Close To The Sun

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Board Tesla's quarantined research ship to find your sister, and run from what is aboard.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (74% of 1,359 reviews); Metacritic 66 on PC from 37 critics; 4.19 of 5 from 518 ratings on the PlayStation Store
Length: about 5 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Storm in a Teacup
Released: 2019

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

Get it on Steam Epic Games Store GOG PlayStation Store (PS4)Xbox Nintendo Switch

What frightens Journalist Rose Archer boards the Helios, Tesla's isolated research ship, to find her sister, and finds its grand halls empty, the stench of rotting flesh in the air, bodies in the corridors and QUARANTINE painted across the entrance. Unarmed, she has to run from what is loose aboard.
Content: violence, gore, jumpscares, strong language.

Close To The Sun is a first-person horror adventure by Storm in a Teacup set in an alternate 1897. Journalist Rose Archer boards the Helios, Nikola Tesla's vast research ship, in search of her sister Ada, and finds it quarantined, silent and full of the dead. With no way to fight, she solves puzzles to go deeper and runs when something comes for her.

About Close To The Sun

Close To The Sun is a story-driven horror game by the Italian studio Storm in a Teacup, published by Wired Productions. It came out on PC through the Epic Games Store on 2 May 2019, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 29 October 2019, and on Steam on 5 May 2020.

It is 1897, in a world where Nikola Tesla's inventions have shaped the century. Deep in international waters stands the Helios, a gilded ship built as a haven for the greatest scientific minds, free from governments and from the eyes of society, where they can push the boundaries of matter and time.

Journalist Rose Archer comes aboard looking for her sister Ada. The grand halls are empty, the air stinks of rotting flesh, and a single word is painted across the entrance: QUARANTINE. You explore the ship's art deco lobbies, lounges and theatre in first person, find codes and switch power to open the way, and pick up collectables that tell the history of Wardenclyffe and its workers. Voices on the radio guide you, among them an ally who helps Rose through the ship.

Rose has no weapon. The fear builds slowly: odd sightings first, then jump scares and more and more gore, and later threats you can only outrun in chase sequences, nearly half of them in the last hour. Reviewers praised the setting, art direction and voice acting and found the puzzles easy and the chases the weakest part.

It is voiced in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with subtitles in Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Polish, Russian and Hungarian. It suits players who liked the grand, ruined utopias of BioShock and want a slower, combat-free story of a scientific dream gone bad.

How to play Close To The Sun

Buy it for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store or GOG), PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch.
Explore the Helios in first person as Rose and follow the trail of your sister Ada.
Listen to the voices on the radio; they tell you where to go next.
Find codes and switches to solve the ship's puzzles and open new areas.
When something chases you, run: you have no weapon, so keep moving down the corridor ahead.

Screenshots

The dark, empty entrance hall of the Helios with red Wardenclyffe banners, copper pipes and a domed kiosk

A dim wood-panelled ship corridor lined with Helios posters, a smear of blood on the metal floor

An empty art deco grand hall with a wide staircase, bronze statues holding lamps and red banners

A dark, ornate theatre aboard the ship, a red carpet strewn with debris leading to a curtained stage

From a small boat's deck at night, the lit hull of the Helios looms through rain and fog

An empty amber-lit lobby with a Wardenclyffe floor emblem, potted plants and a Join Him poster

Bodies on a blood-soaked lounge floor under a Gamma Quarter sign, words scrawled in blood on the wall

Tips

Search every corner: collectables tell the ship's history and some areas are hidden.
Note codes as you find them; doors and power panels ask for them.
In a chase, look for the way forward rather than behind you; a missed turn sends you back to its start.
Play with sound on; the ship's silence and the radio voices carry much of the tension.

Questions

How long is Close To The Sun?

About five hours for one playthrough. New Game Network's reviewer finished it in about five hours, and recent Steam reviewers have played a median of under six hours.

Is Close To The Sun like BioShock?

It shares the idea of a grand, isolated utopia for great minds gone wrong, and Kotaku called it an indie BioShock without the combat. You never fight: you explore, solve puzzles and run.

Is there combat in Close To The Sun?

No. Rose is defenceless; threats are escaped in chase sequences.

What platforms is Close To The Sun on?

PC (Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG), PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Who is Close To The Sun's main character?

Rose Archer, a journalist searching the Helios for her sister Ada.