Reviews are beginning to trickle in for God of War: Sons of Sparta, the new retro-inspired side-scroller from Mega Cat Studios.
The verdict: this is a good but not great Metroidvania, and given the sheer number of alternatives in the genre, that may not be enough to cut it.
The release currently has a 69 rating on Metacritic, which puts it in the ‘Mixed or Average’ category.
It’s the lowest rated God of War game ever released, although as you can no doubt imagine, the bar for this franchise is extremely high; the previous low was PS3 prequel God of War: Ascension’s 80. Mobile game God of War: Betrayal isn’t listed on Metacritic, but generally received very positive reviews in 2007 as well.
There’s still time for the game to settle above an average score of 70; our review on Push Square is still forthcoming, although our views generally align with what other outlets are saying.
All in all, we’re still happy Sony took a chance on this. There’s been a growing plea from fans for the platform holder to publish smaller, less expensive experiences like it used to in the PS3 era – and this fits that bracket perfectly.
Looking at the PS Store’s best-sellers list, it looks like the game has sold extremely well for what it is, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Mega Cat Studios got another crack at it in the future.