Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

The rise to new heights for the tricolor titles is increasingly a reality: even if the road to reach noble triple A titles is still very long, the independent productions of the last few years are really showing their claws, imposing themselves not only for the renowned quality conceptual that distinguishes us, but also for a technical sector finally worthy of note. Midway between the two categories, Wired Productions e Storm in a Teacup they propose us - through the launcher of epic Games - a very special first-person adventure, where science and science fiction come together in a gigantic horror marriage. Close to the sun is an interesting story driven adventure (attention, not a survival horror), a journey through doubts and fears that will not test the player with an extreme level of difficulty, much more on a psychological and emotional level. If you have been invited to this ship, we are most likely talking about one of the brightest brains currently out there: are you ready to sail?



Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

Progress, first of all

Close to The Sun sees us taking control of a young journalist named Rose Archer, who after receiving a particular letter from his sister To give, goes aboard the Helios, an imposing ship in the middle of the ocean where all the brightest minds of the current century (late nineteenth century) have gathered. To bring together all these brains (and the game will include incredibly well-known ones, such as a certain Albert) was none other than Nikola Tesla, who became a man of extreme influence and with a genius comparable to few. His company, the Wardenclyffe, took these genes under his wing to carry out revolutionary research in every field, from botany, to meteorology, up to electricity and… something else. In fact, in the game, we find ourselves in an imaginary world where Tesla himself has managed to put his potential into practice and change the world forever. However, as soon as we set foot on the Helios, we will realize that something is wrong: the immense boat is under rigid quarantine, and the various sections of the place are littered with blood and death… and these are only the least dangerous things. Between Newton's spies, references to the facts of Whitechapel, chapters that conceptually lead back to Greek mythology, and threats that we will not anticipate, our Rose's life will be constantly in danger.



Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

The plot of the game takes place entirely in the majestic floating city, and in the 10 chapters (plus prologue) that make it up there are many secrets with which we will come into contact. However, the key thing will be to understand ourselves what processes are taking place: many of the questions you will ask yourself in the game will deliberately remain unanswered, or at least they will open questions where the player will be led to hypothesize in first person. Here is where, beyond the numerous interpretations that can be given to Close To The Sun, a crack as big as a house (or as a space-time fracture) remains open, which at the end of the story narrated could easily leave room for a sequel. . Let me be clear, the narrated plot can be safely self-contained.

Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

Time is not a River

In addition to being a topic that by a fortuitous case connected to recent cinematic releases, also in Close to the Sun is treated - but we will not tell you how - the theme of time and its manipulation, as if past, present and future were all sewn together. Consequently, the threats that populate the Helios will also be linked to it ... never play with fire. The gameplay, as anticipated, does not follow the classic lines of survival horror, so much so as to break away from it almost definitively: our task will mainly be that of explore the various sections of the ship in search of collectable (themed for each chapter) and important information, solving the puzzles, and gradually open the way to reach our personal points of interest, all in a decisive way guided. In addition to that, we will also have to make sure that our dear Rose succeeds to stay alive, and for this reason we will often find ourselves running away: the game is not an action devoted to combat - in fact we will not be able to defend ourselves - and there will be of the precise moments in game where our aim will only be to run faster than the wind. Clearly we will not always be able to get away with it on the first try, and in a couple of cases in particular a trial and error relationship will develop. The difficulty of the game in any case is medium-low, not only due to the lack of a number of lives or a form of game over, but also for the extremely intuitive puzzles, and with only a few areas where it will be possible to lose the compass, since much of our path will be a corridor with mandatory direction. During the escape, however, an interesting feature is inserted: using the button normally used for zoom, while we are running away from someone we can look directly behind us, and realize how close the threat really is! Don't worry, you can deal with it several times during the 6 hours scheduled for the completion of the game.



"The past is theirs, the future is mine"

On a technical level, the title defends itself very well, taking full advantage of theU, however, showing the side with some slight aliasing defects even at maximum quality, but also rather movements "Clumsy" of all the "living" humanoid figures we will meet and theirs little credibility. However, all this is strongly opposed to a fascinating construction of environments, where a respectable level design collides with the immensity of the Helios and its unmistakable Art Deco. Merging the halo of death with the halls and laboratories of the ship was certainly a successful job, which fully succeeded in proposing locations that were at the same time large but claustrophobic, but above all managing to understand - by analyzing everything carefully - that even the dismembered bodies that we find within the various zones are in that place for a reason, as if the developers had thought of them at the moment of their death, what they were doing before, and what happened to their bodies immediately after. Details are also scattered throughout Close to The Sun easter egg, some in the form of collectibles, others simply as places or objects (it is even present a museum with all of Tesla's real inventions, inspired by his real projects!).


Close To The Sun - Review of the new title of Storm in a Teacup

Feel it, Hear it

Another important note to note is clearly the audio compartment: Beyond the great quality of the soundtrack, and the original main theme, the sound effects cover a decisive role to say the least inside Close to The Sun: it is thanks to them that we will constantly feel hunted down, even if in reality the threats are far away. In this way, noises that will never seem harmless take place, and embarrassing silences ready to turn in a few moments into a terrible jumpscare (never "spam" and managed with care). Another aspect that should not be underestimated is how any voice (be it that of Rose or that of someone on the radio) will change its "effect" depending on where we will be: for example if we are in a small place, the voice will be normal, but if we are in a huge hall, the echo will also be faithfully reproduced. The answer is yes: we also tried to change rooms while the dialogues were being spoken, and the effect changed according to our position, a shrewdness from a few.


Finally, it is perfectly right to make a note about the location: it was taken for granted, being a tricolor title, that during the production it was also clearly thought of the public, however it was not so obvious that they were included so many alternative languages ​​to play the game with, from Chinese to Japanese to Korean, to Polish, Russian and other major European languages. Furthermore, for the latter, not only the text translation was carried out, but also the dubbing (German, Spanish, French, English, Italian). As for the work done for our local voices, the interpretations were excellent, and by professionals.

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