The Artifact of Gods

Stealth games are quite difficult to pull off properly, which is maybe why there are so few franchises out there touching the subject. While titles like Thief, Hitman and Metal Gear Solid have managed to cement their reputation, others failed to portray a proper atmosphere and provide the players with a satisfying amount of options when it comes to level navigation.

The Artifact of Gods is an adventure game played from a first-person perspective, in which you have to navigate treacherous environments and watch out for the enemies and the traps. There is also a bit of combat involved in the formula, but stealth is the safer bet and you are much more likely to succeed if you hide in the shadows and avoid direct contact with the vicious foes.

Story-wise, the plot revolves around an ancient and powerful artifact you must find, in order to return it to its rightful owner. To help you with this task, a powerful goddess guides the main character along the way, providing him with advice and help when he needs it the most. The villains are not very well portrayed, but it is enough to know that they want to stop you and most likely skin you alive.

The actual gameplay mechanics are a bit too fuzzy to be thoroughly enjoyable, in the sense that the stealth part is not always on point. While patrolling guards have the ability to see you from quite the distance if you do not crouch near a wall, they fail to hear the loud footsteps when you round around behind them. Hence, you often feel like there’s not much point in moving silently.

From a technical point of view, the game uses the Unity engine to render the graphics, so it certainly looks nice and sharp in most cases. The level design is a bit lazy and dull most of the time, but the characters and the artwork are quite nice. The sounds are nicely implemented as well, which helps a lot with the atmosphere.

Although The Artifact of Gods has plenty of flaws that could use a fix, the game is still pretty good for an independent studio. As such, with enough effort and dedication, they could do a lot better on their next endeavor, seeing how this has already been declared complete.