Sunset Giant demo on Steam could provide low-level Godzilla/Cloverfield Thrills

There's a new demo on Steam for the game Sunset Giant. This game is developed by NINJINIX and while it's certainly nothing to write home about, the demo is certainly mildly entertaining, and probably worth a download, especially for fans of giant monster movies.

Going into the game, I wasn't expecting much, but decided to give it ye 'ole college try. I immediately got a strong indie vibe from the game. It's pretty obvious it was developed by a small team with limited resources. This isn't a high-end production. Still, there's something about it that's strangely charming. Problem is, you have to stick with it for awhile to see it's charms, and you also have to overlook some tremendously glaring flaws.

Off the bat, you'll notice a major locomotion problem. There's no free locomotion option. Instead, you get a strange movement option designed to avoid VR sickness. You basically press forward on the thumbstick or trackpad, and you'll move in short bursts. It's a bit annoying, but you can learn to deal with it. One problem the game can't overcome however is the simple environment. The entire game takes place on a single backdrop of nondescript brown buildings. Had developer NINJINIX provided additional environments, it could have added that something extra.

While the environments are drab, it could be the lackluster A.I. of the monster enemies that really doom this game. It's unfortunate, because the boss monsters have a simplistic charm that makes you want to root for them. The problem is, their lack of intelligence is unmistakable. You can simply sneak up to the side of them and take them out with repeated missile blasts. Speaking of missile blasts, you're limited to a single weapon type. Basically the equivalent of a bazooka that fires three blasts. It does feel exhilarating to blast these huge behemoths, but I couldn't help but think how cool it would've been to have had additional weapons to experiment with.

Still, Sunset Giant isn't without it's charms. You play this for awhile, and you can't help but think how this idea would work given a larger development team and a substantial budget. The core idea of Sunset Giant works. The game is fun for a brief spurt if nothing else. It's $17 price point is a bit much, considering you can blow through this content pretty quickly. The free demo is a better idea. You get to sample 8 of the 24 available levels, and within that time, you'll see both the promise and problems the game features. Maybe if this game was priced in the $5 or less range, I could considering recommending it. Try the demo and see what you think!