Sony has announced two brand new God Of War games at the Thursday State of Play but neither of them are what fans were expecting.
You’re probably not shocked to hear it but the State of Play on Thursday did not, in fact, involve a suite of new first party Sony announcements. In fact, technically it didn’t announce anything new made by an internal studio, even if Santa Monica Studio is overseeing two new God Of War titles.
The first of these is described as a remake of the original three God Of War games but no footage was shown and it’s only just entered development – so it won’t be out for years. It’s also unclear who’s making it, with the only real detail being that original voice actor TC Carson (who seemed over the moon that Sony still has his number) is returning to the role of Kratos.
There was no indication of when a new mainline God Of War game might be released or what Santa Monica Studio is working on, if it’s not the remake trilogy. But another new game was also announced, in the form of 2D Metroidvania title God Of War: Sons Of Sparta.
Sons Of Sparta had been leaked before the State of Play, including the fact that the developer is the virtually unknown Mega Cat Studios, whose greatest claim to fame is Five Nights At Freddy’s: Into The Pit.
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That’s not terribly encouraging but the game looked fine, although the 2D pixel art means it looks very similar to other indie Metroidvanias.
The story is set back when Kratos was a young man, training in the agōgē with his brother Deimos. Santa Monica Studio will not only be overseeing the game but also writing it, so it should at least sound authentic in terms of dialogue.
Sons Of Sparta will also feature TC Carson as the voice of Kratos, who will wield a spear and shield and use magic artefacts called the Gifts of Olympus.
There’s not much more information than that, but the big surprise is that the game’s out now, for £24.99, on the PlayStation Store. There’s also a Digital Deluxe Edition for £32.99. It’s only on PlayStation 5 though, with no PC version – it’s also not on Nintendo Switch 2, despite the rumours.
Why Sony thought a shadow drop was a good idea is unclear, but it does mean it’ll be a while until any reviews start to appear.
It may also be a while before we find out what Santa Monica Studio’s main development project is. Obviously, there’ll be a new mainline God Of War entry at some point but rumours have pointed to them working on a new sci-fi IP first.
They’re a big enough studio that they could be working on multiple projects at once, but at the moment there’s really no clue as to what’s going on.
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