This week, MKAU was lucky enough to get their hands on ‘Sumerian Six’ brought to you by Artificer and published Devolver Digital, for preview. This action-packed RTS strategy game takes you on a journey through an alternate history as a group of the world’s greatest scientists team up to fight against the Third Reich.

The story opens up during World War II where an elite team of scientists known as the ‘Enigma Squad’ embarked on harnessing the unlimited energy of a powerful, mystical substance known as ‘Geiststoff’. The project turned into a catastrophe, and all members of the illustrious Enigma Squad agreed Geiststoff was way too dangerous, all but one that is, the treacherous, Hans Kammler. After securing a new patron, Hans Kammler embarks on a mission to control the powers of Gieststoff and unleash its energy by creating a Wunderwaffe (super weapon) and various super soldiers along the way.

This is where the Sumerian Six comes into play. Join Sid Sterling, Isabella Sterling, Rosa Reznick, Wojtek Galica, Alistair Sterling and Siegfried Von Adelsberg as an unlikely squad of commando scientists determined to thwart the plans of the notorious Hans Kammler and fight against the Third Reich who possess experimental technology, that may drastically alter the outcome of the war if not stopped in their tracks.

Players who don’t usually play strategy games like Sumerian Six might find the controls a little tricky to get your head around at first, however, they are very easy to learn quickly. To move around you click on an area and your character will move to said target. At the bottom of the screen, you have your character’s various abilities that you can either use the keyboard to trigger or simply use your cursor.

I found using a combination of keyboard and using my mouse was very easy in stressful and more panic-inducing situations. Further expanding on controls, you can also use Q and E to rotate the map and move. I did find that using my cursor to move the map was very sensitive and I often would have my camera darting off in different directions due to how sensitive it was. This was nothing too troubling, however, as you can easily adjust the sensitivity in the settings menu.

Listing all the various abilities of each character would have me babbling on for ages so I’m only going to name just a few. Starting the game, you sneak around as Sid Sterling who can jump, shoot and blind enemies. As you progress further through the starting mission you are greeted by his sister, Isabella Sterling, who is deep undercover within the Nazi regime. Playing as Isabella, you can become invisible for a duration of time, lure enemies with her beguiling light and even swap places with enemies of your choosing.

Progressing through each level you will see glowing boxes that are conveniently coloured to your character’s colour. These boxes contain skill upgrades that level up your character’s ability.

The action-packed levels are a very notable mention with each having a plethora of ways to take out your targets all while staying unseen and trying not to raise the alarm. I often found myself scratching my head for a few minutes thinking of how to take this one soldier out stealthily who kept patrolling around and would always blow it by killing him in another enemy’s field of view, a feature that is very prominent in this title.

There are three difficulties, much like other strategy games, that are tailored to suit the experience of all players such as easy, normal and hard. I will admit after failing multiple times I did dial it back to easy for a bit and it still took me a while to get through each level but the challenge was appreciated.

Inspired by real places and events around World War II, I expected a high level of detail and was not disappointed. The game incorporates a nice blend of bright and dark colours in a cel-shaded animation style and design. The landscapes and scenery were astounding for a strategy game and left me thoroughly impressed as I delved further and further into the story.

Enemies are easy to spot with the bright red highlights and bright green vision cones and you can easily see the area of effect from your abilities with the bright blue circles. Needless to say, players will have a wonderful time sneaking around each level destroying the Nazis and also taking a moment to bask in the intricate views as I did.

Likewise, the sound work is also a wonderful feature in this game. The backing sound effects were intense. The panic when raising an alarm had my heart racing as I tried to escape out of view and hide, then turning soft and quiet, allowing me to concentrate on my next move. The dialogue was also very well done, the characters showed intense emotion when conversing which further pulled me in desperately wanting to advance in the story and see what happens next.

Sumerian Six is an intense, action-packed strategy game that sets a high bar for someone like myself who is new to this genre. It features wonderful scenery, an intense soundtrack, and an intriguing storyline. I firmly believe that Sumerian Six should be one to watch out for if you love strategy games and anything related to history. Make haste, defeat Hans Kammler, and stop the Nazis from turning the tides of the war!

Written by: Larry