At Sundown: Shots in the Dark | Xbox One | Review

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After a brief period of exclusivity with Discord, At Sundown: Shots in the Dark has been released onto multiple platforms, bringing with it an atypical twist on the multiplayer shooter.

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by
Chris Brand

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@SuperCrisco

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Developer: Mild
Beast Games
Publisher: Versus Evil
Platforms: Xbox One,
PS4, Switch, PC
Players: 1 - 4

At Sundown should feel instantly familiar to anyone who's played a twin-stick shoot-‘em-up, at least in terms of fundamentals, as the stealth aspects of this “hide-and-seek shooter” add a degree of complexity which sets it apart. Arenas are almost completely shrouded in darkness, concealing players save for when they shoot, sprint, dodge, or enter one of a scant few light areas.

Each map has a particular theme, a couple of different layouts and a mechanic that will both help and hinder you at regular intervals. The Mansion, for example, features frequent lightning strikes which momentarily illuminate your surroundings; this can be useful when you're wandering around in the gloom and may have veered off course, but it also invites hails of bullets now that general positions are known.

When it comes to gunplay, standard shooter rules apply: a sniper rifle is excellent at tagging enemies from long range (piercing through any obstacles along the way), but at close range a shotgun will serve you much better. Taking a carefree approach isn’t particularly viable, as offloading randomly into the shadows is a surefire way to ensure your opposition know exactly where to find you. Rarely is a shot fired without some kind of response.

​Every gun, sword and, uh, umbrella, has its own distinct primary and alternate fire modes. You'll likely find a favourite early on and we're willing to bet it's that overpowered sniper rifle. Being able to kill anyone, from anywhere, and having a deployable brick of C4 to guard your flank makes up for the lengthy reload after each shot.

As you continue to play and progress, unlocks are awarded with each level gained and come in the form of new weapons, maps and game modes. Whilst the unlockable maps and modes offer some variety (King of the Hill works particularly well), building the unconventional armoury is At Sundown’s real prize.

The level cap can be reached very quickly, ensuring things aren't locked behind progression for too long, but that does mean you’ll pretty much have seen everything the game has to offer within a couple of hours.

Typically for a multiplayer-focused game, longevity comes from honing your craft. You can do so locally, with up to four players supported, while AI bots can fill in any available spaces. AI capability ranges from laughably easy to cheating bastard, which can depend more on the weapons in play than the difficulty setting.

Unfortunately, padding matches with bots isn't an option if you venture online. We weren’t able to find an online bout during our playtime, though that shouldn’t come as a surprise, as we were playing pre-release, but we were able to try out some 1v1 battles and, as suitably tense as they were (thanks in no small part to the ominous soundtrack), the experience felt proportionally watered down. Technically it was spot on, it just lacked the measured carnage of a four-way firefight.

Still, Mild Beast Games have taken the slow, methodical strategy of Battleships, infused it with the twitchy thrill of a modern shooter and presented it in a way which invites an inaccurate, but not unfair, comparison to Bomberman. If you and yours are any sort of frantic multiplayer fans, then At Sundown might just be worth a look.

Pros

• Unique twist on the genre
• Easy to pick up and play
• Moreish gameplay
• Satisfying weaponry

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Cons

• Light on content
• No online bots

7/10