The Indie Informer

It should have been a sign that Children of the Sun‘s starting menu gives me the option to “Go Hunting” rather than start the game. The visuals and narrative are so sensational and unsettling that it’s hard to look away. Its gameplay requires focus that calls to mind “missing the forest for the tree.” It is so easy to get caught up planning and executing the perfect run, I forget pulling the trigger means unleashing brutal vengeance in the form of murder.

Licking a gun. Blood rains from the sky. And a pop-art fever dream solidifies into the main character’s motive for murder. The hard-to-watch scene shows me losing someone obviously close to me, and even more obviously that I blame a cultish organization for the tragedy. It’s over quickly but leaves the intended pit in my stomach.

Cut to the gameplay, my character is transformed into a haunted version of themselves. I’m not the good guy, and can’t bring myself to root for success even as the tutorial instructs me on how to plan out a disciplined and depraved crime.

My missions unfold in discrete levels. The world is 3D, but my character (metaphorically and literally) inhabits a 2D plane that encircles the location’s perimeter. From this place removed from the the less-than-human looking targets, it’s my job to tactically kill everyone using techniques that allow me to direct a single bullet around objects or re-aim its trajectory post-impact.

The patience and planning that comes before the shooting hits all the hallmarks of stealth games of old. And all the intensity afterward leans more into flashier action titles.

After clearing the level and no one but me is left alive, a scorecard and leaderboard appears. Its jolting arrival aligns with and heightens Children of the Sun’s disquieting atmosphere. I receive points for how far away I was when I sniped my targets or for headshots. Meanwhile, my time detracted from my score as well as the number of shots I used.

The leaderboard next to this accounting encourages players to jump back into the last level to shave off seconds and discover more streamlined maneuvers. Replayability will undoubtedly be a dominant component in Children of the Sun.