If you want better crash stability
Choose The Rogue Prince of Persia. It scores 5.0 vs 1.8 for crash stability, with a 4.0 overall score.
God of War Sons of Sparta Review
Bottom Line
Choose it if you want a character-focused Greek-era prequel, rewarding exploration, strong music, and standout bosses. Skip it if slow pacing, repetitive spear combat, late fast travel, or technical roughness will outweigh the lore.
Best for
God of War fans who want more Greek-era lore, a younger look at Kratos and Deimos, and a traditional ability-gated exploration loop with strong music and environmental art.
Not for
Metroidvania veterans seeking major genre innovation, players who dislike repeated backtracking or slow openings, and anyone expecting the scale and combat impact of the mainline God of War games.
Verdict
Sons of Sparta succeeds most clearly as a smaller character piece: Kratos and Deimos' relationship, the Greek-era lore, detailed environments, soundtrack, and several boss encounters give the spin-off real personality. Its Metroidvania foundation is much less consistent. Exploration can be rewarding once mobility opens up, yet fast travel arrives late, the opening drags, and the spear-heavy combat often feels simpler and less impactful than its abundance of upgrades suggests. Technical reports also vary sharply, from smooth, polished runs to crashes, freezes, broken AI, and lost progress. The result is a meaningful franchise detour for lore-focused fans, but a much harder sell for experienced Metroidvania players expecting genre-leading movement, combat, or innovation.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
80 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.05 (6%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.425 (31%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.425 (31%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.421 (26%)
-
Very negative below 1.54 (5%)
Pros
-
Detailed backdrops, architecture, lighting, and varied biomes are among the presentation's most consistent strengths, often looking richer than the character sprites themselves.
-
Kratos and Deimos' evolving brotherhood is widely praised, with Kratos gradually revealing more compassion and Deimos gaining complexity as their beliefs about duty clash.
-
The stronger reviews consistently point to the brothers' relationship and late-story turns as unexpectedly moving, even when the opening is slow or the larger plot feels slight.
-
The soundtrack is one of the most consistently praised elements, blending orchestral God of War motifs with retro textures and giving many areas and boss fights extra energy or atmosphere.
-
Combat impacts, parries, environmental ambience, and effects often sound weighty and satisfying, though occasional sync problems and unclear cues keep the audio from being flawless.
-
Puzzles are one of the strongest gameplay elements, especially once multiple godly tools and traversal abilities can be combined in environmental and platforming challenges.
Cons
-
The broadest point of agreement is that Sons of Sparta plays things safe: even positive reviews call it a familiar Metroidvania that rarely advances the genre or introduces a defining new mechanic.
-
Technical roughness is a recurring complaint, including stuck enemies, dialogue and subtitle glitches, broken AI, soft locks, and visual problems that can interrupt play.
-
Crashes, freezes, black screens, and soft locks appear often enough across the reviews to be a serious concern, with some failures forcing boss replays or lost progress.
-
Fast travel is one of the clearest recurring complaints; broad access arrives too late and early travel points are too sparse to relieve the game's substantial backtracking.
-
Even where execution is competent, the game is repeatedly described as safe, derivative, and short on a distinctive identity within an already crowded Metroidvania field.
-
Enemy and companion AI can behave poorly or fail outright, including characters getting stuck, stopping attacks, or becoming inert after glitches.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in checkpoint system, accessibility options, handheld play suitability, near average in upgrade system, narrative quality, below average in innovation, co-op experience, multiplayer design.
Comparison summary
80 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher8 (10%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts21 (26%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower51 (64%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| innovation | 1.9 | 4.0 | -2.2 |
| co-op experience | 1.8 | 4.2 | -2.4 |
| multiplayer design | 1.5 | 3.9 | -2.4 |
| onboarding experience | 1.5 | 3.9 | -2.4 |
| economy and resource balance | 1.0 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| originality | 1.6 | 3.8 | -2.2 |
| quest design | 1.5 | 3.7 | -2.2 |
| fast travel convenience | 1.9 | 3.8 | -1.9 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better innovation
Choose Saros. It scores 4.7 vs 1.9 for innovation, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better voice acting
Choose Crimson Desert. It scores 4.7 vs 3.5 for voice acting, with a 3.5 overall score.
If you want better bug frequency
Choose Pragmata. It scores 5.0 vs 1.6 for bug frequency, with a 4.3 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
Silksong
- Better: overall Metroidvania quality The reviewer explicitly positions Sons of Sparta below Silksong in the genre.
- Better: level design Its level design is described as blander than Silksong's.
Belmont's Curse
- Better: graphics and effects Belmont's Curse is described as having higher-quality graphics and stronger effects.
Blasphemous
- Better: combat quality Its combat is said to fall short of Blasphemous.
FAQ
Is the story worth playing for?
The story starts slowly, but many reviewers praise the later emotional payoff and the developing relationship between Kratos and Deimos. Others find the missing-Spartan plot too slight or repetitive.
How is the combat?
Spear-and-shield combat grows deeper with parries, boons, gear, and upgrades, and some reviewers find it satisfying. Others say one-button attacking, weak hit impact, and dominant setups make it repetitive.
Is exploration rewarding?
The interconnected map, secrets, puzzles, and ability gates can be very satisfying once mobility expands. Slow early movement and late fast travel make backtracking a frequent complaint.
Are the boss fights good?
Bosses are often singled out as highlights for their challenge and variety, but several reviewers find them forgettable, exploitable, or short on the spectacle expected from God of War.
Does it have technical problems?
Experiences vary widely. Some reviewers report stable performance and quick reloads, while others encountered crashes, freezes, stuck AI, dialogue glitches, soft locks, and lost progress.
Can the campaign be played in co-op?
No. The reviewed co-op offering is local and unlocks after completing the main story, a restriction that several reviewers strongly criticize.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - Tactical Bacon Productions
- Review score
- 2.7
Article Reviews
worthplaying.com
Set while Kratos undergoes the brutal training period Spartan cadets endure at the Agoge, God Of War Sons Of Sparta is a 2D action/adventure...
- Review score
- 3.0
insider-gaming.com
There's plenty of fan service in God of War Sons of Sparta, which adds interesting lore, albeit at the expense of some shortcomings.
- Review score
- 2.8
nag.co.za
God of War Sons of Sparta has charm, strong music and young Kratos, but bland exploration and tedious backtracking make it painfully forgettable.
- Review score
- 2.3
cubed3.com
God of War: Sons of Sparta review for PlayStation 5. Rated 5/10. Before he was the God of War, he was the Boy of Snore.
- Review score
- 1.2
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