No Sun to Worship Review

Stealth games are interesting due to the many different ways developers can approach their design. For instance, you can create something like the Assassin's Creed series, where being spotted isn’t the end of the world, and you can simply run away and then come back. Alternatively, you can do something like the HITMAN World of Assassinationseries, where being spotted has more serious repercussions. With that in mind, I recently played through developer Antonio Freyre’s indie project, No Sun to Worship, to see which kind of stealth title it is. 

No Sun to Worship at a glance appears to lack content; it’s very minimalist, with a few levels and two weapons throughout the adventure. However, the strength of the game is in how you complete your tasks. 

The setup is simple: you have a set number of targets in each mission that you need to “punish”, which, in this case, means killing. With that said, how you complete every mission is really up to you. The levels themselves are, for the most part, pretty straightforward in their design. There are no doors you need to find keys for or anything like that. Instead, the only thing blocking you from your task is the groups of soldiers patrolling the map. 

With that said, you can’t just run in guns blazing… well, you can, but it won’t end well. Your character doesn’t have much in the way of ammo, and you can’t take more than a couple of bullets before dying. Instead, the focus here is on stealth while finding the best path to reach each person you need to punish. 

I wasn’t lying when I said the levels were straightforward, but that isn’t the same as saying they’re basic. Each one has numerous different paths and shortcuts that you’ll discover as you go, which make it a bit easier to find the best angle of attack against the guards. These guards come in a couple of varieties, with the most basic going down to a single headshot. However, you’ll also encounter more armoured opponents who require a different strategy. 

For the most part, the enemy AI is pretty simple: they’ll follow a set route, but will respond to noise and will hunt you down if they can. You have a couple of options to take them out: you can shoot them if they’re not wearing a helmet, or, if they are, you can hold them up by aiming a gun at their back. From there, you can use a stealth takedown, which is the most reliable method of killing armoured opponents.  

As I said, you only have two weapons available to you from the get-go. You enter each mission with a silenced pistol alongside your rifle. The pistol is there to silently kill weaker opponents, while the rifle is louder and does more damage. Well, at least in theory it does, but it chews through ammo so fast it’s rarely worth bothering. 

The gameplay is honestly pretty fun, reminding me of some of the earlier stealth games I used to play. Now, while it might not be the deepest experience in the world, there’s a bit of a guilty pleasure when you get through a mission without being seen. 

If you are seen, then No Sun to Worship is forgiving so long as you can get out of sight. Not to mention, if you survive a firefight, you can get a small amount of health back from defeated enemies. However, I feel like the game would have been well-served by a type of cover mechanic or something showing line of sight for the enemies, as it can be hard to tell if they can spot you. Thankfully, the terrain is blocky enough that you can usually hide reasonably well without it. 

When it comes to the graphics, everything looks like a PlayStation One title with blocky designs and harsh lines. However, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. See, while the graphics won’t be winning any awards, they create a retro feel that will appeal to some. The lack of much sound design equally helps to build the immersion, but hearing the odd voice lines from the soldiers can get repetitive. 

If you’re looking for a stealth game that harkens back to the classics, then No Sun to Worship might be for you. With that said, if you’re looking for something with more variety, then you might be better served looking somewhere else, as there really isn’t anything else to do here outside of completing the mission.

It doesn’t help that, while No Sun to Worship states there are multiple paths, I honestly felt there was only one way to do each level properly. So, if you want something with a lot of variety, you might be better served with something like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.