Close to the Sun Reviews
Overall, I have pretty mixed feelings about Close to the Sun. I love the setting and the atmosphere, but the technical problems, chase sequences, and lack of story cohesion ultimately left me wanting.
Close to the Sun is a smart narrative adventure, but some of its elements ruin the tension of its well-crafted world.
It's a game that wanted to be Icarus and fly, ahem, too close to the sun, but couldn't even manage to get too far off the ground.
Despite the problems with the Switch port of the game, it’s still a game I’d recommend to horror fans, sci-fi fans, and yeah, BioShock fans.
If you’re looking for a narrative-focused horror game which isn’t ‘too’ scary, Close to the Sun is for you. Visually the game looks beautiful, despite the piles of body parts and blood-soaked walls, with the Helios’ decorations being a brilliant replication of Art Deco interior design with a hint of Steampunk engineering. The story will have you hooked, as you go out of your way to fill in the blanks and find all of the hidden collectables, bringing you to a conclusion which I hope spawns a sequel at some point in the future. Despite the issues, which I mentioned in my review, the overall experience is one which shouldn’t be missed regardless of whatever platform you prefer to play on.
While some nicely designed environments, and a scattering of enjoyable puzzles stop this ship from sinking without a trace, Close to the Sun doesn’t manage to reach the lofty heights of ambition it’s clearly aiming for.
Storm in a Teacup's Close to the Sun has quite a few flaws, but its unique, Nikola Tesla-inspired setting provides lots to love.
Overall, I found Close to the Sun very enjoyable and, to be frank, it has been a long time since a game has grabbed my attention enough to not only complete it but do so in such a timely manner. The ending of the game did leave me with some hopes for a continuation or at least a standalone DLC to explore the other angles of the story only hinted at. Currently, I find myself wondering what exactly does Tesla and rose to do in the future and how do they do it!
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 manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The early parts of the game establish a genuinely interesting narrative and world before the later parts throw most of this away in favour of repetitive and dull chase sequences. The narrative remains interesting enough to keep you playing and there's some strong character development, but the ending comes as a relief rather than a reward. It isn't a disaster but it is a missed opportunity.
Close to the Sun wants to be Big Important Art, but it tries so hard to be Big Important Art that it undercuts itself.
Close to the Sun could've been a really cool adventure game, but boring riddles and predictable plot with a crumpled finale are like a cold sobering shower to the player.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Fair trading but short walking simulator on a mysterious ship complex created by Nikola Tesla.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Close to the Sun is a hugely ambitious title from such a small team. It doesn’t quite stick the landing but it’s a (mostly) great experience and one that sci-fi horror fans will enjoy.
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
Close to the Sun is an exploration adventure game that has the visuals, the atmosphere and the tension, but one key element, the gameplay, is under cooked compared to the rest.
"The only problem with the experience, is the performance, a problem I can’t look past, and a problem I hope the developers do acknowledge through an upcoming update, or at least give an explanation as to why their game was limited to a single core on a CPU. If they can fix that, then this game has it all, and it’s 10-hour adventure is – regardless – a quite remarkable one that uses Greek mythos as its foundation."
Close to the Sun has a huge potential. Supported by a technique of good quality, it however lacks dynamism. The fault of very slow movements and a gameplay that requires that we agree to walk to the discovery of clues more present to define an atmosphere, than to advance in the story. Not quite adventure game, not quite FPS either, it does not take clear enough direction to stand out. Nevertheless, it will satisfy the fans of the genre who do not have much to play at the moment.
Review in French | Read full review
Close to the Sun deserves praise for the world it builds and just how gorgeously rendered that world is.
Close to the Sun is a harrowing and thoughtfully designed first-person exploration adventure that shows a twisted world in which Nikola Tesla's ideas came to life.