Children Of The Sun Review – A Blood-Soaked Tale Of Revenge And Loss

The revenge genre in movies and games has always elicited divisive responses from audiences. I am particularly fond of this genre, and it always felt cathartic to see justice delivered. Revenge is a strong motive for the protagonist to move on and wreck some stuff up. This is exactly what I loved doing in Children Of The Sun.

Driven by vengeance, surreal visuals, and puzzling gameplay that kept me on the hook for hours, Children Of The Sun emerged as a pleasant surprise. Let’s take a deep dive into this Children Of The Sun review and see if it’s worth it for you or not.

Story And Setting

Children Of The Sun immediately sets the mood with a horrifying 2D animated cutscene at the start. Despite being vague and not having any dialogue, it tells us everything we need to know about the game narrative. The viewers are also left puzzled and it’s up to them to decipher what happened. I always loved the “show, not tell” mentality so it immediately caught my attention.

These cutscenes are deliberately scattered throughout the game so viewers can pick up the crumbs and guess the true horror and despair our silent protagonist, “the Girl,” went through. Yup, she doesn’t have a name, but it doesn’t matter. After what happened to her family, she is a force to be reckoned with.

I figured out all of this through just one initial cutscene, which shows how great and effective the storytelling is in this game. I got shivers even though not a single word was spoken.

The Silent Blood-Lusted Protagonist And Her Vengeance

When I first heard the name “Children Of The Sun,” my mind instantly went to cults and other shady things. Unsurprisingly, I was right. Our main character is on a mission to destroy the cult that ruined her life and family. In the first cutscene, we see a happy family being greeted by a seemingly friendly man, probably the leader of the cult. However, things took a dramatic turn in a matter of seconds.

Children Of The Sun immediately sets the mood with a horrifying 2D animated cutscene at the start.

The Girl found her father’s dead body, and apparently, it looked like he killed himself. As a result, she was caught. Soon, the Girl awakened her telekinesis powers, and on that day, she escaped the imprisonment. Her motives were fuelled by vengeance, and that’s where I knew that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant ride.

These cultists were incredibly evil, but they were not prepared for what was coming. Children Of The Sun’s story and tone were clear, and it was time for me to lead her down the path of revenge. If I have to mention my biggest complaint with the storyline, it’s the short game length. I want more of it! But make no mistake, whatever there was, I loved every second of it.

Gameplay

I found myself intrigued by how Children of the Sun, a third-person puzzle shooter game, is going to work. You have a third-person perspective, a revenge story, and there are puzzles to solve. Well, everything worked flawlessly. Just like its narrative, the gameplay is unsettling to look at, especially when the target meets their demise. It is hard-hitting and gory, and you can feel the anger behind every trigger pull.

The first mission also acts as a tutorial and runs you through the simple mechanics of the game. Scout the area, identify the number of threats and send them back to hell. There is only one catch, and you only have a bullet to finish them all. 

In order to complete the objective, you’ll have to create a trajectory before taking a shot after scouting the area thoroughly. Failing the chain reaction will bring you back to square one, which makes the element of planning all the more important. You can also aim for a high score, which increases the game’s replayability factor if you want to compete with other players.

Use Your Surroundings To Your Advantage

Each level gets significantly harder and more puzzling than before; some of them even took me multiple tries to finish. My mind was blown by the increasing number of cultist clowns I had to kill with just one bullet. Some of them were strolling out in the open, so they were easy targets for me—no big deal. But tackling the ones hiding behind obstacles is where the challenge really lies.

Bullet time has to be the most badass thing ever and it is also the best visual highlight of Children Of The Sun.

Bodies are not the only things where you can re-position your bullet towards the next target. You can also use the vehicle’s fuel tank to mark your bullet checkpoint. Now I can finish off the dumb cultists out in the open and then shoot the car in front of the house to get the perfect view of mindless bots inside. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Later on, The Girl acquires the ability to slightly steer the bullet in mid-air. This was quite reminiscent of the movie Wanted where characters engage in similar bullet-bending shenanigans. I have to admit it’s a pretty neat trick to fish out the hiding cult followers behind the cover.

My favorite trick has to be the one that involves shooting flying birds to gain a high-ground and full view of the area. Just like the cars, you can shoot poor animals to use them as your vantage point. How the developer crafted the puzzles in Children Of The Sun is super neat and I was scratching my head after numerous fails. You have to be a brainiac to finish this game in one go.

Bullet Time And Slow Motion 

Bullet time has to be the most badass thing ever, and it is also the best visual highlight of Children Of The Sun. It reminded me of the Sniper Elite but here it is much cooler and does things differently. You have to create a chain reaction that kills with one bullet. Firing a shot immediately slows time so you can see and control your bullet trajectory.

Slo-mo gives you enough time to ramp up your bullet speed which instantly one-shots the armored cultists. Seeing those who wronged you fall one by one was honestly satisfying for me. It felt like the bullet is a character itself since you cannot freely control the Girl other than moving sideways.

Visuals And Performance

Considering the tiny download size, I wasn’t expecting any triple-A cutting-edge graphics title. But not every game has to be high-end to look great. Children Of The Sun is an indie game made with passion. The developers did a great job at creating an unsettling atmosphere with trippy visuals that feel like a fever dream.

Certainly, it was an artistic choice that worked for the most part, but some of the distorted visual noise and saturation gave me a very mild headache. I had to take a break after a few hours to give some rest to my eyes. However, you can minimize the effects in video settings.

Verdict

Playing the final level was the hardest challenge of Children of The Sun, and it almost made me quit, but I survived it. Right after completing the first run of the game, I was keen on replaying it again, but this time, I wanted to chase my score. Replayability is the biggest factor why I would visit this game from time to time, and I I would recommend my friends to try it once and beat my score.

Children Of The Sun lacks in length, but its engaging puzzles and striking dark visuals make up for it. Accompanied by dark atmosphere with an industrial soundtrack, Children of the Sun is an excellent indie title that doesn’t pull its punches. Mastering your skills takes a lot of practice, and remember, one bullet is all you are going to get. Make the most of it.

That’s all I have to say in this Children Of The Sun Review. Feel free to check out our other amazing reviews by our talented reviewers.

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