According to dataminer and user TheMorse_ on the official God of War Ragnarok subreddit, several hidden cutscenes have been discovered in the game’s files. The cutscenes are reportedly similar to hidden scenes in God of War 2018 that later served as the opening to God of War Ragnarok. One of the alleged cutscenes features “beings from the higher plane,” including Athena, in conversation with Odin and Atreus. Another reportedly shows Atreus traveling to meet beings from other dimensions and encountering a figure known as “Mau,” said to be the Egyptian word for cat and described as a manifestation of the sun god Ra. While proof was shared via a link in the post and several rumors have suggested that an Egyptian-themed entry in the series is in development, these details have not been confirmed by Sony or Santa Monica Studio.
In a recent discussion with Twitch streamer Fuhpuzy on a recent livestream, Kratos voice actor Christopher Judge seemingly revealed more details about upcoming God of War projects. He confirmed that the next God of War trilogy will see TC Carson reprise his role as Kratos. He also teased that an upcoming God of War project, likely the rumored next title from Cory Barlog, will be announced in late summer.
“No, well, it’s going to be TC,” Judge said when asked if he would be reprising the role for the remake. He added that the trilogy will not undergo a reboot. Instead, it will use “new technology” and include “more stuff,” as well as a “new fighting system.” When asked about when he would return to the role of Kratos, Judge said, “Then you’ll be hearing about what we’re doing probably late summer.”
In a recent episode of the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast, Tom Henderson claimed that the rumored upcoming installment in the God of War franchise will include a scythe, similar to previous games in the series. “There is a scythe in the game as well.” “It’s interesting. It’s always cool listening to all these rumblings and seeing what actually comes to fruition,” he said. He also noted that while the game was previously rumored to have an Egyptian setting, the next title might take the series back to Greece.
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Santa Monica Studio recently announced God of War Trilogy Remake, a remake of God of War, God of War II, and God of War III. A release date has not been announced, but the title will launch for PlayStation 5.
Another week, another shake-up for Xbox Game Pass - and this time the service is juggling booster packs, rogue dice rolls and a full-scale brawler launch.
A new leak suggests that Santa Monica Studio may already have set the stage for the next God of War game’s story, which we expect to be a PS5 and PS6 title. A determined dataminer, who previously found God of War Ragnarok‘s beginning in the 2018 game‘s PC files, now claims to have found post Ragnarok hidden dialogue that sounds like it’s part of the next game.
Could this be the next God of War PS5, PS6 game’s story? (Potential spoilers)
The leaker in question, Reddit user TheMorse_, has provided screenshots of strings containing the aforementioned dialogue as well as copies of the text files containing all the strings within which the dialogue was found.
Unless this is a very, very elaborate hoax, the leak might be legit. But still, take everything with a grain of salt, and if you’re worried about spoilers, X out now.
From the sound of things, Athena — who seems disappointed with Atreus — might be an antagonist in the next game, and she may initially be disguised as a “robed figure.”
Speaking of Atreus, it does look like he will be the central figure in the upcoming God of War games, which makes sense because continuing with Kratos indefinitely doesn’t seem possible without the series falling off a cliff.
New details regarding the upcoming God of Warremakes announced last week have come to light from an unexpected but trustworthy source.
What are the latest details on the God of War remakes?
While attending Fan Expo in Vancouver, Canada, streamer Fuhpuzy spoke to Christopher Judge, who voices Kratos in the new renditions of God of War from Santa Monica Studio. She asked Judge about the upcoming game, and he surprisingly opened up about a few key details.
According to Judge, he won’t be appearing in the game as the voice role of the younger Kratos will be handled by his original actor, TC Carson, who also appeared at Sony’s State of Play to announce the games. Judge also said that the games will feature a whole lot of “new stuff,” including a “new fighting system” and other content.
Kratos Actor Christopher Judge has seemingly just leaked a bunch of info about the series:
– GoW Remake will have new combat, new systems & content – Only TC Carson is voicing Kratos in the remake – Next Santa Monica game is being announced late summerpic.twitter.com/LltgiEjrgX
As for what Judge might be up to, he did hint that new information about the next God of War game could be coming very soon. He mentioned that fans will be “hearing about what we’re doing probably in the late summer,” which could suggest that Santa Monica Studio will be back with another announcement during the yearly summer conference cycle.
The God of War remakes will be comprised of the first three God of War games that released in the 2000s and followed Kratos’ life as a Spartan-turned-God-of-war as he vows to get revenge against the Greek gods.
Sony really knows how to keep things under wraps when they want to. During the most recent State of Play, the final announcement wasn’t just another cinematic trailer—it was a “play it right now” moment. God of War: Son of Sparta just shadow-dropped, and it’s a pretty sharp turn from the massive 3D epics we’ve…
With God of War Ragnarok concluding Kratos' Norse story for now, players have been discussing which setting the series will go to next. As a precedent has been set by the second series' move from Greece to Scandinavia, many believe a third duology or trilogy would do the same, this time choosing yet another pantheon.
For a long while, many have believed that this pantheon would be Egypt. In fact, I remember many years ago, before 2018's God of Warwas announced, how folks were absolutely certain that Egypt was the next stage of the saga, following Kratos' ambiguous end at the conclusion of God of War 3. Those sentiments have remained alive and well since, and even though they were dispelled for a while by God of War 2018 and Ragnarok, they never really went away.
And it would appear that GoW Ragnarok's files confirm Egypt as the next stop for Kratos or, at the very least, Atreus.
A Reddit user named TheMorse_ searched through Ragnarok's files and discovered a batch of cut dialogue that never made it into the final game. In the scene, Atreus, a character called Mau, Athena, and a mysterious robed character engage in conversation. Atreus urges Mau to follow him somewhere, with Mau only responding "mau," as if it were a cat. Athena says there is some problem, and a robed figure remarks that "the white snake will eat you" in Greek.
"Mau" is the Egyptian word for cat, as TheMorse_ explains, an onomatopoeic term originating from the very sound the animal produces. What's more, Mau is one of the manifestations of the Egyptian god Ra. While small hints, it would appear that Atreus was planned to have a run-in with the Egyptian pantheon in some capacity, which could have been cut to preserve the ambiguity of God of War's next location.
Athena and the robed figure appear hostile to Atreus, as the latter says, "One failed us" and "One rejected us," sentences that TheMorse_ believes refer to Odin and Atreus, respectively.
Some of the replies analyzed the text and said that the "white snake" in question could be the Egyptian god Apophis, also known as the "Eater of Souls," as TheMorse_ explains.
This is one of the biggest and most conclusive finds related to the future of God of War. While everyone seems confident that it'll take place in Egypt, there haven't been many concrete hints toward it. Ragnarok and God of War 2018 both show small snippets of ancient Egyptian culture, though nothing significant enough to indicate an entire subfranchise being set there.
At any rate, the next God of War is likely going for a change of scenery. Whether that's Egypt or another place remains to be seen, but it does appear as the most promising candidate.
Demon’s Souls was a great remake (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Friday letters page has some choice words to say about Sony’s handling of the PS5 generation, as one reader thinks Mario Kart Arcade is a bad game.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Wasted generation Just seen the news that Sony is shutting down Bluepoint Games and I’m appalled. That team put out nothing but top quality games and were specialists in remakes, which we’ve had more and more of recently, so you would’ve thought they’d be extra valuable to Sony right now.
Instead, we just see continued short-sighted, bone-headed decision making from Sony, who have been awful this whole generation. The PlayStation 5 has been a disaster and I’m not confident that Sony has any kind of plan to avoid permeant decline, all the while shutting down more and more developers. I definitely would be polishing up my CV if I worked at Bungie or Bend Studio.
The obsession with live service games, which clearly hasn’t ended at all, has been such a disaster. Not just in terms of failed games (remember, Concord cost $400 million!) but a whole wasted generation, where developers have had no time to make anything else, and are now being shut down before they have the chance anyway.
I detest Sony for how they’re handling all this, and I say that as someone that’s owned an original PlayStation console and everything else since. They shut down one of their best developers just so they could look good to their investors for five minutes and it’s obvious they’ll happily sacrifice more for the same reason. Cranston
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Pity the poor exec Thank goodness that Hermen Hulst, Head of Worldwide Studios at PlayStation from 2019-2024, is here to protect the company from ‘changing player behaviours’ and ‘rising development costs’ by shuttering one of their most renowned studios.
Absolutely nothing else he could’ve done since 2019, to give players the type of games they expect from PlayStation. Nope, we all wanted 12 live service games, from studios who specialise in single-player games, so it’s our fault for changing our minds…
PlayStation has been on the slide since they consolidated and moved their headquarters to the USA. They’ve lost almost all of the riskiness and playfulness that made them successful in the first place. Hope the Bluepoint employees bounce back quickly. Magnumstache
Never-ending Kratos I was really hoping that Santa Monica Studio would be working on a new IP or sci-fi game but it really doesn’t sound like that’s what’s going on. I loved the last two God Of War games but the story’s over and I have very little confidence that there’s a good plan for what happens next.
Cory Barlog said he didn’t make the Norse games a trilogy because he didn’t want to work on the same story for 15 years but here we are and it’s looking very much like he’s just going straight back to God Of War.
I know the next game is meant to be a spin-off but how different is it going to be really? Unless it’s a flight sim or something it’s just going to be more of the same and that’s a shame. Coolsbane
Experimental reasoning It does make me laugh that Todd Howard has now publicly admitted that people find Starfield boring, but I’m sure he doesn’t really understand why. How someone of his supposed experience could have put out such a dull, badly made game I don’t know. He’s just lucky the Fallout TV show was a hit, as otherwise I think he would’ve fond himself out the door.
No one would love The Elder Scrolls 6 to be great more than me, but Bethesda is too high on its own supply nowadays and I really have much less confidence in them than I used to. He tries to paint Starfield as some big, risky experiment but all they do was take all the best bits out of Skyrim and replace it with nothing.
I’m not really sure what he’s on about with Fallout 76 either. It’s just a bog standard MMO cobbled together with left over bits from Fallout 4. It’s those two games that made me start to think less of Bethesda, not because they were risky ventures but because they were lazy cash grabs. Shortround
Kart it off I always wondered why Nintendo bothered with the Mario Kart arcade games. They weren’t very good, because they let Bandai Namco make them, and it hardly seems like Mario Kart is a series they have to get people interested in or promote. It’s not exactly an unknown brand, is it?
Putting Pac-Man in was extra weird too, as even though he’s a cartoon character he still looks out of place. Anyway, I still gave it a go. But paying £1 to play one race of the worst Mario Kart ever isn’t something I’d want to do again. Biter
Bad business The gaming world can truly change on a dime. Bluepoint Games has been shut down by Sony. After giving us fans a brilliant remake of Demon’s Souls and Shadow Of The Colossus, Sony has closed down the studio. One of their most revered, to say the least. It’s out of nowhere and quite a baffling decision. From what I understand, the studio was to create a video game based on an original IP and not another remake. So why Sony have chosen to erase that prospective idea is beyond my understanding.
Then again, we hadn’t heard any news, updates or any information from them in a long time, so perhaps it was inevitable. I suppose the silence was a reckoning or rather an ill omen in the shadows. I really would have liked to see what Bluepoint were making or what was cooking behind the scenes. To see the creativity floating around, but it either happens with a new studio that is formed, or it remains a what if?
It worked for Sandfall Games. After they broke away from Ubisoft, we were presented with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the rest is history. So maybe the developers still have a semblance of a future. What that will be is unclear at this moment, so who knows what is next?
On another note, it’s a week from tomorrow that Resident Evil Requiem releases. A funny anecdote is that I pre-ordered it for £47.99, on Amazon. I take another look and it’s suddenly £59.95. Talk about a lucky move. It looks absolutely fantastic and since Leon Kennedy is my favourite male gaming character, I hope it reviews well. Shahzaib Sadiq
Two for two I want to recommend Pure Pool Pro on PlayStation 5. It’s a really fun game with excellent physics. It looks great and has an enjoyable career mode and trophies.
It’s only the second game I’ve bought for the PlayStation 5 after Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots. Keep up the good work. EricBIG777 (PSN ID)
GC: Thank you.
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Actually final RE: Ochreblue. I find it hard to imagine, after the Final Fantasy 7 remakes have been completed, that another remake of a fan favourite would be made anytime soon, at least on the scale of Final Fantasy 7’s budget.
I think that so much money has backed these three massive games that it would seem nonsensical to risk another big venture so soon, due to what the actual returns were from a financial point of view. I can imagine that it would have needed a lot more sales to accommodate a reason to make, let’s say the sixth or ninth Final Fantasy games in the series, even if they definitely do deserve one.
Possibly a remastered version of Chrono Trigger would be interesting, with a fresh lick of paint and a new up-to-date remake of the original soundtrack would be a great winner for me and other fans. No need to go and rebuild everything like the FFVII Remake, but way simpler using artwork that is skilfully applied to the cute looking world whilst keeping the atmosphere peak.
But we definitely have to get into our minds that the Final Fantasy 7 remakes could be the ultimate Final Fantasies, encapsulating everything from the original and introducing so much more.
This asks the question of how powerful do the next generation of consoles really need to be and have graphical qualities reached their zenith yet? GTA 6 will probably be that zenith but it’ll be pretty obvious that GTA 6 will be earning a hefty profit when the sale figures start coming in.
But definitely it will be an exception compared to other big releases, who will be relatively successful but with way less titles being sold. Let’s see what happens over this year and the next. Alucard
Inbox also-rans Sony shut down Bluepoint Games? Make it make sense! Surely they should be remaking Bloodborne? Zombiekicker
One positive thing about all these console delays is that parents could be saved the £400 to £1,000 yearly scramble to get a new toy for their spoiled kids. Bobwallett
GC: Who is spending £1,000 on new consoles every year?
The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
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We’re never getting that Egypt game, are we? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Comments from Kratos’ voice actor point to another God Of War game being revealed this year but don’t expect an Egyptian sequel.
It’s been nearly four years since God Of War Ragnarök and yet the inevitable sequel feels further away than ever. Just last week, series developer Santa Monica Studio shadow-dropped prequel game, Sons Of Sparta (which is primarily made by another studio) and announced that full remakes of all three original Greek era God Of War games are currently in development.
Those remakes are likely still years away from ever coming out and if Santa Monica is the lead developer on those (something that’s not been made clear), that’s too much of an undertaking to also juggle a dedicated sequel.
And yet, it’s rumoured that Santa Monica will be announcing another new game later this year; one that could launch in 2027 or 2028. Its identity remains a mystery but recent comments, including ones from Kratos himself, point to it being some kind of new God Of War spin-off.
Recently, Twitch streamer and YouTuber Fuzhpuzy spoke with Christopher Judge, who did the voicework and motion capture for Kratos in the modern God Of War games, while at a convention, where she asked him about the recently announced remakes.
While it was quite apparent anyway, Judge confirmed he will not be voicing Kratos in the remakes (T.C. Carson, the previous voice actor, will be reprising the role, just as he does in Sons Of Sparta), but he also said, ‘You will hear about what we’re doing probably late summer.’
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We couldn’t find the original clip on YouTube, but it’s been shared around on X and considering Judge isn’t visible and you only hear his (very distinctive) voice, it’s possible he didn’t know he was being recorded at the time.
YouTuber Fuzhpuzy asked God of War voice actor Christopher Judge if he’s in the upcoming GoW Remakes. He said:•Kratos will be voiced by TC Carson in the remakes, Christopher won’t be in it. •Remakes will have new technology, fighting system, and content. •New GoW from Santa… pic.twitter.com/bCSiIUiJEv
Whatever the case, Judge seems to be referring to Santa Monica’s next game, with the summer reveal lining up with what other reliable insiders have claimed. And if he’s involved, the obvious assumption is that he’s voicing Kratos again, pointing to a new God Of War game.
So, does that mean the Ragnarök sequel is actually closer to coming out than the remakes? Not necessarily, according to insider Ashhong; someone who has claimed to have knowledge of Santa Monica’s next game in the past and has implied it won’t be based on a new IP and nor is it a licensed game.
It not being a new IP has also been claimed by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who added that Ashhong ‘knows what they’re talking about’ last year.
More recently, on ResetEra, when someone said that 2027 would be the perfect time to release a new mainline God Of War game, Ashhong replied with, ‘Don’t hold your breath.’
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The most likely explanation for all these rumours is that Santa Monica’s next game is God Of War related, but it’s another spin-off like Sons Of Sparta, which could point to it having a different gameplay style. This would line up with Schreier’s comment about how the game is ‘not a new IP but it might feel like one.’
Maybe it’ll be an Atreus solo adventure, with Kratos only making a cameo appearance? Atreus’ playable appearances in the last game felt like Santa Monica testing the waters for a spin-off, which the ending also seemed to imply. It could also serve as a bridge game to build up to the next sequel, whether it’s set in the constantly rumoured Egypt or somewhere else.
There’s also a small possibility that the game isn’t God Of War related at all. Kratos is Judge’s most prominent video game role, but Santa Monica could very well have cast him in a new role for something else.
Judge clearly has a close working relationship with the studio, as evidenced by how Santa Monica and Sony decided to delay God Of War Ragnarök to accommodate for his surgery and rehab rather than recast Kratos.
Whatever it ends up being, you should find out later this year, likely at another State of Play around August or September time (Summer Game Fest in June doesn’t seem to line-up with Judge’s mention of ‘late summer’); just don’t expect a traditional God Of War sequel.
We can safely rule out a Metroidvania spin-off since God Of War just got one (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Will AI be the end of video game consoles? (Metro)
The Thursday letters page is unsurprised God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was unremarkable, as one reader is enamoured by fan remakes of Pokémon Red/Blue.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Console apocalypse So, um… all this stuff about memory and electronic components getting bought up by AI companies seems pretty bad, right? Like, really, really, bad? This guy talking about potentially a decade of problems presumably knows what he’s talking about, given his position, and that is going to be a nightmare for gaming. Never mind smartphones and everything else.
Do we even know if Sony and Nintendo are safe? They’re not gigantic companies like Microsoft and electronics is pretty much all they do beyond games. Maybe all three will go third party at the same time! I’m not really sure what companies he’s hinting at that could go under, as I’m not sure who counts as a smaller business, but it’s clearly not good news, no matter what happens.
There’s so much going wrong with the games industry, and the world in general, at the moment and yet it seems like it could still get much worse and very quickly. In the worse case scenario you’re talking about consoles, and gaming PCs, being impossible to manufacture for several years.
Whether that would last for a whole decade I don’t know but that’s an industry ending problem. I hope you’re all into retro games, because that might be all we have soon! Oz
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Monkey paw So I guess one of the big victims of these memory shortage problems is going to be all those PC handheld gaming devices from companies I’ve never heard of. If even Steam Deck has only sold a few million I hate to think what some of these others are pushing. Even the Xbox Ally one, which I have literally not heard mentioned again even once since it came out.
That’s going to affect the rumoured Xbox portable and the PlayStation one too, to the point where they might just cancel them completely, because I imagine they involve a lot of custom chips – even more than if it was just a home console.
I’m sure no one but them knows the full details but this is all very bad news and yet… if you didn’t want there to be a next generation so soon your prayers have been answered. But you know the problem with being careful what you wish for, since now the PlayStation 6 might not arrive until 2036! Korbie
Next in line Like a lot of readers I’m looking forward to hearing abut the third Final Fantasy 7 remake game but I’m also wondering what might get the remake treatment after that is all finished up with. Do they even consider Final Fantasy 7 Remake to be a success is the first big question and I’m not sure what the answer is, other than there’s a good chance it might be ‘not really’.
They definitely seemed to have cooled on the idea of a Final Fantasy 9 remake, as there were rumours like crazy around that for a while. That was only meant to be a lower budget remake too, so that might be an indication they’ve already had it with triple-A remakes.
For me the obvious choices for Final Fantasy are 6 or 10, although personally I’d prefer 12. Final Fantasy 6 would require a completely new game, so I don’t think that will get the treatment. 10 is going to be a big job too, so I’m not honestly sure any of them will get remakes.
I’d love Chrono Trigger, but I think that’s the same problem as Final Fantasy 6, and so I think maybe the most likely is Kingdom Hearts, especially with a new game coming up to promote. Or maybe the answer is none of them. If a big budget Final Fantasy 7 remake only sells okay, what chance does anything else have? Ochreblue
Fan suggestion I agree that this year is Game Freak’s big chance to turn around Pokémon in terms of the quality of the games and the technology behind them. I don’t know how likely it is, but if they don’t try this time I’m not sure they ever will.
Although most people imagine some kind of amazing high-tech open world I prefer the idea of something closer to the HD-2D style, that’s a mix between modern and retro graphics. There have been a lot of fan mock-ups with this idea over the years and while I don’t think any of them are perfect I’d rather go with something like this but keep it more of a top-down view.
Unless Nintendo is going to spend GTA 6 style money on it I don’t think there’s any point making Pokémon 3D. It’s got to be stylised and it’s got to be more like the wonder of the original Game Boy games. We might get that for a future remake but I’m afraid the next mainline game will just be another low-tech, janky knock-off. Taylor Moon
You can dig it Great Reader’s Feature about A Game About Digging a Hole at the weekend. I instinctively knew I would get some form of enjoyment out of it. Digging, collecting ore, selling it, upgrading equipment, and digging deeper? Absolutely all over it for £3.64.
Spaced out on Tramadol for a back issue last night, played for over two hours and it was an almost religious experience. Well not quite, but highly recommended to all other readers, especially for the price. Whiskeyjack11
Fighting multiverse RE: Lee Dappa. The closest you’ll get to playing all versions of Street Fighter 2 in one place, as one game, is not on the 30th anniversary collection of Street Fighter 2 but actually on the 35th anniversary collection labelled as Capcom Fighting Collection.
This release features Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition. You can choose fighters from all versions of the Street Fighter 2 editions in one package.
Choosing World Warrior Ken from the original will give him extra strength, no super move, and he will be a palette swap of Ryu. Choosing Ken from Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting will give him his longer range dragon uppercut and air whirlwind kick and still no super move.
Choosing Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s Ken will give him his flaming dragon punch but less damage, and thus more reliant on combos. But he will have his super move to use and the power bar for it at the bottom of the screen. This would apply to all characters across the games so you can have World Warrior E. Honda vs. Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s version of Blanka, for instance. Nick The Greek
Online ban I always wondered why companies don’t just lock a game out until the day it’s released, to avoid all these leaks you always get. It’s literally every game but they never seem to care. But surely it could just work like pre-loading, where you have the game but you’re not allowed to start playing it until the right time.
I guess you could buy the disc and then purposefully keep the console offline, and get around it that way, but who wants that much trouble? And besides, most games don’t seem to work without a day one patch anyway. At the very least a timer would cut the problem down, but the companies don’t even seem to try. Flint
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What it looks like I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was an out of the blue shadow drop, it had what looked like terrible graphics, and it immediately looked inferior to about a 100 other Metroidvanias you could get instead. And as a bonus it was by some developer I’d never heard of, who’s biggest game was a Five Nights At Freddy’s spin-off.
I feel you have to be very optimistic given all that, to the point where I could probably sell you some magic beans. It’s not a question of whether it’s rubbish or not but if you want to spend a fair amount of money and a lot of time beating it, and I definitely don’t want to. Talk is cheap but time is not and at the moment I haven’t time for 10/10 blockbusters, let alone deeply average Metroidvanias.
I feel there’s plenty of interesting things an indie dev could’ve done with a low budget God Of War game and a 2D Metroidvania with Young Kratos seems like the absolute least exciting option. You could’ve had a game where you played as one of the Valkyries, you could have had a literal god game where you’re populating Midgar with humans, you could’ve had an archery thing with Arteus, heck you could’ve had a sledding simulator and it still would’ve been more interesting that what we got.
I know it was the safe option, but when the best option was probably not making a spin-off at all there’s no point going for the boring and obvious choice. Campbell
Inbox also-rans So Highguard has outlasted Concord, but by the sound of it it’ll be lucky see the weekend, so it’s really only going to beat it by a matter of days. Goops
I really hate that Microsoft switched the buttons round on their controller compared to Nintendo’s. Why do so silly a thing and make it so difficult to switch (no pun intended) between the two consoles. I can never remember which is which way round. Mobert
GC: They were copying Sega, who they were very cosy with in the initial years of the Xbox.
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God Of War: Sons Of Sparta – not god tier (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Kratos returns to Ancient Greece with a tale from his youth, in this new Metroidvania that tries to make the God Of War formula work in 2D.
Given what a huge critical and commerical success 2022’s God of War Ragnarök was, the franchise now stands in surprisingly murky waters. There’s still no sign of a direct follow-up, with developer Santa Monica Studio rumoured to be working on a new title that is not God Of War related. Unless, that is, they’re also doing the recently announced remake of the first three games, but that still hasn’t been confirmed.
It’s all very unclear and into that miasma of uncertainty comes Sons Of Sparta, a 2D Metroidvania by the virtually unknown Mega Cat Studios. Although a spin-off had been rumoured for some time the game was shadow-dropped during the last State of Play, ensuring there were no reviews before launch – just a worryingly large price tag.
At first glance, Sons Of Sparta does not seem encouraging, with low tech visuals that look no better, and in some cases notably worse, than a dozen other indie Metroidvanias. Those first impressions remain unchanged for the first several hours, but while the game does get better with time it’s not wholly satisfying to either God Of War fans or those that just want to play a good Metroidvania.
It’s been 13 years since the last God Of War game was set in Ancient Greece. Given the breakout success of 2018’s soft reboot, there will be many people that never even realised that’s how the series started off, with only a few minor references to it in the two recent games (although there was a bit more of it in Ragnarök’s DLC). Given the upcoming TV series is also set in the continuity of the Norse adventures it’s a surprise for Sony to suddenly change tack and start digging up the past.
In story terms, Sons Of Sparta is a fairly straightforward prequel, as a pre-deification Kratos narrates to his daughter a story from his teenage years. At this point he still gets on well with his brother Deimos, as the two set off on a rescue mission across Sparta. There is a co-op mode, but weirdly it can only be unlocked after beating the story campaign on your own, by which point you are likely to have had more than enough of the game.
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That’s not quite the barb it might seem, as Sons Of Sparta is a long game and the first several hours are by far its weakest, until it starts offering up more substantial challenges and boss encounters. Even the visuals are at their worst at the start, so while the game’s 50 shades of brown colour scheme seems off-putting it’s not always as drab and ugly as it first seems. Although the animation never gets any better and remains stiff and unconvincing throughout.
As a Metroidvania, Sons Of Sparta is perfectly capable, with lots of areas being inaccessible at the start, all sitting there waiting for you to get the appropriate item or ability to circumvent them, from a sling that can activate distant switches to various magic totems. The central hub in the main city is unusually large and unwieldy but otherwise traversal and progression works largely as you would expect, with fairly clear signposting.
Metroidvania is not much of a stretch for God Of War, which has always had elements of the genre, but the obvious problem with making it a 2D game is that the combat is made considerably more simplistic, especially as Kratos doesn’t have the Blades of Chaos or any of his other more famous gear. Instead, he primarily uses a spear and shield, but even with a dash move and parry that starts to get old very quickly.
Kratos does learn to use magic quite early on, but it doesn’t stop most fights being overly long and lacking the physicality of the mainline titles. No matter how good you get at poking monsters with your spear it’s physically impossible to make short work of anything, because even the cannon fodder enemies act like damage sponges and always seem to take longer to defeat than you’d like, regardless of how much you’ve upgraded yourself.
He has the power! (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The game tries to adopt elements of recent Soulslikes (although it’s not particularly hard), with a bewildering array of colour-code warnings that mean you have to block blue attacks, dodge red ones, parry yellow ones, and just get out of the way of purple ones. Enemies also have coloured outlines that work along the same logic, but it all seems very artificial, more like a rhythm action game than a nuanced combat system.
In terms of role-playing elements, the game mimics the Norse games as closely as possible, which is a shame as their overwrought system is easily the worst part of those games. You always have far too many options, and yet almost none of the gear and skill tree upgrades makes any appreciable difference, so you just stop paying attention. The 3D games never acknowledged this as an issue, so it’s not a surprise that this doesn’t either, but it still boils down to a lot of unwanted menu screen busywork.
Although the script is able to contrast the authoritarian Kratos with the more humanistic approach of Deimos the story is not particularly gripping and the stakes surprisingly small. Santa Monica Studio provided the dialogue to the game but while the script is fine, the story itself doesn’t feel like one that needed to be told.
Needless to say, the world also did not need another 2D Metroidvania and while this is mostly competent it’s nothing more than that and there are dozens of better alternatives available – from Animal Well to Hollow Knight: Silksong – most of which are also cheaper than this. If the God Of War name is enough to tempt then you won’t be entirely disappointed but if that’s not a draw for you, Sons Of Sparta has little else to offer beyond the Metroidvania average.
God Of War: Sons Of Sparta review summary
In Short: A very run of the mill Metroidvania that does little of interest with the God Of War setting and stumbles in terms of the dull combat and unengaging plot.
Pros: The basics of the Metroidvania formula are all present and correct, and if you’re new to the genre this is a reasonable place to start. A lengthy experience with plenty of side content.
Cons: Dull, long-winded combat against largely uninteresting foes. The storytelling is not engaging and the graphics are often ugly. Too many role-playing and upgrade options to care.
Score: 5/10
Formats: PlayStation 5 Price: £24.99 Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Developer: Mega Cat Studios Release Date: 12th February 2026 Age Rating: 16
A new “God of War” game titled “Sons of Sparta” surprise launched for the PS5 on Thursday, just as PlayStation revealed a remake of the original “God of War” trilogy is in the works. Per a blog post shared by “God of War” developer Santa Monica Studio, “Over two decades ago in March 2005, God […]
With God of War Ragnarok bringing the Norse saga to an end for Kratos and Atreus, the next entry in the series by Santa Monica Studio is set to feature a completely different setting and ancient gods for the two to wrestle with. Rumors of a possible ancient Egypt setting have been circulating for some time now, and they may not be too far off the mark, as newly discovered information hidden inside God of War Ragnarok’s files heavily hints at such a setting. Over on the God of War Ragnarok subreddit, user TheMorse_ reported having found a couple a hidden cutscene inside the game's file, which could be the […]
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Sony have announced something new for God of War but sadly it’s not a brand new game in the main series. God of War Trilogy Remake is in “very early” development and will be, as the name suggests, a remake of the first three games set in Greek mythology.
TC Carson, the original voice actor for Kratos, is returning, but no further information was released. I wonder if they will keep the rather saucy minigames?
In God of War (2005), Kratos serves Ares, the God of War, after pledging himself in desperation during battle. Manipulated by Ares into slaughtering his own wife and daughter, he eventualy ends up killin Ares and taking the title for himself.
The second game has Kratos stripped of all his powers by Zeus, killed, and banished to the underworld. He eventually teams up with the Titans, rewinds time and attacks Mount Olympus. Clearly not learning his lesson from the first time, Zeus then kills him again in the third game. Very careless, Kratos!
Also announced is a brand new game in the franchise, but it’s not what you might expect. God of War Sons of Sparta is a side-scrolling combat game that tells the story of a young Kratos, before he became the God of War. The game is out right now on PlayStation 5!
“God of War Sons of Sparta is a 2D action platformer with a canon story set in Kratos’ youth during his brutal training at the Spartan Agoge alongside his brother Deimos. They must overcome threats that will put all their training to the test while confronting the true meaning of duty and honor.”
It’s a roguelike Total War game (bear with me!) set in 18th-century Europe during the Seven Years’ War, and puts you in command of an army that has to roam the countryside attracting new recruits, scavenging for supplies and upgrading your gear. Which sounds slightly mad given the historical context–I’m a general in the British Army, surely I have maps and supply chains, why am I wandering around fields looking for boxes of apples and hiring French regiments–but the narrative justification for all this meandering makes enough sense that I stopped questioning it pretty quickly and just rolled with it.
It’s not like the idea of coats-and-muskets armies being multinational forces was an alien one; the British army regularly included German troops, and Napoleon’s Grand Armee featured everyone from Poles to Austrians to the Irish. And living off the land was also a legitimate tactic; Napoleon himself relied on it all the time, which is one of the biggest contributors to his disastrous retreat in Russia, whose winter left nothing for him to scavenge. Putting a roguelike slant on all this is close enough to the time period’s reality for it to make sense.
And in this context it’s maybe the most interesting thing about Master of Command. We’ve played tactics games and shooters and card games with roguelike tendencies, but Total War’s enormous real-time battles are something new, and as a huge fan of that series I’ve been really impressed with Master of Command’s attempts at replicating Creative Assembly’s formula. And I do mean replicate: from the main menu down to the in-battle interface, Master of Command isn’t so much looking over Total War’s shoulders as it’s just tracing right over its lines.
Which is fine, because aside from cavalry being kinda broken and OP, and there being a few less tactical options for your units, for the most part Master of Command plays exactly like a battle in Empire or Napoleon Total War. In some ways it’s even better, like the way units will break much more easily here, resulting in lower and more realistic casualty counts, while some nice battlefield additions like a musket reloading progress bar over your units helps you better plan your tactics.
There’s a campaign and a loose act-based structure here, where you have to complete sidequests before tackling an end-of-level army, but the basic loop throughout remains the same. You fight real-time battles, you wander around reinforcing, having random encounters and messing with your army, then you get back on the battlefield and do it all again, juggling your resources and keeping an eye on your objectives the whole time.
I really like it. The battles are snappy enough that I never feel too bogged down playing so many of them in quick succession, and the roguelike structure makes me very invested in keeping as many of my guys alive as possible. I’d also like to take this opportunity to apologize to both the game and its art; I was recommended this game by many, many people last year and noped out immediately because the art shown in the game’s trailer looked so bad. On the screen, though? It’s fine! Many of the loading screens are better than fine, they look great!
Even if you’re not a huge muskets and horses person, the roguelike implementation here is still really interesting. Seeing these trappings added to an existing genre is something we all encounter at every waking moment of our lives these days, but the way it’s done here, and how it slides so seamlessly into your feeling of investment and control over your army, is fantastic. If this had just been a tactical RTS I’d be nowhere near as into it as I am, knowing how much it costs to replace every casualty I suffer and every musket ball I expend.
When Mega Cat Studios sat down to dream big, one name sat at the very top of their wishlist: God of War. Years later, that long-shot ambition has become God of War Sons of Sparta, a newly released prequel developed in collaboration with Santa Monica Studio (SMS). Set at the earliest point in the series timeline, the game casts players as a young, devout Kratos before he knows his true nature as a demi-god, weaving a story about brotherhood and the meaning of being Spartan. Sons of Sparta pairs retro action-adventure design with an emotional God of War story.
PlayStation Blog: What can you share about the origins of this collaboration with Santa Monica Studio?
James Deighan: So one of the things we’ve always done at Mega Cat are these leadership retreats where we talk about what we want to do… what we want to be known for… what inspired us to join the games industry. And one of the things that we’ve maintained, kind of ceremonially, is this “wishlist” of franchises we wish we could collaborate on. And we’ve had God of War listed as number one since the very beginning. And part of that wishlist is also the probability of us being able to do that, which we’ve always had listed very low. And as we continued to grow and make bigger, better games, and got a lot more confidence we started taking bigger swings, and eventually we just made a pitch and reached out and got really lucky that somebody read it, and they were open to having a conversation about what our idea was for a prequel and some kind of pixel art treatment extension of the franchise that we all adore.
…so it really is just on multiple layers, a dream come true, working with such a talented team [at Santa Monica Studio], with a franchise we adore.
How is Kratos’ relationship with the Greek gods at this point in his life?
Zack Manko: This is Kratos as a boy. So it’s pre-god powers. He doesn’t even know he’s a god. But that also means he has a very different relationship with the gods. He’s very devout. He has this faith that he leans on and turns to when things look darkest. And in Sons of Sparta, you see how that pays off. You get Gifts of Olympus, these artifacts blessed by the gods, that allow you to do all these crazy puzzles, exploration, and combat. Ultimately, seeing Kratos as this devout, faith-filled figure, and knowing what comes later with his relationship with the gods…adds a new dimension as well.
What went into the decision to set the game at the earliest point in the series’ timeline?
Manko: I think there are two reasons, really. First, like you said, it’s a prequel. Our initial pitch was, you know, imagine what God of War would have looked like on [the original PlayStation], you know, what a God of War zero, if you will, would look like. So I think with that in mind the narrative team at SMS thought this time period you know, Kratos as a boy, his formative years, would be interesting to explore, because the events here and what he goes through and what he experiences, it really adds a texture to his character that kind of you can see throughout the rest of the saga. It certainly adds a new lens onto him [when looking back at the Greek games].
Early on, we did think about maybe [making the story] a little bit closer to the events of the Greek saga games that fans are familiar with. But again, I think the writers at SMS thought this is what we need to go to, because seeing Kratos as a boy here resonates throughout the rest of the series, not only with the Greek games, but also, you know, the Norse saga, where you see Kratos as a father with Atreus, and how the events in Sons of Sparta may influence that. And the same sort of, same sort of context, the influences on Kratos as a boy, how that lines up with Kratos’ parenting style in the Norse saga. These formative years of Kratos, this character, seeing all these things that happen and these influences on him. It just adds so much to this character that fans are familiar with throughout the rest of the games.
Meet Mega Cat, the feline the God of War: Sons of Sparta studio is named after.
What can you tell us about the origins of the game’s title and name of the studio itself?
Manko: James wanted to name it something Greek yogurt themed, you know, high protein, fitting for Kratos [laughs]. But, um, no, in all seriousness, God of War Sons of Sparta was chosen because it just encapsulates the main themes in the game so well. You know, Kratos and Deimos are the sons of Sparta, and they’re discovering what that means. What it means to be a Spartan, what are the demands there, what’s the cost?
Deighan: [Regarding the studio name Mega Cat Studios] we had a beloved cat that I had as a pet that passed. One of our [team members’ now-wife] volunteers at a local animal shelter here, and she was serving a few bottle babies. [Bottle babies] are whenever the shelters are completely overburdened with animals, the trained [certified] volunteers can take [cats] home and help raise them. I was dealing with some pet-loss heartbreak, as you do, and [the shelter had] this one, really aggressive runt in the litter that we ended up taking home and bottle feeding and spending some time with. That was Mega Cat.
So when we first came up with a list of many ideas and names for the company, we included [“Mega Cat”] on the list and started voting and sharing it around with our friends, family, and colleagues. And there was this really overwhelmingly positive response [to the name]… which kind of rolls off the tongue. Early years, it really worked to our advantage, because people confused us with Mad Catz [laughs].
We had all these names that we really went deep on, and we added a Mega Cat at the end of the list. Even our UPS driver was like, “that one’s awesome, man.”
Sony announced a remake of the original God of War trilogy during the State of Play event, with TC Carson reprising his role. The project is in early development, and details on gameplay and updates remain unclear.
