It’s 1897. You’re Rose Archer, a journalist en route to search for her sister Ada aboard a scientific haven called the Helios. It’s quiet when you arrive, and you have to squeeze your way through in through the busted front door… only to find the word “QUARANTINE” scrawled on the inside. And it’s worse than it seems; an experiment threatens the whole structure, there are violent crazies on-board, and the ship’s paranoid creator, Nikola Tesla (yes, that Tesla) is yelling through the speakers, accusing you of being “another one of Edison’s agents.” Oh, and the letter sent by your sister, the one that got you on-board? Ada didn’t send it.
Well, not this Ada, anyway.
While it’s tempting to reduce Italian developer Storm in a Teacup’s story-driven horror game Close to the Sun to a mix of Outlast and Bioshock, the game offers much more than that.
For starters, Close to the Sun has a world that is incredibly immersive. I had the chance to play through the demo at Pax East a week ago, and was astounded by the developer’s attention to subtle details. Newspaper clippings, books, small tools, even the size of the rooms and furniture all seemed appropriate for the time and place, dropped in places you’d realistically expect to find them. You aren’t about to find the same stock jumble of papers on every desk. Going through the Helios, I found posters, gadgets, and unique environments that helped bring the culture and technology of this world to life. Tying all of this together is the game’s visual quality; for once, the actual game looks better than the screenshots. And, while Close to the Sun is scattered with readables that expand on the world and story (like SOMA or Outlast), it doesn’t throw so many at you that it distracts from the narrative, and it keeps the documents short.
Why is all that important? Steampunk is a sub-genre beloved for its worlds, and the details, readables, and graphic quality results in a richly textured steampunk world that’s plain fun to explore. So, any fans of the genre will find a (slightly terrifying) home, here.
Of course, the worldbuilding isn’t Close to the Sun’s only strength. I got to hear several members of the cast during the demo—Rose, Ada, Tesla, and some extras. To my surprise, each of them had fantastic voice actors, a quality that pulled me further into the story, made the characters more compelling, and distinguished it from comparable titles with silent protagonists.
While the gameplay is nothing novel, it is a great example of an old idea done well. The game is smooth, clean, and fun to play, lacking the clunkiness that often injures narrative/immersion-heavy games. The chase sequence I played stood out, too; instead of throwing me down a long hallway or peppering the area with places to hide, I found myself running through a maze filled with myriad paths, amplifying the panic by forcing me to make snap decisions about which way I’d go. I failed my first attempt, and I’m glad I did; the game, so far, had been light on blood and gore… so when I got tackled and subjected to a vicious, bloody stabbing, I actually jumped.
I have my reservations, of course. First off, the demo only had one chase sequence, so there’s no telling whether the rest of them hold up. The game is also being shipped exclusively on the Epic Games launcher, which is an understandably divisive topic. But more importantly, the demo hints that the story might involve some mucking about with time, and that’s always a storytelling gamble. Done well, it’s incredible. But done poorly, it’s hokey and undercuts the whole narrative. While I do expect fun, over-the-top details in my steampunk stories (I’ve read highly respected contemporary short stories centered around a steam-powered, mechanical Sherlock Holmes), I was enjoying the dark, serious tone that I saw in the demo and don’t want to see it damaged.
Still, those reservations aren’t strong enough to keep me from trying the full game. The worldbuilding is superb, and the attention to detail gives the impression of a company that puts real effort into its work. The release date hasn’t been announced yet, but if you’re a fan of steampunk, story-driven horror, or immersive worldbuilding, keep an eye on this one.
