00:27SONS OF SPARTA
00:30My wife was very patient for many years. A lot of damaged kitchen tables from starting iron mistakes.
00:36Years ago when I met James, we started a wish list process for Megacat Studios. At the very top of
00:41my list was God of War.
00:42Since the origin of Megacat, we've had God of War number one on our wish list.
00:46And year after year, as Megacat grew, we decided to start taking some swings and shooting some messages out.
00:53We actually came to this point that reminds me of something I saw in Raising Kratos, where the studio had
01:00a project they were working on that wasn't able to come to light.
01:03We had a very similar situation here, actually. It wasn't nearly as grandiose, but for us, it was a big
01:09deal that we were going to have this project we were working on that wasn't going to see the light
01:12of day.
01:12And I hit up James, and I go, hey man, it's time. I want to take a big swing. And
01:19he goes, take a big swing. And I emailed Santa Monica the next day.
01:23We knew the pitch was a moonshot, but as a retro studio, we have a passion for certain genres.
01:28And we thought about what would God of War be like if it came out on the PS1? What would
01:33a God of War Zero be? And that's kind of how it all started.
01:37There was something in their pitch that really spoke to me. It was this love and passion for God of
01:43War at the core of who they are, to the art style that they're bringing to the table,
01:49or an idea to put God of War in this high-bit pixel art, modern retro feel. It really was
01:56a unique spin on it.
01:57And I brought that back to the team here at SMS. Everybody fell in love with it, and we immediately
02:02set up a call with MegaCat.
02:04When I heard back from Santa Monica Studio, the reaction was wow. It was actually wow, wow, wow. I kind
02:11of couldn't believe it.
02:12I might have sat on it for a few minutes before I reached out to the rest of the studio
02:15heads here, and it's been a life-changing experience ever since.
02:26God of War, Sons of Sparta, gives us a unique opportunity to expand the story and the world of God
02:32of War while staying true to the core.
02:36We are going to tell a new part in a new area while still paying respect to and integrating in
02:42a lot of ways what those original stories were.
02:45This is a genre I've been in love with. Even before we started God of War, Sons of Sparta, it's
02:50something that took up a large amount of my time as a player.
02:52So to do something in the space that we're in, and to genuinely be able to stand apart, is something
02:57that I'm deeply excited about.
02:59There's just no containing how happy I am to be working in the genre I love.
03:03One of the unique elements of God of War, Sons of Sparta, is seeing Kratos' brother, Deimos, and their relationship.
03:10They go through this sort of coming-of-age story where they learn about themselves and learn about what it
03:16means to be Spartans and brothers,
03:17and that in itself will have ramifications later on for Kratos and throughout his entire journey.
03:23Dismissed for Sparta.
03:26God of War, Sons of Sparta, is going to be really cool because it's a crossroads for players that maybe
03:32aren't familiar with the franchise,
03:33or players that are familiar with the franchise but aren't familiar with the genre we're working in.
03:38So it's going to be this place where two player bases are going to be crossing.
03:41Something that we've been keeping at the center of our work is trying to meet the God of War fans'
03:46expectations on all the facets of the game,
03:49whether that's the quests, the combat, the items that you're getting, and the character progression.
03:54One example of what Megacat was able to do, so they literally took our 3D animation files for a lot
04:02of our enemies that you'll see in this game,
04:03and they brought it into their system, which translates it into 2D animation.
04:09And then they would go in and do literal frame-by-frame, hand-drawn pixel art over top of that.
04:16The end result is, if you see the Minotaur in-game, for instance, and it's swinging its axe at you
04:21as a player,
04:22you might recognize what that swing looks like.
04:26A lot of the things that make God of War, God of War, translate pretty cleanly from 3D to 2D.
04:31And a lot of this stuff is just based upon Santa Monica Studios' philosophy and principles and game design.
04:38Rather than just going down a checklist of all the features the games needed to have,
04:42understanding what makes these features done the God of War way.
04:47Collaborating in this way was important to reassure fans that this is still a God of War game.
04:52This is a different kind of God of War game, different art, but all the elements you want and expect
04:57are there.
04:58Sons of Sparta is quite a different project. It's unique in a sense of its scope, and at the same
05:04time the amount of things that are in-game compared to our prior projects.
05:09It really encouraged us to approach it in a much more creative way.
05:14God of War is actually known for conveying emotion. So while it's actually also known for brutality,
05:21God of War hones in, it dials in, in the lighting and post-processing best practices to communicate mood and
05:28emotion.
05:28We want to bring that same exact impact into Sons of Sparta.
05:34I'm really proud of how the game turned out looking, because it took so much from all the different departments
05:39to get it to where it is.
05:41Where we have the technical artists writing the shader code, we have the environment artists drawing the sprites, the concept
05:47artists,
05:48and it feels like a really rich, lush world.
05:51As a fan of the series, growing up with it, this was an amazing opportunity that I got to collaborate
05:58with the team and help bring this to life.
06:01You know, we're trying to meet the spectacle that people expect when it comes to God of War games,
06:05while also merging in our Mega Cat twist and retro ethos into the battles as well.
06:12I'm excited for the fans to see this new lens.
06:16They're getting two new experiences, they're getting this new level of information,
06:19and they're also getting to just address it in a different way, approach it in a different way.
06:23One of the things that I'm most excited about for Sons of Sparta is that there will be players that
06:29have actually never played a God of War title.
06:31They're going to find that as their entry point to the franchise.
06:34With God of War, Sons of Sparta, I think fans will really enjoy this incredible narrative that the team has
06:40put together.
06:40Add into that a world and a space that we haven't seen before in this brand new high-bit pixel
06:47art style game that Mega Cat Studios has made,
06:50and it really just grabs you from the moment you've seen it.
06:53Seeing the team at Mega Cat evolve and grow during the making of God of War, Sons of Sparta just
06:58fills me with pride.
06:59You know, we've always been a team, but through making this game, we've really become a phalanx where we have
07:05each other's backs,
07:06and we know if one side falls, we all fall, so there's sort of this rallying cry to get everything
07:10to victory.
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