Children of the Sun turns you into a sniper bullet (yes, you read that right)

Children of the Sun is a small, creative indie game that keeps conjuring up a cheesy grin on my face. It’s not because I’m especially gripped by the story. Nor is it because the game graphically or technically blows me away. No, the magic of this puzzle shooter, created by solo developer René Rother, lies in the ingenious game mechanics. I’ve never experienced anything like it in another game.

In Children of the Sun, you take on the role of a vengeful sniper set on murdering all the members of an occult sect. The unique thing about the game is that you not only control the character, but also the sniper bullets.

One bullet, many opponents

The game’s 26 levels are structured like large puzzles. Your goal is to eliminate every opponent by firing just a single sniper shot. Before you pull the trigger, you use your character to explore the surrounding area. Mind you, «exploring» is a bit of a strong word – you can only move left and right. This allows you to take a look at your unsuspecting victims and mark them with a click on the scroll wheel.

Once you’ve found and marked out your enemies, you pull the trigger. As soon as the sniper bullet leaves the barrel with a satisfying bang, you can slow down time by holding down the right mouse button. The bullet can then be manoeuvred in slow motion. That said, you can’t change the trajectory of the bullet completely – you can just make minor corrections to its course.

If you hit an enemy, you’re rewarded with a fountain of blood and wonderfully OTT ragdoll physics, cult members flying back as if they’ve been hit by a truck. The bullet then stops in mid-air and time slows down automatically. You look for your next victim in slow motion, point the bullet in the right direction and do the same thing all over again. If you miss a target, you have to restart the level.

Finding the right path through the enemies involves a lot of trial and error. Walls or other obstacles often block the bullet’s route to the next target. Though I often fail, experimenting’s a lot of fun – especially when I finally find the most efficient path through the heads of the cult members, dishing out kill shots with every passing second. Glorious.

The bullet learns new tricks

Over time, your bullet learns new tricks. Something that’s sorely needed considering the opponents quickly get stronger and the levels become increasingly complex.

A bullet upgrade allows you to temporarily boost your bullet to an absurdly high maximum speed. If the bullet has a big enough run-up, you can also kill heavily armoured cult members. It’s incredibly satisfying to pick off an armour-clad enemy from hundreds of metres away, with one shot, at what feels like the speed of light.

Another bullet upgrade allows you to fill a special bar by hitting enemy body parts that are glowing blue. Once the bar’s full, you can stop the bullet at any time by right-clicking. You can then completely change its course. This trick’s worth its weight in gold when it comes to the later levels especially. Some of them are labyrinth-like, and the enemies are well hidden.

Despite the game’s increasing complexity, the controls stay nice and simple. You can play the entire game with just a mouse – and no keyboard. Controllers are also supported, but shooting with sticks isn’t quite as much fun as with a mouse, which is more precise.

A fleeting bit of fun

After about three and a half hours, I’ve fired my way to the cult leader, and the credits roll. Online leaderboards motivate you to keep playing for longer. The faster and more efficiently you get through a level, the more points you earn. If hitting the high score isn’t what appeals to you, you’ve no reason to spend any more time playing the game after completing the story.

All in all, I’d like to have a few more levels. The game would also have benefited from a little more variety in the level design and a more balanced pace. Although I shoot my way through the levels at the speed of light in the first half of the game, the game environments in the second half get bigger and bigger, with more and more enemies. There are no checkpoints within the levels – one small mistake and you’re forced to start over. This can be hard going at times. Trial-and-error works better with short, compact levels.

Right up to the end credits, the game is of a very high audio-visual standard. This is mainly because of its unique art style, which impresses with a high-contrast colour scheme, low-poly models and pixelated PS1 textures. Combined with the sometimes disturbing cutscenes and punchy sound effects, the game has a surreal, psycho-horror vibe. I’d put it somewhere between Suda 51, Hotline Miami and Superhot. Quite the spectacle.

Verdict: a unique puzzle shooter with ingenious game mechanics

Children of the Sun is a clever puzzle shooter with unique game mechanics. Controlling the bullets I’ve fired is seriously fun, and dishing out shots to the head is gory and satisfying. I feel encouraged to find the perfect route through the levels, even if some of the larger game environments can be taxing. The audiovisual presentation impresses with its surreal, disturbing atmosphere. Played through in around three hours, the game’s a tad too short – despite its low price tag.

Children of the Sun is out now on PC. The game was provided to me by Devolver for testing purposes.