No Sun To Worship [PC] | REVIEW

With its slick PSOne-style visuals, tense stealth action, and myriad of patrolling guards, it’s clear what game might have inspired No Sun To Worship. Heck, it even has a clear nod to the Metal Gear Solid series when climbing one of the lengthier ladders in the game, whilst other little details will remind players of their adventure with the iconic Solid Snake.

No Sun To Worship strikes a different tone to Hideo Kojima’s famed series though,with it designed as a short minimalistic title that’ll put players’ stealth skills to the test through six different levels. It’s a lot of fun too, so much so that I was a little disappointed that it isn’t a full-fledged experience – there’s a lot of potential here…

Check out some screenshots down below:

No Sun To Worship puts players in the role of a masked assailant that has been sent into a variety of locales to kill a bunch of targets… and that’s it. There isn’t a whole lot of narrative going on, and whilst there is a slick opening sequence that hints at a world that is in ruins, it’s never expanded into a meaningful story that’ll hook players in. It’s a shame, because the overall vibe was REALLY cool and I would’ve loved to have seen a fleshed-out setting, though the fact that the game is intentionally taking a minimalistic approach does mean that players shouldn’t expect too much context when it comes to their meticulous killing.

Fortunately, the stealth gameplay will certainly keep players engaged, with No Sun To Worship keeping things relatively simple from a design perspective but offering enough intricacies to ensure each level is intense and satisfying to complete. Your goal is simple: you have to take down a group of stationary targets that are clearly marked, all whilst evading the patrolling guards and security cameras that are out to get you along the way. And when you do kill your targets? You have to make an escape by reaching the ‘exit’ point of each level, which you’d have typically already come across along the way.

“The stealth gameplay will certainly keep players engaged, with No Sun To Worship keeping things relatively simple from a design perspective but offering enough intricacies to ensure each level is intense and satisfying to complete.”

Players are able to run and sneak around (and even crawl through air vents in true Solid Snake fashion), whilst they’re also equipped with a silenced pistol to kill guards stealthily or an assault rifle for those louder situations when you’ve caught an enemy’s attention. You’re also able to sneakily kill enemies with one hit if you get behind them without alerting them to your presence, or alternatively hold them up by aiming a gun behind their back (admittedly this is a mechanic I didn’t see the need to use during my playthrough). Players are also able to completely silence their footsteps with a button press, though your health rapidly drops when this is activated, meaning you have to use it strategically to ensure you don’t leave yourself in a vulnerable position – it is your most useful ability and is perfect for taking out guards during their patrol route though, so you’ll definitely want to keep your health up during levels in order to use it regularly.

When combined with the creative level design that offers multiple ways to approach your goal, it makes for a genuinely engaging experience that’s a lot of fun to play through. No Sun To Worship also has plenty of little intricacies that can change up your approach to each level. For example, some enemies are wearing helmets, so they can only be defeated with body shots or by sneaking up and getting a stealth-kill on them, which is a lot more complex than the typical (but bloody satisfying) headshot from your silenced pistol. Then there’s the fact that enemies can find any bodies you leave behind, but you’re also able to essentially absorb said bodies to gain a health boost which instantly removes them from the level – do you keep them behind as bait for enemies (or as a health boost when you might actually need it) or do you absorb them immediately so they’re not at risk of being found? Some levels offer small changes that can affect how you play too, such as the Nuclear Plant with its noisier floor that demands a sneakier approach or the Biomech Research that makes things that little bit trickier by being played in black and white. These might sound like small changes, but they can force you out of your comfort zone and see you tackle levels a little differently.

Check out some screenshots down below:

It keeps the experience exciting, but I would be lying if I said that No Sun To Worship didn’t feel a little formulaic in places. Whilst there are plenty of neat ideas at play, the game still takes a simplistic approach that sees you doing a lot of the same things over and over. Like a lot of stealth titles, it’s also very slow paced, so you can expect to spend a lot of time hiding out and monitoring the patrolling guards to choose your moment to strike. It can also be very unforgiving, so if you do find yourself caught by guards and in a sticky situation, more often than not you can expect to die. Worst of all, there are no checkpoints in levels, so you can easily lose ten minutes of progress by making one small mistake. In fairness, this is part of the learning curve of the game, with levels taking a trial-and-error approach where you gradually understand the best way of approach them. The deaths and replays you go through along the way though? They can get a little bit tedious.

Still, it didn’t stop No Sun To Worship from being an enjoyable experience, whilst the shorter length means it never feels like it outstays its welcome. I beat the game’s six levels in around two-hours in the end, and that included PLENTY of mistakes along the way – you could probably clear it in much less time if you were a bit more efficient. You’re actually given the time it took to beat a level when you complete it, so there could be some incentive to replay through them and try to better it (though I do think the developer missed a trick by not including the number of kills you made or times you were caught to encourage players to perfect their run). And if you do want more when you finish the game? There’s also a hard mode on offer, giving players even more of a challenge the second time around.

Developer: Antonio Freyre
Publisher: Merlino Games
Platform(s): PC (Reviewed)
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2202470/No_Sun_To_Worship/