent audio feedback for the onscreen action. Gameplay God of War Sons of Sparta is a huge step away from the traditional 3D hack and slash experience with puzzle elements sprinkled in, as it’s actually a 2D Metroidvania. This means you’ll be platforming a lot, while dealing with enemies, backtracking, unlocking new powers to reach new areas, and so on. The overall offset is pretty straightforward here, with the game always giving you a rough indication of where to go. The game holds hardly any surprises and pretty much follows a cookie-cutter build for a standard Metroidvania experience. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as there are interesting skills to unlock, new gear to equip, and cool-looking bosses to defeat. As we’ve already mentioned, the game follows the natural progression of skill unlocks and weapon upgrades, allowing you to access new areas and kill new foes. That being said, we felt that even though we unlocked more skills and upgraded gear, things never got that much easier. A lot of enemies follow the same format as a Dark Souls game, where you dish out a tiny amount of damage while dodging attacks constantly, while memorizing certain attack patterns. It’s not necessarily a bad gameplay loop; it just felt like, with every upgrade, a new enemy would seemingly appear, making us feel just as strong as we were before the upgrade. The biggest problem with God of War Sons of Sparta doesn’t lie in the genre shift or even the overall gameplay loop that comes with it, but that nothing special is done with the Metroidvania formula here. Everything just feels like a genre standard; there are no real surprises, the combat is interesting albeit a bit dull at times, and backtracking feels just as tedious as it does in many other similar titles. There’s nothing truly wrong with the experience; it just feels a bit forgettable, which is something the other titles in the series don’t suffer from. We would have perhaps loved a more engaging storyline, better pacing, and something a lot more memorable. One thing we did notice, though, was that hitboxes weren’t always that accurate, resulting in a few unfair hits here and there. Conclusion God of War Sons of Sparta is a fairly enjoyable new God of War title that will probably not please all the fans of the franchise. Not only is the genre shift something to overcome, but the game also suffers from pacing issues, somewhat dull combat at times, and just nothing that truly stands out. If you’re always looking for more lore, then God of War Sons of Sparta will provide you with just that. If you’re looking for something just as memorable as the main series, then you’ll probably end up disappointed. In short, God of War Sons of Sparta is a capable Metroidvania, albeit a very unremarkable one.