Children of the Sun – Children of the Sun review – Class in Dallas

You travel the earth, the sky

The heroine of our story is here on the path of revenge. And the target of his hatred is a sect, the Children of the Sun, visibly well established in the region given the various sites we pass through. The main lines are there; to have more details, it will be necessary to decipher the cutscenes with epileptic montages where temporality is turned upside down, all to saturated music and other distorting sounds. No, the girl really isn't well, and the only hug in sight is Death's embrace.

This strange atmosphere is enhanced by the very stylized graphic appearance. We also believe we detect in the whole a certain similarity with the work of Suda 51, and in particular Killer7. We can perhaps regret a lack of variety in the enemies or the sometimes rudimentary decorations, but this is not a problem for the real heart of the product: its gameplay.

I'm Mary Poppins Y'All!

A level The game is divided into two phases: scouting and shooting.

In the first part, the character moves on rails, to the right or to the left. If certain levels are observed from a small segment at a distance, others allow you to circle around the sect's camp. Don't worry about stealth, no one will notice you.

It is possible to put the rifle on your shoulder and observe the various obstacles more closely. Above all, it is an opportunity to identify where your targets are, the members of the sect, whose number can range from four peons to around twenty individuals. The game allows you to place tags on each of them and also to mark certain optional targets: birds, fish, vehicle fuel flaps, etc.

And when you feel ready for action, it's time to fire your only bullet. If it starts as a simple shooter like Sniper Elite or others Ghost Warrior, the dose of lead will not be confined to going in a straight line until encountering an obstacle: the girl has notions of telekinesis and she intends to use it. As soon as the ball sinks into a target, the player can give it a new angle of attack and thus work to ensure that not a single person remains in the area. Killing everyone is one thing, but you have to be able to find the right directions in order to avoid getting stuck in the scenery.

If, at the start, we can only act by ricocheting off our victims, new possibilities are added little by little to our repertoire, until we become a real little Yondu in a petticoat. Opposite too, the situation will progress and they will try to defend themselves a little better with new types of adversaries.

Everything can ultimately be played with the mouse alone. Movement to the right or left to move, classic FPS aiming once in a shooting position, and right click to shoot, left to activate special abilities and the middle button to score. No need for more to transform into a relentless killing machine. The gamepad can also be used.

Keep the score high

There are 26 levels that you will have to solve, and they all offer very varied situations: various obstacles on the way, people sheltering in the rooms of a motel, freight trains passing through a warehouse… The game is coming very good at renewing itself.

The whole thing can be crossed quite quickly (even if the final level is a little more tricky). One of the points that will hold you back a little more is the presence of challenges on certain levels. A cryptic phrase is displayed on the screen and you have to understand what to do during the action in order to obtain the corresponding trophy.

But it is above all the general online ranking which can push you to become a virtuoso in handling the magic ball. You have to think carefully about the trajectory as a whole and act quickly in order to keep the combo afloat and collect bonus points. Each level has its own ranking and the competition is fierce.

The concept of Children of the Sun is original and above all well executed: at the risk of sounding as psychopathic as the heroine, mowing down the members of the sect with a single bullet is done with pleasure. The adventure can be completed a little quickly, but fortunately it is offered at the low price of €14.79. On the other hand, if you stick to chasing high scores, the game will push you longer to do it all with style.

Test carried out on PC by NeoGrifteR from a version provided by the publisher.