The PlayStation 2-era trilogy of God of War games became some of the most popular in the generation. The unstoppable warrior Kratos taking on the Greek pantheon just clicked with players. Later, beginning in 2018, Santa Monica Studio turned out a pair of narrative-driven, Norse-fighting follow-ups which sees Kratos and his son in the great white north. Now, with a TV series in the works, Sony has announced both a remake of the original trilogy, and a brand new 2D platformer, God of War: Sons of Sparta, which dropped instantly on PlayStation stores.
The game takes place canonically early in Kratos’ existence, back when he was merely a fearsome Spartan. The side-scrolling Metroidvania has the spear-wielding facing down various monsters in Greek Mythology “during his harsh training at the Agoge alongside his brother Deimos.” TC Carson (the voice actor for Kratos in the original God of War games) returns to narrate Sons of Sparta.
God of War: Sons of Sparta is $29.99 on the PlayStation store.
While certainly less immediate, Sony also announced, via Carson (or “O.G. T.C.” as he calls himself), a remake of the Greek Trilogy (the first three games) is in development as a little treat for the franchise’s 20th anniversary year, which technically begins in March.
As for the God of War Prime series, we recently got word of casting announcements. These include Ryan Hurst as Kratos, Callum Vinson as his son Atreus, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Severance‘s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, and Max Parker as villain Heimdall. You can find out more in our Everything We Know.
It’s a good time for gods.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.