Close to the Sun Reviews
Although the slow tempo of the gameplay might not be appealing to everyone, and although the story could have ended much, much better, Close to the Sun is still a great title that easily worth 5 to 6 hours of your time.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Fair trading but short walking simulator on a mysterious ship complex created by Nikola Tesla.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Bioshock-ish walking simulator. You will remember its nice visuals and disappointing ending.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Simple puzzles and bland chases prevent Close to the Sun from living up to its numerous inspirations. While the game has a decent retro style and an intriguing horror narrative, it never makes the player a true participant.
Epic store exclusive Close To The Sun offers a solid mix of SOMA-style horror with BIoschock style locations and story.
Close to the Sun is a game that’s only remarkable for its scenery. And it’s a shame, really, as the Helios could have carried a great tale. As it is though, while there’s nothing about Close to the Sun that’s broken, there’s nothing compelling enough to make it worth your while, especially with its short run time and lack of replayability.
In the end, your enjoyment of Close to the Sun will depend on whether you want to be surprised. If you've played some of the previously mentioned games, you know exactly what to expect in terms of pacing and story, even if the subject matter is different. The lack of combat is an interesting choice, but the simple puzzles and slightly frustrating chase sequences dull the experience, while the inability to view collectibles after you leave a level significantly diminishes their value.
If you like first-person adventure games of the horror and mystery variety then you'll definitely enjoy Close to the Sun.
Short, sweet, and a solid yarn. Close to the Sun 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.
A good lineal adventure. It lacks in the horror part the suspense Will keep on your toes, the story keeps you tangled and presentation is functional
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It seems like the narrative is supposed to carry the day, what with the gameplay being rather uninspiring. However, after a little under five and a half hours, I got an ending which left several plot points unresolved and felt like sequel bait. There’s little reason to go back to it, outside of finding the collectibles. Even then you can’t see them outside of when they’re picked up, so it’s just for those desperate to say they accomplished everything. In the end Close to the Sun is a competently made game, but one with more style than substance. Its backstory and setting end up being the most engaging parts, with little else to keep the player slowly jogging deeper into the bowels of the Helios. For $30, there are more fulfilling and better executed experiences to be had.
Close to the Sun has a great premise and gorgeous graphics. However, the execution falls short due to the short plotline, use of jump scares, and clunky movements.
It’s a relatively stress-free handful of hours that can be spent instead in a state of wonderment.
Conceptually at least, Close To The Sun is actually a really intriguing game. Combining elements of Bioshock, Sherlock Holmes and first person horrors, Close To The Sun attempts to capture the same wonder found in those titles but fails to really capitalize on that as well as it perhaps should. Admittedly, the opening few chapters are pretty good at building up the tension but soon after the game devolves frustratingly into a series of chase sequences and puzzle-platform sections that don’t always work well with the narrative.
Leave it to a game focused on Nikola Tesla’s boundless imagination to seldom demonstrate the same kind of inventive spirit.
Close to the Sun’s level design is broken into chapters with some clever placed collectables enhances the need to explore and the willingness to find out where the story is going. This very nature will ensure that you won’t put this stunning game down, until it’s finished. Just like a good series on Netflix, you will find yourself binge playing, it’s that good. A true work of art!
For anyone that plays lots of games, Close to the Sun is sadly not going to impress. While the aesthetics, graphical fidelity, sounds, and backstory does have the means to intrigue a lot of people, I feel that the average avid gamer will drop off after the first hour.
I don’t know how simply I can put this: Close To The Sun is brilliant. I’ve already gone back to play it and I’m still getting caught out by the jump scares and the wrong-turns when being chased. It’s bloody fantastic. The game encompasses all of the best parts of survival horror games, brings to life alternate realities with adaptations to non-fictional characters such as Tesla and his wacky inventions, and really grips you with the storyline. If you haven’t already got hold of it, go and get it. However, I can’t just let the graphical deficiencies slide, so as much as I like the game and I do recommend it, I’ll be giving Close To The Sun a Thumb Culture Silver Award!
Close to the Sun is certainly an enjoyable journey, one that does include some jump scares and horror moments along the way while exploring what is a bit of a disturbing view on an alternate timeline.