▷Close To The Sun Review - When you push the boundaries of science 🥇

A ship in the middle of the sea with hundreds of scientists on board led by Nikola Tesla, free to give vent to their thirst for knowledge and carry out the most visionary experiments. What could possibly go wrong? All of course! This is the premise of Close to the Sun,horror adventure of the Italian team Storm in a Teacup I want to tell you about in this one review.

Tesla's revenge

We are around the end of the nineteenth century, in a different world than we know it: theucronia of Close to the Sun, in fact, starts from the assumption that the great inventor Nikola Tesla managed to express his full potential, bringing an era of scientific innovation thanks to his creations and becoming the richest man on the planet.

One of his biggest projects is the Helios, a huge ship that houses scientists from all over the world. Traveling in international waters, away from mainland and government control, they can devote themselves fully to search without harming the population, supported by Tesla and his company Wardenclyffe. The character we play is Rose Archer, a young journalist who receives a letter from her sister Ada, a quantum physicist, asking her to join her aboard the Helios. As soon as we arrive, we will immediately notice that something is wrong: disorder everywhere, no one in sight and on the front door the scarlet writing "Quarantine". From here begins our exploration of the ship, guided by Ada with whom we will communicate via a small headset. We will soon realize that something monstrous it is killing all the inhabitants of the Helios and, with no weapons at our disposal, our only salvation will be there escape.

I choose the impossible. I choose… Helios! [semi cit.]

Let's talk about the elephant in the room right away: Close to the Sun is a clone of BioShock? Item. The idea has flashed to everyone's mind since the first information released on the game, but, as pointed out by the developers themselves, the two titles are very far apart. Although there are some elements in common in the plot and in the style (science fiction, art deco, a far-away utopian place designed for great minds but then ruined, a charismatic leader), Close to the Sun clearly departs from the Irrational Games creature in terms of gameplay. In fact, we are faced with afirst person graphic adventure, based solely on the history, On 'scouting solving some environmental puzzles.

There are no weapons nor powers available and the only way to defend ourselves in the (few) moments of danger will be run away. Starting from this assumption, it is understandable why Storm in a Teacup indicated how main sources of inspiration for titles which Outlast, SOMA e Firewatch. Personally, I also noticed a reference to Everybody's Gone to the Rapture in the evanescent golden figures from the past that will accompany us throughout the game.

Password: run away

Given the type of game, it goes without saying that the control system really basicIn addition to moving and looking around, we can do very little: we can jump and overcome obstacles, interact with some objects (highlighted by an overlay symbol), run and zoom in on the view. There is also an inventory, but you will practically never use it, as what you collect will automatically be made available to you when it has to be used, for example, to solve a puzzle. Personally I faced the whole adventure with mouse and keyboard, but given the simplicity of the controls you can safely use the controller.

The unfolding is a lot linear, there will be no crossroads or choices, and you should be able to complete the game in about 6 hours, a little more if you dedicate yourself to collection of collectibles hidden in the rooms. There difficulties general title is low, in fact i puzzles I'm really very simple (in short, we are not faced with a Myst or The Witness) and the pursuits too. To deal with the latter, it will be enough to be quick enough to understand the path to take and interact with the environment with the right timing. In case you make a mistake (sometimes also due to the control system not always reactive), Rose will die, but it won't be a big problem since the checkpoint they will take you back to the beginning of the scene. Instead, I would have preferred a few more automatic saves during the exploration, as sometimes I had to retrace sections already covered after interrupting the session.

As mentioned at the beginning, Close to the Sun is a horror and I must say that he actually managed to create a lot tension in me, especially in the first half of the game. The combination of poorly lit rooms, well-kept audio compartment and well-placed jumpscare, in addition to a primal fear of the unknown, it made me jump on the chair not a few times. I must admit, however, that once you get used to the rhythm and understand the mechanics, this tension has waned, especially in the escape sections, which have almost become quick time events. Furthermore, once the threat present on the ship is revealed, it loses its horrific power, also due to a not particularly inspired design.

Art Deco and blood

To give life to the Helios is a U in great shape: the settings in style Art Decò they are really beautiful and rich in objects and I spent a lot of time exploring the rooms to grasp every little detail. The elements are also beautifully rendered gore, like the torn bodies of poor scientists, which could test the most sensitive stomachs. The use of the shine, which greatly contribute to setting the mood with their strategic positioning.

Promoted the sector audio, both as regards the sound effects and the music, both well studied and which accompany the situations we will face very well. The game also comes with dubbing in Italian: nothing to say about the interpretation of the dubbers, but I found the audio of the dialogues a bit croaking and sometimes too loud, so much so that I had to constantly play with the volume.

Finally, I found a frame rate a little dancer: I noticed a loss of FPS in various moments of the game, with drops from 75 (maximum value I set to take advantage of the Free Sync of my monitor, ed) to 49 FPS, even reaching 22 for a few moments. It was, however, a marginal and transient problem, which did not undermine the general experience. Another technical element that did not fully convince me was the rendition of non-player characters, whose animations in particular seemed woody and unnatural to me.

An inconclusive conclusion

Close to the Sun had intrigued me right from the start, partly because of the “Rapturian” references (useless to deny it), and partly because of the story which seemed quite interesting to me. Certainly the passionate about science and Tesla in particular they will be pleased to see all the easter eggs and references to the life and creations of the brilliant Serbian scientist, complete with a museum dedicated to him at the beginning of the game.

Look who was on the Helios!

The story, although not very original and in some situations a bit obvious, had really fascinated me and I was curious to get to the scene that would have unraveled the skein (quite intricate, given that one of the themes is time travel). Unfortunately, the problem lies right here: the ending seemed closer and closer, yet many of my questions about the unfolding of events had not yet been answered. A few more steps and here are the credits, unfortunately leaving me with so many doubts and the desire to know more about the fate of Rose, Ada and Tesla. I hope that a more analytical and slow second game can make me grasp some clarifying element that escaped my gaze, but the impression I had is that at a certain point the accelerator was pressed on the story, going to lose something along the way.

To end this Close to the Sun review, I can say that the time spent aboard the Helios was basically enjoyable. I suggest the stay mainly to Tesla and titles fans story driven, while those looking for a challenge in gameplay may be disappointed. The game is available exclusively on the Epic Games Store at a price of 29,99 euros.