For fans of isometric action stealth real-time puzzle games – the acronym for the genre is frankly an absolute mess – the news of Mimimi Games’ closure was like a gut punch to the face – if that combination of conflicting body parts even makes sense. No more Shadow Tactics, no Desperados 4, no sequel to Shadow Gambit; Mimimi’s untimely departure was a crushing loss to the video game industry. Which is why Sumerian Six grabbed me by the eyeballs during its initial release in 2024.
Looking like the forgotten lovechild of Mimimi, this release from Artificer Games gave me serious Shadow Gambit vibes, just with soldiers rather than pirates. But now I’ve finally got my grubby mitts on the PS5 release of the game – I really must stop playing games wearing gloves and wash them instead – can Sumerian Six possibly live up to the unrelenting hype of my own mind? Well, yes.
Set in an alternative history of World War 2, Sumerian Six tells the story of the Enigma Squad, a sextet of scientists seeking to save the world from occult loving Nazis. They’ll do this by visiting different German-occupied bases – castles, underground bunkers, demon-summoning laboratories, you get the idea – sneak around and kill almost everyone they meet. Objectives amount to navigating the labyrinthine lairs you face to reach a certain location. Though within that structure, there’s an impressive amount of player strategies available. Indeed, the amount of tactical options available to the player, thanks to six player characters and numerous innovative abilities, is rather mind-boggling.
Levels are vast, but are smartly broken down into a series of smaller challenge rooms, each providing the player with a puzzle: How do I get my team safely past the sentries guarding the way? With the smart, accessible, and well-thought-through controller setup, you’re nimbly able to highlight the view cones, sight lines, and movement patterns of your enemy, figuring out the optimum route through their ranks. Of course, you’ll get spotted and killed a lot, but quick saves can be liberally applied with the tap of a button, minimising the frustration. Though, unlike some stealth games, if you are spotted, there’s really no getting out of it, you’re best-off restarting as dozens of Nazis close in on your position and shoot the Sumerian out of your six.
Speaking of the Sumerian Six, it’s thanks to the inventive abilities of your team that the gameplay remains as interesting and engaging as it does through the twenty-hour ish playtime. One of your scientists can swap positions with a nearby enemy, setting them up for an ambush, whilst another can travel around sat on an enemy, unseen – kind of like a budget-priced Antman. There are time-limited invisibility suits to experiment with, various stun grenades, and a dude who turns into a Nazi-eviscerating werebear.
Part of the fun is in discovering how these distinctive abilities play off with each other, combining their effects in unusual and memorable ways. Thanks to the ability to pause time and give your squad individual orders, you can easily set up elaborate traps for your slightly-too dumb foes. Body-swapping with a clueless henchman, who is then sent into the welcoming arms of an enormous man bear, is an early highlight, but the creative delights keep on coming.
Sure, the enemy can be stupid, but I genuinely didn’t mind that they quickly resume their patrol despite all their friends being dead, it just gets the player back into the sneaking sooner. After all, Sumerian Six is a pacey stealth game – you can even speed up time to get to your desired moment to strike faster – and the fact that the enemy don’t spend much time searching for you adds to its rollicking rapid rhythm. They make up for their inherent idiocy with numbers, and, for some levels, things can get too grindy with as several nasty difficulty spikes as the game demands you intricately creep through entire armies of enemies.
There’s no two ways about it, to make progress, you will have to keeping trying and failing until you find the right approach. So, in this regard, Sumerian Six certainly won’t be for everyone. Still, with its delightfully pulpy plot, over-the-top comic book visuals, and eminently innovative character abilities for die-hard Mimimi fans, there’s plenty here to keep you delighting in culling the Nazi-herd for many hours to come.
