Children Of The Sun

But otherwise it feels like a Devolver Digital joint from the publisher’s early days. We’re thinking of one game in particular: the perspective might have changed, but the abrasive, video-nasty vibe of Hotline Miami is here in abundance. Like in that game, you’ve effectively got one chance – but whereas there a single bullet could bring about your end, here it is your salvation.
Licking the barrel of her rifle, it’s evident that our masked protagonist takes some measure of enjoyment from her murderous work. Having escaped from a deadly cult, she now returns to erase all trace of it – with just one round in the chamber. As she visits a string of cult gatherings, she must take out every member in a single surgical strike. A bullet might seem an unstoppable force, but to her it’s not an immovable object; rather, she can use her telekinetic powers to steer it between targets, in the manner of Yondu’s whistle-guided yaka arrow from Guardians Of The Galaxy.
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It’s not entirely clear why she doesn’t bring more ammo with her, but then you’ll probably have accepted that logic takes a back seat in a game in which that round remains live after connecting with a skull, an arm, or a more delicate area. And by the back half you’ll have discovered she’s not the only one with unearthly abilities; should she be detected, you sense the consequences will be as fatal for her as they are for her quarry. Which explains why she must keep her distance, circling a compound (or petrol station, or propaganda rally) to pick out her targets. A number in the top right tells you how many kills you need; any you spot from range can be marked by depressing the mouse wheel. Then, having picked your vantage point, you take careful aim and get ready to squeeze the trigger.
There’s plenty to savour in this exquisite pairing of tension and release. As you crouch-run to find the ideal spot to fire, your footsteps are accompanied by what sounds like a bassist’s digits nervily fingering a downtuned bottom string, while on the title screen drumsticks dance a jittery jig on the ride cymbal. But when that bullet connects with a human skull, releasing a fountain of red as your target slumps lifelessly to the floor, those same sticks smash down with vicious force, just as they did when simian fist met human face in Ape Out. Catharsis, however, doesn’t come yet, not entirely; this might be the first of a dozen cult members, and now you must reorient the camera, turning it to face the next target. In some cases, your second mark has witnessed what happened to the first, and here Children Of The Sun comes closest to that moment in Hotline Miami when it stares into your soul and asks: do you like hurting other people? You can imagine the spreading grin behind the mask of this angel of death as the bullet twists impossibly in mid-air, now lined up with the panic-stricken face of cult member number two, their sprint for safety about to be cut brutally short.
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It's a deliberately uncomfortable moment. Over time, though, you become desensitised to that sight, no longer seeing the humanity of your targets, but instead thinking about the order in which to dispose of them (which itself leaves a fes...