Close to the Sun comes from indie developer Storm in a Teacup and we had the first chance to preview the first person, story driven, adventure horror game at GDC this year.
The premise plays on the fact that Nicola Tesla’s inventions were a success in this alternative history come to life. For all intents and purposes, Tesla’s brilliance, ambitions, and genius are dialed up to eleven partly in exaggeration but also to deepen its storytelling. As a result, the world building plays on this as you take the role of Journalist Rose Archer. Rose is in search for her sister Ada Archer who is a scientist on board Tesla’s ship, the Helios. From there, its part mystery, part horror as you begin to piece together what exactly happened in this broken environment.
The visuals and aesthetic are quite reminiscent of Bioshock, mainly due to its art deco inspired look. But the similarities end here. By the time Rose arrives in Helios, terrifying things have already occured and you’re left to piece together the puzzle. Also you’re seemingly not alone. In the opening chapters, the goal is to dive deeper into the ship’s many sections. Puzzle solving is key to the sense of progression here. From flipping switches in order to activate the elevator or cracking a safe, there is plenty to explore in the environment.
And this is where Close to the Sun is most fulfilling. You slowly learn the consequences of Tesla’s experiments like temporal distortion leaving Rose to experience past events as it happened in the present space. While the Helios lends itself to some jump scares and overall atmospheric horror, it was too early to gauge what exactly lies beyond. Game designer Joel Hakalax remarks that the development team utilizes this horror to lean into the tension and keep players on their toes.
For the brief 30 minutes I saw of Close to the Sun, there was a lot of potential and I’m curious to see how the rest of the game plays out. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too long in suspense when it releases on PC via Epic Games Store and consoles in Q3 2019.
