Children of the Sun

I am giving Children of the Sun a cautious recommendation, but it comes with its caveats - spoilers for game mechanics and such ahead. It's a short puzzle-like game where you have to shoot all targets in a level to complete it. To do so, you can move around a fixed path (which reminded me of Killer 7, great game) to find the perfect angle, then shoot. After you hit a target, you can redirect the bullet to a different target. The challenge then comes from finding the perfect path through the level from target to target, minimizing downtime and maximizing factors like distance or headshots if you want a higher score. The artstyle is cool and there is a story, though it's only told by quickly moving images. So far, so good and I like the idea and it isn't executed all too badly. It's generally fun to find the best paths through the levels and there are some optional challenges as well. If you keep up a good pace, the game is also less than 3 hours long, which is just enough to stop before it gets too repetitive. There also is an endless mode after the story ends if you want more shooting, or you can replay levels for better scores. The game does have a laundry list of issues though,…

Neat game! Main missions can be completed in a couple of sittings, which I think is for the best as this game is mechanically fairly straightforward, and more missions would have likely led to the experience overstaying its welcome. My biggest gripe is with the "tagging" portion of the gameplay loop. Playing connect-the-dots with enemies, utilizing environmental targets to reposition, using your abilities at the right time to maximize a shot, all feels really good. But spending 5+ minutes just looking for the last guy is extremely tedious and offers no genuine challenge outside of "search every corner of the map". If this game looks cool to you, would recommend probably waiting for a sale, but that's up to you.

Tight puzzles with a neat premise and a grungey aesthetic.

It's an interesting take on sniping as a shooting mechanic. That final level is a perfect challenge involving every skill you've picked up over the game's runtime.

Took me an age to get around to this one, but it really didn't disappoint. This is a very satisfying game mechanically. The core conceit of reaiming the same bullet with each kill is sublime and the game offers enough twists on this to stay fresh and exciting throughout. I really, really enjoyed curving bullets and reaiming mid-air. The art is stunning and the presentation is cohesive and effective for it (I wouldn't say I like the soundtrack - it's a bit painful at points - but it has the intended impact). The story told is simple and won't really surprise anything but manages to hit a nerve due to the speed and intensity of its presentation. If I had any criticisms it would be that there's a point in the game where I felt it couldn't really slow me down or make me struggle much outside of *finding* the puzzle solution. I get that's part of the challenge here, but the horde mode shows there is ample room for a more intense skill-challenge to fit alongside the puzzler element. I didn't find this very hard at all. Score attack isn't going to make me come back - not because I didn't enjoy the game, I really did, but because it's not going offer a different type of challenge for the…

Was an absolute blast from start to finish. A very unique puzzle shooter.