It’s been about nine months since Sony Santa Monica and Mega Cat Studios dropped God of War Sons of Sparta as a surprise reveal and launch during a State of Play. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the developers are giving you some new reasons to today, unveiling two new modes and a new platform: PlayStation 4.
If you don’t remember, God of War Sons of Sparta is a prequel spin-off of the God of War series, showing protagonist Kratos as a 13-year-old soldier, long before his god-killing days. The game features 2D combat and a Metroidvania-style map, along with a fully voiced cast of characters including Scott Menville (who you might recognize as Robin in Teen Titans) as Kratos’ brother Deimos, Jack Quaid (who will voice a different character in God of War Laufey next year), and TC Carson, who returns from the original trilogy as the voice of adult Kratos.
Announced in a post on the PlayStation Blog today, Sons of Sparta is making the jump back to Sony’s previous console, which is now (brace yourself) 13 years old. Sons of Sparta’s 2D pixel art is far less demanding than the other God of War entries, though, so it’s no surprise this was possible – it’s mainly surprising that they’re doing it at all.
For PS5 players who already own the game, developer Mega Cat is also adding two new modes: Hermes Mode and Erebus Mode. Hermes Mode, named after the Greek god of wind, mail, and speed, is a speedrun mode that encourages you to beat the game as quickly as possible, complete with a split-based timer in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Meanwhile, Erebus Mode, named after one of the domains of the underworld (you’ll be familiar with it if you’ve played the Hades games), makes the game far deadlier as Kratos and all his foes die in a single hit. You’ll have to wait until you beat the game once to unlock Erebus Mode, but you can access Hermes Mode from a fresh save by entering the following (and semi-familiar) code in the start menu: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, R1, Touchpad.
The free update and PS4 version will be available next Monday, November 16, at midnight local time. For more Sons of Sparta, check out our review. For more God of War, bad news: God of War Laufey was just delayed until May.
