Close To The Sun

 PC
User Score
5.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 137 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 43 out of 137
  2. Mixed: 43 out of 137
  3. Negative: 51 out of 137

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  1. oij3209d8
    May 5, 2019
    7
    Overview

    I'll start by saying that I really like the game's concept. It is a single player, heavily story-focused, first-person perspective adventure/horror/puzzle game set in 1897. The protagonist is the unarmed Rose Archer looking for her sister on a huge ship which is basically a floating, multi-discipline research institute employing the greatest minds of its alternative history    Overview

    I'll start by saying that I really like the game's concept. It is a single player, heavily story-focused, first-person perspective adventure/horror/puzzle game set in 1897. The protagonist is the unarmed Rose Archer looking for her sister on a huge ship which is basically a floating, multi-discipline research institute employing the greatest minds of its alternative history setting. I think the best way to look at this is to consider it as a story told in the form of a game, I'd consider the actual gameplay really a secondary aspect of the product whereas it would be the other way around for most video games.

    In Close to the Sun, we are walking through the ship and trying to piece together what has happened to it. We learn about the story by seeing the aftermath of the events (the "crime scenes"), reading various documents (notes, newspaper articles, memos and so on) and communicating with a handful of (most of the time off-screen) survivors. Progressing through the ship requires occasionally solving simple riddles involving codes, finding keys, and pushing buttons, and, in the later stages, surviving short chase scenes.

    The Good
    The visuals and acoustics are great. The levels look really beautiful and I consider the voice acting well-done. There is a good variety of sceneries, they all fit the setting and it never gets boring. Throughout the story, the overall atmosphere changes in a few places and the setting always matches the atmosphere. In the beginning, it is mostly eerie, in some places, it is rather dramatic and there is also a very location. So no complaints in that regard.

    The story is interesting as well. It is filled to the brim with references to science and culture (famous scientists, scientific concepts, Greek mythology, etc.) so that's a lot of fun if the player is interested in some of these topics.

    The Bad
    There must be something if I only give 7 stars, right? There is a lot, sadly. First of all the game is really short. I kind of understand why (more on that in the conclusion) but it is still a problem. The gameplay is not very involved and although I'll mostly gloss over that since the gameplay is really just a device to tell a story, but in some places, there are problems with that:

    The game is somewhat picky on how exactly one has to be located in front of a ladder, a button, etc. in order to use it and the use icon is no indicator for that. That hurts the immersion.

    The visuals are not good at communicating what paths are passable. There are a lot of obstacles that would be no obstacles at all in real life (like crates that even a non-athletic person could easily climb over). This makes the game a little less believable/unrealistic and hurts the immersion. Most of the time Rose can pretty much just walk over level floors with no obstacle but occasionally she can overcome an obstacle by pressing the use key. This inconsistency is somewhat annoying.

    The riddles are way too easy. I think the flow of story-telling could handle riddles that take more time if they were well-interwoven with the story.

    The game is very picky about some of the chase scenes. I'm not so much complaining about the difficulty (and there is not much difficulty in the rest of the game either) but having to repeat the same chase scenes five or more times is not a lot of fun and not good for immersion imho. I think they'd serve there purpose of adding some action to the story better if they were less picky.

    The Missed Opportunities
    As ambitious as the concepts are, the game is not doing much with any of them. A major plot point (without going into spoilery details) is some aspect of time manipulation but there is not a single point in the game were that is worked into the gameplay in any way. What a wasted opportunity.
    Some major problems (story-wise) are resolved by simply having an NPC state: "These problems are solved". We don't see any of it.

    Conclusion
    I think the concept could have spawned a 10/10 game, if there was three times the budget. The abrupt end, the shortness, the off-screen resolution of major plot points, the absence of time-manipulation (a major plot point) in anything gameplay relatet really suggest that the developers just ran out of money. Unfortunately I don't see any way around this problem as long as this genre becomes not more popular.

    Nevertheless it is still a fun game and I'd recommend playing it.    … Expand
  2. Young_Nacho
    May 7, 2019
    6
    Close to the Sun was one of the games I was really looking forward to this year, as It seemed like a really cool combination of Outlast and Bioshock. And while there is a lot of cool stuff here, the game is unfortunately held back by some technical issues, and a less than stellar story. It's hard to fully recommend because I think for some people, it may be great, and others it will justClose to the Sun was one of the games I was really looking forward to this year, as It seemed like a really cool combination of Outlast and Bioshock. And while there is a lot of cool stuff here, the game is unfortunately held back by some technical issues, and a less than stellar story. It's hard to fully recommend because I think for some people, it may be great, and others it will just be okay. If you've played games like this before, then unfortunately, the story beats will be very predictable. If you haven't, then you likely won't see as much coming.

    There is also a really cool overarching concept that starts off great, but literally is never explained, so you kinda have no idea what's happening past the most basic level. Still, the game was an enjoyable experience and I think it's genuinely great for the first few hours. It’s really a shame that the last 3 hours were a let down in terms of story, but overall, I’d say it’s a pretty decent game that’s probably worth giving a deeper look if you’re interested, especially since it’s only $25    … Expand
  3. Psy_pmP
    Oct 31, 2020
    5
    I came to the door, it is impossible to open it. I walked on the floor, my sister on radio told me to open the door. Now I was able to open this door. I closed the game. The game is garbage.

    Everyone is talking about a beautiful picture. I did not see it. I have seen the games much better. 90% of materials are gold. Everything shines unnaturally, including the floors. Working with PBR    I came to the door, it is impossible to open it. I walked on the floor, my sister on radio told me to open the door. Now I was able to open this door. I closed the game. The game is garbage.

    Everyone is talking about a beautiful picture. I did not see it. I have seen the games much better. 90% of materials are gold. Everything shines unnaturally, including the floors. Working with PBR is at the lowest level. The performance of the game is also at the lowest level.    … Expand
  4. CDrew
    Jun 18, 2020
    5
    This game was mostly a letdown for me. The trailers leave you with very high expectations, and indeed, from a graphical perspective, the Helios is very impressive. The visual quality of the environments is almost as good as that of an AAA title. The level design also has some strong points here and there, but many environments are repetitive.

    But almost everywhere else, the game fails    This game was mostly a letdown for me. The trailers leave you with very high expectations, and indeed, from a graphical perspective, the Helios is very impressive. The visual quality of the environments is almost as good as that of an AAA title. The level design also has some strong points here and there, but many environments are repetitive.

    But almost everywhere else, the game fails to be really good. The animations are extremely clunky and have almost no sounds at all, while character design and faces are horrible. The interesting setting could have saved it, but sadly, the story is not very well written, particularly because the ending is totally disappointing and doesn't explain anything.

    Early collectibles are really interesting and add to the lore, but from Chapter 5 onwards, they are just undetailed sketches containing a few words.

    I would recommend buying this game only if you can get it at around 13-14$ or less. It does have some interesting ideas, and exploring the Helios is somewhat fun. But just make sure to get onboard with sufficiently low expectations.    … Expand
  5. philzlz
    May 29, 2019
    6
    Close to the sun is the definition of a walking simulator with not much interaction. While i liked the games concept and wanted to see how the story ended it ultimately fell short. Performance problems with tanking frames made it quiet frustrating at times. While the game looked beautiful there is not much here to justify the asking price.
  6. DaemonXHUN
    May 2, 2019
    5
    I wrote an in-depth review about this game to TheGeek.games (online gaming website), but because I have limited space available here, I keep this short. But if you are interested in the full version, be sure to check it out.

    The only two redeeming qualities of this game are the sometimes good dialogues and the standout art style (including the world design) that together can create some    I wrote an in-depth review about this game to TheGeek.games (online gaming website), but because I have limited space available here, I keep this short. But if you are interested in the full version, be sure to check it out.

    The only two redeeming qualities of this game are the sometimes good dialogues and the standout art style (including the world design) that together can create some fun and enjoyable moments that are able to elevate the product from the absolute mediocrity.

    However, the striking visuals can’t negate the obvious shortcomings and problems of the title. Problems that run far and deep in terms of gameplay, storytelling and also in terms of technical aspects.

    [STORY]

    While there are some good moments that come from the strong line delivery from the voice actors and from the sometimes good dialogues, in the end, ultimately the story simply crumbles under it’s own weight. There are a lot of cool concepts and themes that the game throws up carelessly, such as time-travel or paralell dimensions (sort-of), only to never bother enough to actually delve deep into any of these. Basically, the title is full of unexplored concepts and ideas in terms of storytelling and world building.

    [GAMEPLAY]

    Close to the Sun is the perfect example of why games in this genre are commonly get labaled as “walking simulators”, even if some are much more than that. Firewatch, Soma and Observer are definitely act as the golden standards in the genre of first person immersive story-driven titles, because aside from telling a strong and effective story, they managed to include some level of player choice, along with a higher level of player interaction and with some meaningful and satisfying exploration.

    Which game has none of those? Well, a couple of games, such as Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Virginia, and yeah, you’ve guessed it, Close to the Sun. The game's level of interactivity is pretty meaningless. It’s not as bad as in the case of Virginia but that doesn’t say a lot considering the player was basically a passive inspector of the events in that game. In Close to the Sun, there are certain things you can do. You can open some doors using wall panels, pick up items at certain points of the game and sometimes solve puzzles (although saying those are puzzles requires a ton of goodwill from me). Oh, and you can jump too. But the reality is that all of these are nothing more than artificial obstacles that are just there to extend gameplay length and give you, the player a false sense of interaction and choice.

    [TECHNICAL ASPECTS]

    Oh, boy. If you thought the gameplay and story was bad, just be prepared for an even bigger disappointment. From a technical standpoint, Close to the Sun is a massive trainwreck. FPS drops and stutters were quite frequent during regular play, but there were areas (usually bigger, more open areas, such as the one before the entrance of Helios in Chapter I) where the FPS simply hanged around 40-50 FPS, regardless of the settings. Even on the lowest graphical settings with 20-30% GPU and 10-15% CPU utilization, I wasn’t able to achieve more than that. Scripted running sections were even worse. There were times when my FPS simply tanked and went way below 30.

    [CONCLUSION]

    I really wanted to like this game, but I stood up after finishing it severely unimpressed. The more I thought about it after that, the more it became obvious how disappointing it was. It has some stronger moments in its narrative thanks to some good dialogues and voiceworks before the story completely falls apart, while the world design from a visual and artistic standpoint is remarkable and it makes you want to keep going forward to see new stuff, despite the lackluster gameplay. But really, that’s all the good things I can say about it. Close to the Sun was a cool game in theory and it had good ideas, but it didn’t do anything with them and it turned out to be a massive disappointment from a story, from a gameplay, and from a technical standpoint as well. I do not recommend playing it.

    Pros:

    - Standout artistic direction and world design

    - There are some better moments in the story (only in the earlier parts)

    - Sometimes quite good atmosphere

    Cons:

    - The story is predictable, feels pointless at the end, and crumbles under it’s own weight

    - Minimal gameplay elements are present that only give you the illusion of choice and interaction

    - It’s an absolute trainwreck from a technical standpoint    … Expand
  7. flaerb00m
    May 4, 2019
    6
    Среднее говно, на пару часов, в сыром, пустом мире наполненном изобретениями Николы Теслы в стилистике биошоков.
  8. DreamCore
    May 12, 2019
    5
    This is Bioshock without enemies, guns, crafting etc. It's essentially just a walking simulator with some extremely basic puzzles in between. It's Bioshock with 90% of gameplay stripped away.

    The story follows the exact same pattern as Bioshock 1 where the good guy helping you actually turning out to be the bad guy yada yada. It's also very short and can be completed in an evening    This is Bioshock without enemies, guns, crafting etc. It's essentially just a walking simulator with some extremely basic puzzles in between. It's Bioshock with 90% of gameplay stripped away.

    The story follows the exact same pattern as Bioshock 1 where the good guy helping you actually turning out to be the bad guy yada yada.

    It's also very short and can be completed in an evening and is not worth 30 euro.    … Expand
  9. kyzaghan
    May 19, 2019
    6
    The game has an intriguing story. The atmosphere of the game is really nice. BUT The puzzles in the game are pretty weak. You do not need to do research while playing the game that's why you can get bored sometimes. The gameplay mechanics is limited. AS A RESULT, don't buy this game it's waste of money
  10. Patres87
    Jun 14, 2021
    6
    Exploring some amazing concepts, but ultimately failing to explore and build upon it further. A non violent game with some alternate history story telling with a Bioshock vibe. Besides the mystery and fleeing from enemies there are not many challenges for the player outside of solving puzzles, exploring the environment and following the story. Could have been better, too bad it didn'tExploring some amazing concepts, but ultimately failing to explore and build upon it further. A non violent game with some alternate history story telling with a Bioshock vibe. Besides the mystery and fleeing from enemies there are not many challenges for the player outside of solving puzzles, exploring the environment and following the story. Could have been better, too bad it didn't reach it's full potential.… Expand
  11. nxah
    Sep 27, 2020
    6
    Erstmal zum Positiven. Das Setting ist einer der schönsten, welches ich seit längerem gespielt habe und die Story fande ich auch nicht gerade schlecht, jedoch leidet das Spiel unter seiner Technik. In manchen Passagen kommt es zu massiven FPS einbruchen, welche mich in den Situationen dermaßen aus der Illusion der Spielwelt gezogen haben, dazu kommt, dass das Spiel nur ein paar StundenErstmal zum Positiven. Das Setting ist einer der schönsten, welches ich seit längerem gespielt habe und die Story fande ich auch nicht gerade schlecht, jedoch leidet das Spiel unter seiner Technik. In manchen Passagen kommt es zu massiven FPS einbruchen, welche mich in den Situationen dermaßen aus der Illusion der Spielwelt gezogen haben, dazu kommt, dass das Spiel nur ein paar Stunden geht (bei mir ca. 5 Stunden)… Expand
  12. Raakaar
    Sep 8, 2020
    7
    Review:

    First, I must preface the rest of this review on the fact I REALLY did have fun with this game. It is such an amazing concept with beautifully rendered scenes, surprisingly good pacing, and very good voice acting. It runs smoothly on good hardware and I never had an issue with it. I feel it is mischaracterized as a Horror game when it should be classified as an    Review:

    First, I must preface the rest of this review on the fact I REALLY did have fun with this game. It is such an amazing concept with beautifully rendered scenes, surprisingly good pacing, and very good voice acting. It runs smoothly on good hardware and I never had an issue with it. I feel it is mischaracterized as a Horror game when it should be classified as an Adventure/Mystery title. Additionally for ~$20 US it is a bargain for the experience.

    Why the lower score then? Because it feels unfinished and it is lacking in some critical areas. Were it not for that, this game has the potential to be an 8 or 9, and maybe more considering it is an indie title that looks AAA. In my opinion, here are the gaps:

    1. The puzzles are largely sophomoric and are 99% find the paper with the code.
    2. The walking mechanic is PAINFULLY arduous and running is only SLIGHTLY better, except in the few chase sequences where you suddenly get a turbo boost.
    3. It is lacking in true scare elements and would be better characterized as a mystery.
    4. The transition (loading) screens reference elements that are NOT IN THE GAME! (e.g. collecting lightning and moving forward and backwards through time)
    5. It is short and the ending is abrupt and jarring. It leaves you unfulfilled, and wanting more.

    It seems to me that they really had an ambitious vision, but just could not hit their mark, so they rushed out what was ready. I would love to see them fix the niggly bits and add more on as a free update (but I would begrudgingly accept a DLC) to really enjoy the potential of this game and the complete vision of the story. To see the true vision would be worth the price.    … Expand
  13. EVIL_UJIN
    Oct 15, 2022
    7
    Я бы охарактеризовал игру как симулятор ходьбы в декорациях из Bioshock. Тот же стиль арт-деко, научные достижения, непонятные механизмы, стимпанк, и как всегда все идет к чертям как раз перед вашим появлением на корабле. Только вы - хрупкая девушка, никакого оружия, плазмидов, никаких суперспособностей. Даже монтировку не выдадут. К счастью, противников здесь немного и появляются ониЯ бы охарактеризовал игру как симулятор ходьбы в декорациях из Bioshock. Тот же стиль арт-деко, научные достижения, непонятные механизмы, стимпанк, и как всегда все идет к чертям как раз перед вашим появлением на корабле. Только вы - хрупкая девушка, никакого оружия, плазмидов, никаких суперспособностей. Даже монтировку не выдадут. К счастью, противников здесь немного и появляются они строго по сюжету. Некоторые воспринимают игру как хоррор вроде Амнезии, Пенумбры или SOMA. Сразу скажу - хоррором здесь не пахнет. Есть несколько стремных моментов, но это не делает из игры хоррор. Большая часть времени - медитативное (хотя и совершенно линейное) блуждание по кораблю, с изучением записок и в поисках разгадки.

    Плюсы:
    +ОЧЕНЬ КРАСИВО. Визуальный стиль - то, ради чего вообще стоит играть в эту игру. Сделано суперски, ярко, с вниманием к деталям. В некоторых местах вы захотите делать скриншоты каждые 20 секунд.
    + Не затянуто. Для кого-то это , может быть, минус, но для такой истории плюс. Пройти можно за несколько часов.
    + Неплохой сюжет. Хотя, доля бреда , конечно, присутствует.

    Минусы:
    - Почти нулевая интерактивность окружения. Смотреть можно, трогать - нет. Ну то есть, от того что вы трогаете, ничего не поменяется).
    - Игра простая. Местами, даже слишком. Почти везде нас водят за руку. Заблудиться невозможно. Инвентаря нет. Погибнуть можно, по моему, разве что специально (ну или во время сцен погони свернуть не туда). Головоломки (если это можно так назвать) решит семилетний ребенок.
    - Как всегда, куча вопросов без ответов. Но это уже вроде как классика для сюжетов, где есть хоть какая-то фантастика.

    В общем, если вы готовы на пару вечеров погрузиться в красивую атмосферу стимпанка и фантастики (другое измерение, путешествия во времени, Никола Тесла собственной персоной, вот это вот все), без напряжения, беготни (почти) и сражений - игру вполне можно вам порекомендовать.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 24, 2020
    80
    When Tesla fights with Edison, sparkles fly. An above-average story, perfect atmosphere and a decent pace. You will spend one great afternoon with the game despite its minor shortcomings. [Issue#304]
  2. Riot Pixels
    Jan 16, 2020
    67
    Despite BioShock trappings, Close to the Sun is a straightforward adventure with a pinch of puzzles, veering dangerously close to being labeled as a walking simulator.
    Read full review
  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jun 26, 2019
    71
    Close to the Sun is great at atmosphere-building, but the ending is nothing short of disappointing: too many big questions are left unanswered, as if developers couldn’t bring themselves to choose one version of the events over all others.[Issue#238, p.64]
See all critic reviews »