New God of War Sons of Sparta Feature Addresses Fan Criticism

God of War: Sons of Sparta now supports a cheat code that allows players to access its co-op roguelit mode, The Pit of Agonies, without completing the campaign first. The change follows days of confusion about how and when God of War: Sons of Spartas advertised two-player option actually becomes playable.

Price $29.99, God of War: Sons of Sparta is a smaller-scale 2D metroidvania spin-off for PlayStation 5, developed by Pittsburgh-based Mega Cat Studios in collaboration with Santa Monica Studio. It materialized as a surprise during the State of Play screening on February 12, offering a story centered on a young Kratos and his brother Deimos during the series' Greek era. Although advertised as a co-op experience, the game caused some confusion at launch for not clearly communicating how to access its multiplayer mode, which was not initially available.

the sons of the war god Sparta deimos are a bad companion

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God of War Sons of Sparta's Deimos is the exact opposite of GOW Ragnarok's Atreus, but it's not good

God of War Sons of Sparta is a fun new take on the franchise, but Deimos may have players actually wishing for Atreus to acquire.

God of War: Sons of Sparta Opens The Pit Early After Co-Op Lockout Backlash

On February 26, Santa Monica Studio shared a cheat code that unlocks The Pit of Agonies in the recently released metroidvania. The move allows players to access the co-op roguelit mode without completing God of War: Sons of Spartas story. The sequence is a variation of the classic Konami code: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, R1, Touchpad. Accessed from the game's start menu, adds a new Pit of Agonies option that normally requires you to complete the campaign to unlock. Early player reports indicate that the code only needs to be entered once, with the secret menu option remaining even after restarting.

Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.

Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)

Santa Monica Studio said the decision to gate The Pit behind the completion of the story was intended to ensure players were familiar with the game's combat system and enemy types before attempting a mode built around repeated arena encounters. But the lack of clear communication led to enough confusion and frustrations among God of War: Sons of Sparta players the developers chose to partially negate that design decision via the recently shared Direct Access cheat code. The studio still strongly recommends that players get comfortable with the game's movements before entering The Pit, which contains some of the toughest challenges its latest title has to offer.

God of War: Sons of Sparta's The Pit Unlock Cheat Code

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, L1, R1, Touchpad

The code must be entered from the God of War: Sons of Sparta start menu.

Santa Monica Studio describes The Pit as a turn-based roguelite experience where enemy lineups and rewards vary, with “Agonies” acting as global difficulty modifiers that can change how fights play out and introduce effects such as altered healing or explosions. Advancing through The Pit rewards players with several types of currency, namely Symbols of Suffering to unlock additional Agonies and Ashes of Agony to purchase permanent upgrades that persist between attempts. The mode itself does not support online play and is strictly local, with developers previously describing it as a retro-style co-op experience.

God of War: Sons of Sparta debuted to mixed reviews, as highlighted by its average score of 67 and 27% recommendation rating on OpenCritic. While co-op wasn't widely cited as the game's main weakness, some critics questioned whether its combat system is deep enough to sustain a highly replayable roguelite mode. Player reception has been significantly more favorable, with Sons of Sparta currently has a rating of 4.32 stars on the PlayStation Store based on more than 7,400 user reviews. There have been no indications so far that the game will receive significant post-launch support, suggesting that the recently introduced co-op cheat may be its last user-facing addition.