Strategy games often hold a reputation for giving players the luxury of time. Enough time to rethink their moves, plan their moves and execute game-changing maneuver. Artificer’s Sumerian Six manages to do all of that and more.
The game’s complex stealth systems and character abilities nonchalantly blend a meticulously woven narrative with an art style that mixes arcane elements along with a WWII backdrop.
Despite certain game-breaking bugs, Sumerian Six offers a highly challenging strategy game that will be loved by fans of genres that mix stealth and action with a clever retelling of historical fragments only science fiction can mess with.
Stealth, Secrets, and Saboteurs
Time is an all-too-valuable resource in this game, and that’s pretty evident from its mechanics as well as narrative direction. Right from the beginning, there are a couple of neatly sketched-out cutscenes and voice lines that introduce you to the game.
Then, you’re stepping right into the action. You move your character by clicking at places, stay aware of enemies’ lines of sight, and use the best of your abilities to kill, investigate, and shift through spaces.
But, that’s just the beginning! When you unlock a new character, you’re introduced to a strategic landscape where making decisions will feel highly personal to each character.
One can go throw stun grenades and transfer his consciousness into an enemy. The other can swap places with an enemy, while also going completely invisible, and so on.
I started wondering, “Wait, how is this even possible?”, and then nodded to the game’s supernatural themes mixed with realistic ones. And, that’s when I realized – the most realistic part of this game was my skillset. Otherwise, these characters would gladly conquer the world and destroy evil if it were up to them.
But, no. My knack for strategic-action prowess made me replay a level perhaps ten times until I figured out the best way to get things done. That’s just part of the process.
There Are Many Ways of Getting the Job Done
Despite the impressive tools and tactics I could apply in hopes of completing mission objectives, I struggled quite a bit. It’s almost as if the developers were mocking my stealth skills and asking me if I was up to this task. I was, trust me. Just… one more try (after my 20th attempt).
There’s no point in trying to make things simple for yourself in this game because Sumerian Six’s deft gameplay design ensures that enemies aren’t dumb, even though sometimes the AI can be questionable.
Especially when I’ve hidden a body right behind a desk, and the dead guy’s friend is likely wondering where he went. Yet, he chooses to patrol the area. Duty calls, eh?
Again, time is valuable here. So, with the simple press-and-hold of the X button, I could fast-forward time until my characters felt safe enough to take someone down. The game’s pacing also takes this opportunity to tell a story.
Between different locations and strategic maneuvers, characters would often talk to each other and have brief conversations. They would even talk to me! Yes, breaking the fourth wall is part of this game. That truly makes me wonder if these virtual personalities have a disheartening opinion about my skills.
Sneaky Flaws, Bold Ventures
As pretty, clever, and enticing as Sumerian Six is, it also has its problems. Some of them can feel a little game-breaking, but others feel like design decisions taken by Artificer for the sake of immersion.
For instance, one character’s abilities can completely make the other character feel useless. However, this is how you strategize in a way that makes it feel like teamwork, rather than solo play.
On the other hand, there was a bug I encountered where no matter how many times I loaded into the game, it would freeze the camera at a place where I couldn’t select any characters. I hope the developers fix this soon.
Finally, a character would sometimes keep moving toward an extremely risky place, even though I didn’t want them to. This happened whenever I wasn’t careful about my clicks, and was wrapping my head around all the available keyboard and mouse inputs.
Fortunately these things don’t paint the game’s essence in a bad light. The more you play Sumerian Six, the more you want to keep playing. If you’ve adored games like Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Desperados III, then Sumerian Six is going to impress you.
A fantastic gameplay loop, fascinating characters, and a historically inaccurate sci-fi journey are everything that makes this one worthy of your time.
Sumerian Six – 8/10
