14 DAY TRIAL // The girl is talking around the edges of the enemy camp. They are burning evidence, and the yellow-orange fires make it easy to see all the cultists milling about. I move as far to the right as possible to get a better view of one of them inside a house and consider the best way to take them all out.
The twist is that my sniper rifle can only fire one bullet, which can then be guided from one target to another. I’ve marked all my targets, I’ve tried to work out the angles, and considered potential environmental interactions. But until I actually fire the weapon it’s hard to know if I can actually take out all the cultists in one shot or if I need to tweak the plan.
Children of the Sun is developed by René Rother and published by Devolver Digital. I played a preview version on Steam on the PC. The full game is set to arrive this year, delivering a unique take on the sniper experience.
The story setup is very simple: a girl is wronged by a weird cult and seeks to take revenge. She can apparently guide a bullet using her mind. There’s a leader who needs to die and, along the way, a ton of cultists that stand in the way and in the path of her bullets. It’s simple and effective.
Interludes strewn between the levels deliver more details about what’s happening and set up the coming challenge. Children of the Sun makes the girl protagonist very powerful, stalking the cultists with a high-powered sniper rifle. She can explore the layout of each area (moving only on a set perimeter), zoom in, mark enemies, and consider how the environment can be used to her advantage.
But she cannot move toward the targets and there’s only one bullet to fire. Once that happens, the game shifts to a first-person view. When the bullet hits something organic or explosive, time slows down and players need to re-target.
The first few levels are easy and it’s a pleasure seeing the heads of all these cultists explode. Soon, obstacles appear to block easy bullet paths. You hit your first rock instead of the target. Or the bullet misses everything and reaches the level’s edge. And it’s back to the planning stage, thinking about trajectories.
As the puzzle complexity increases, gamers get more options, like the ability to add a slight curve to the bullet and more. It’s OK to miss and try again but it will be reflected in a lower score on the end of the level scoreboard. The experience might seem one note, but it has depth and variety. I hope the 1.0 version adds tweaks to the core formula at a good pace and manages to keep the challenge level accessible for all players.
Children of the Sun’s presentation makes an immediate impact. The world is built from shadow and magenta, with gold patches showing where the soon-to-be-dead cultists are. The interface is minimal and it’s easy to control the bullet in first-person. The cutscenes are brief but evocative. The music and effects are solid.
Conclusion
The score-chasing element will also appeal to a wide range of players. The game adds twists and challenges at a good pace. If it manages to keep that up in the launch version, Children of the Sun might be one of the most innovative shooters of the year.
Preview key provided by the publisher.
