God of War is getting a remake trilogy, and a new retro-inspired action game is out today
Last year was 20 years God of War was released on PlayStation 2 and launched one of the biggest franchises in video games. Today, at the end of the 20th anniversary celebration, Sony’s Santa Monica studio announced two new projects. First, and most importantly, the original God of War trilogy from the PS2 and PS3 is being remade for the modern era.
There’s no filmed footage yet – the developer says they’re “very early in development”, so we probably won’t see or hear much about it for a while. But given the renewed interest in God of War thanks to the two excellent Nordic games of 2018 and 2022 (not to mention the upcoming Amazon series), it makes sense to revisit these classics.
God of War And God of War II were released for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and 2007, respectively, while the third in the Greek trilogy was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2010. The third game was also remastered for the PS4. But it’s safe to say that while the first two games are classics of their era, they also really show their age in certain gameplay points. Hopefully the remake will smooth out these rough edges. (Who else is having nightmares in the Hades level near the end of the first game? Not just me, right?)
Even though we won’t see the remakes for a while, there are East a new game inspired by God of War available now: God of war, son of Sparta. It was developed by Mega Cat Studios, a developer known for its love of retro games – it even still releases games for the SNES and Genesis.
Given their pedigree, it is not surprising that Sons of Sparta has classic 2D action/platform game vibes. This is apparently series canon and takes place in Kratos’ youth as he trains with his brother. It’s obviously nothing like other God of War games – but the combat and monsters shown in the trailer definitely feel at home in the series.
Perhaps the funniest part of all of this is that it’s available today for $30. While Sons of Sparta looks like a fun curiosity for God of War fans, it will only help whet our appetite for this remake series. May I suggest eating Valhalla while we wait?
