Despite the fact that it almost feels like a cliché in Ubisoft games at this point, I always do have a soft spot inFar Crygames for the moments where you get to clear out enemy strongholds. Specifically, the parts where you get to clear them out using a silenced sniper rifle. There’s just something so cathartic about finding a good vantage point and picking off a horde of enemies with well-aimed headshots, one at a time, watching the remaining ones panic as they fail to detect where you’re hiding. And it would appear that Devolver Digital and developer René Rother are more than willing to help capture that feeling with their latest game,Children of the Sun,while putting quite the unique spin on it. After all, how many times can you say that you’ve cleaned out a stronghold with a single magic bullet?
Backing up a little, it’s not really a magic bullet, just that our main character has the ability to alter a bullet’s trajectory and direction mid-air. And backing up further beyond that, our protagonist – simply known as “The Girl” – is seeking revenge on the titular cult and their leader for seemingly having exploited them and their abilities. This means going through a massive amount of cult members, depicted as glowing yellow figures wandering among more darkened, puprle and grey-tinged settings.Children of the Sunis a game dripping with style from its level design to the comic book-style interludes that fill us in on The Girl’s backstory.
Become the Bullet, Command the Bullet
The gameplay here is a textbook example of “simple to learn, hard to master” that easily makesChildren of the Sunenjoyable, smooth to the point where you can control all the action entirely with just your mouse. Starting from a third-person perspective, you just move the mouse left and right to traverse the given parameter in each level. With one click, you switch to first-person, able to tag any enemies to find, zoom in and zoom out, and then once you’re ready, fire the shot and let the twisted ballet begin. You suddenly switch to the bullet’s point of view, and once you hit an enemy, you take them out, time slows to a crawl, and suddenly the bullet has stopped, and you rotate it, look around the area, and find your next target. Repeat until everyone has dropped like flies.
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There are a few tricks up The Girl’s sleeve, though. For one, by holding down the right mouse button, you’re able to change a bullet’s trajectory mid-flight. Yes, this means that you can curve the bullets,Wanted-style, which is necessary in order to get around obstacles. You can’t just magically make the bullet do a 180 or anything, though…at least, not until you get the hang of an opponent’s weak point. Hit two glowing weak points in a row. and now with one click, you can stop and re-aim a bullet, as if you had killed an enemy. This, however, seems to serve a greater purpose beyond just setting around obstacles and entering buildings, as it also provides you with a unique way of getting a view of the current area, allowing you to spot enemies that normally might not be visible from your current angles.
A Joyfully Twisted Puzzle to Solve
The end result is a game that rewards precision, careful aim and the ability to successfully hunt down your prey. In fact, while it may be easy to categorizeChildren of the Sunas an action game or a shooter, it also feels like a puzzle game at times in how you have to successfully decide how to pull off a perfect chain, working around enemies with riot shields and utilizing elements such as gas tanks and animals that you may also shoot to your advantage. It’s not just a challenging and fun game, but also a wholly unique one, a game that also isn’t afraid to get surreal not just with its story and style, but with offbeat elements such as interludes that feature suggestive gun cleaning and arcade game sequences. All of this makesChildren of the Sunfeel like the type of glorious insanity that would bring a tear to the eye of Suda51 fans, or even Suda himself.
Children of the Sunis also aiming for a hefty amount of replayability, thanks to a scoring system that rewards speed, efficiency and even a few hidden objectives in certain levels, complete with leaderboards to climb. It even rewards you with an aerial diagram of your bullet’s path that you’re able to capture, looking like a gloriously macabre presentation. It comes across as the type of game that I could see catching on with the speedrunning community, hitting the same sweet spot asNeon Whitewhere it makes you feel like it’s teaching players the ins and outs of speedrunning as you aim for a perfect solution that shaves precious seconds off your time. And any game comparable toNeon Whiteis looking at heaps of potential praise in my book.
There are a few issues with the game that could be smoothed out later, like a few graphical issues such as background visuals getting in the way once you zoom in, or the overuse of static in the soundtrack at times, which can get grating. But so far,Children of the Sunis shaping up to be one of 2024’s best surprises, a truly creative gem that isn’t afraid to get nuts with its single-bullet premise. But don’t take this writer’s word for it, as the demo is now available on Steam for you to check out. You won’t regret it.
