BioShock-styled horror game Close to the Sun is out in May

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Close to the Sun looks a lot like BioShock, but it's a horror-adventure game rather than a shooter, and instead of Andrew Ryan it's Nikola Tesla calling the shots. He's still a staggeringly egotistical dick, though, committed to progress above all else—including basic ethics or morality—and willing to embrace the isolation of the sea to separate himself and his followers from the rest of human society so they can pursue their Utopic ideals without interruption.

Another similarity with Andrew Ryan's Rapture is that everything about Tesla's grand pursuit goes to hell in very short order. As journalist Archer Rose, you board the great, gold-flecked ship Helios, where your sister Ada is conducting research, but what you find it not at all good: "Grand halls stand empty. The stench of rotting flesh lingers in the air. Silence. A single word is painted across the entrance… QUARANTINE!"

The trailer does a nice job of establishing the atmosphere but says very little about how Close the Sun will actually play; for more on that, we can look to publisher Wired Productions, which describes it as a "first-person horror adventure where surviving is everything." The story will progress through "problem-solving" rather than mowing down a sufficient number of bad guys, and Rose herself is essentially defenseless and must rely in "running, hiding, and quick thinking" to survive.

Luckily for her, she's not alone: Close to the Sun will also feature "teamwork with an ally who helps Rose navigate her way through the ship’s artistic halls." Would you kindly turn left here, maybe?

All of this leads us to the point, which is that Close to the Sun is set to come out on May 2 on the Epic Games Store, and is available for pre-purchase now for $30.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.