God of War Sons of Sparta

God of War Sons of Sparta is a 2026 Metroidvania video game developed by Mega Cat Studios and Santa Monica Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released worldwide on February 12, 2026, for the PlayStation 5. The 10th installment in the God of War franchise and the first chronologically, it is a prequel to the entire series as its setting takes place in the Greek era before God of War: Ascension (2013) and the flashback sequences in God of War: Ghost of Sparta (2010). This is the first full game in the series to be loosely based on Greek mythology since Ascension, as the prior two installments—God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022)—were based on Norse mythology.

A coming-of-age story themed around duty, honor, and brotherhood, players control series protagonist Kratos, but in his youth during his training at the Agoge with his younger brother Deimos. After learning that one of their comrades has gone missing, the brothers travel throughout Laconia to find their friend, battling Greek mythological foes that encroach upon Sparta, strengthening their bond. The story is told by an adult Kratos as a lesson to his daughter Calliope during his time as a captain in the Spartan Army, before the character's tragedy as seen in the original God of War (2005).

The game is the second installment in the series to be presented as a two-dimensional (2D) action-platformer, after God of War: Betrayal (2007). It has a similar combination of combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements as other games in the series. Due to its setting taking place long before Kratos received his signature double-chained blades weapon, the Blades of Chaos, the character instead uses a traditional Spartan spear and shield, with additional items that grant special attacks and magical abilities. An offline multiplayer option is also available in a roguelite challenge mode; this is only the second installment in the series to offer multiplayer, after Ascension. The game also sees the return of TC Carson as adult Kratos, the character's original voice actor who last portrayed the role in Ascension; Christopher Judge played Kratos in the prior two Norse-based games. Antony Del Rio also reprises his role as young Kratos from Ghost of Sparta.

Sons of Sparta received mixed reviews from critics. Much of the criticism was aimed at it being a Metroidvania game, as although it had all the elements of the genre, reviewers felt it was only at a base level and overall fell short. The combat was also regarded as being slow and clunky, and although there were customization options for gear, critics said there was not much need to do so. The narrative was a little more well received, as although most agreed it was not important in the overall series, the story was the game's strongest aspect and added additional lore. The 2D environments were mostly praised, although the character designs in this style were not as well received. Some reviewers were disappointed that the main game did not have cooperative play, and the game's PlayStation Store listing at launch was labeled as misleading as players originally had to complete the main game first to access the multiplayer mode; the developers addressed this with a patch update, enabling the mode to be unlocked sooner.