Close to the Sun

 Xbox One
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. XboxEra
    Jan 3, 2024
    72
    Close to the Sun is short, sweet, and a solid yarn. It takes an interesting alt-history setting and is pretty enough to put up with occasionally clunky gameplay. It’s short at only 3 hours for a full playthrough, so it’s worth giving it a try if you have any interest in the premise.
  2. MondoXbox
    Nov 24, 2019
    72
    Close to the Sun offers an intriguing plot revolving around Nikola Tesla's theories and interesting steampunk environments, but it could have been more compelling with better puzzles and more variety. All in all, though, it's an interesting first-person adventure.
  3. Gamers' Temple
    Feb 18, 2020
    70
    Close to the Sun is decent, but I can't help but feel that the game could been so much more. The overall atmosphere and especially the sound is fantastic! If you're looking for a game with a decent engaging story, you might like this one, but don't play it expecting the next Outlast or Bioshock.
  5. Xbox Achievements
    Oct 29, 2019
    70
    A very competent, well-made survival horror adventure with clear BioShock inspirations, Close to the Sun is a smart and compelling game marred only by some ill-advised showing of naff monsters.
  6. SomosXbox
    Oct 29, 2019
    65
    Despite the strength of his first episodes, where the player immerses himself fully in his modernist and art deco architecture. Close to the Sun is diluted as the adventure progresses. The premise of Helios as a research vessel where the brightest minds of their time could develop their ideas without limits inevitably reminds Rapture, however, any comparison with Bioshock beyond the setting is odious. Little ambitious in its playable mechanics, it misses a good amount of very promising premises that we would have liked to see better exploited.
  7. Windows Central
    Oct 29, 2019
    60
    While the game has an intriguing premise, an attractive art style, and sits at a breezy length, it doesn't do enough. It wants to fly close to the sun, but it can barely get off the ground.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best Xbox One Game of 2019

User Reviews

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User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 9
  3. Negative: 2 out of 9
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Nov 18, 2019
    7
    Close to the sun : The story starts aboard the Helios, we play as Rose, a young journalist who decides to board the ship to investigate what'sClose to the sun : The story starts aboard the Helios, we play as Rose, a young journalist who decides to board the ship to investigate what's going on, following a curious letter sent by her sister a few days earlier. A floating fortress designed by Nikola Tesla to bring together the world's best scientists in a gigantic fictitious city whose really only concern is to advance Humanity through scientific research. It's quite distinct to understand that : Close to the Sun takes place in an alternative 19th century reality Here, there is no question of designing electric cars for wealthy people but rather to change the world, one experience at a time. Composed of some of the largest brains in the world, the team imposes no limits on its work and works on X-rays as well as electricity, human behavior or the space-time continuum. The similarities to the first Bioshock game are very obvious not just the art style but the mechanics also. The moments are tense in that you have to react quickly in terms of committing to a direction, and the various dead ends you run into with some difficult puzzles to solve . In comparison to the Bioshock series, the game shares the turn of the 20th-century aesthetics when players first see the helios. What a call a story-heavy horror/adventure game, players can find notes, newspaper clips, , and Journals to get an understanding of the way people lived before the “quarantine.” The collectables involving the main story that contains notes will help you find the items or system codes you need to advance. It feels your watching a movie alot of the time i really enjoyed this aspect to the game and the horror/thriller type music is just amazing. The game can take an average of six to seven hours to complete, which makes for a decently sized experience nowadays. The horror side of the game just didnt really deliver, getting stuck numerous times and dying for no destinctive reason. Overhaul a good xbox release of the genre that is differently worth experiencing it provided some decent entertainment and a quite an interesting ending bright to you by Wired Productions.… Full Review »
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