From Dust

[kibblesticks]

Not that anyone cares what I think but if you're thinking of getting Ubisoft's new indie game "From Dust", DO IT. It's literally the most fun ever. Here's my very ameteur review.

 

By the way, although there really isn't much of a narrative to the game, I am about to talk about some of the later levels so Spoiler Warning:

 

From Dust is a sandbox/puzzle solving game where you basically sculpt the world around you to create a safe path for your tribes people to get across the map. If you've ever played the Falling Sand Game it's a lot like that except in 3D, with larger spaces and pretty graphics. Like in Falling Sand Game the player acts as a celestial hoover, shovelling up terrain and shunting it around the map to create passages and walls.

There are 3 main elements in the world of From Dust, Lava, Water and Earth. Earth is used for basic sculpting and path making, as well as to grow vegetation on. Water is simply a fluid that can sweep away entire villages. It will also erode Earth unless there is vegetation growing on it. Finally, lava is the most realistic simulation of the real life thing. It moves slowly, pouring down vertical slopes, carving trenches through the earth, setting things on fire and evaporating water. Lava is the hardest element to control but my personal favourite for messing around with.

 

You play the role of "The Breath of God", a near omnipotent orb which can pick up and drop matter at will. It's you versus nature, as you struggle to keep your tribe alive whilst fighting an onslaught of fire storms, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Your tribe must create villages at the four totems on every map to progress to the next level. Each totem gives you a different power and on some maps the order in which you populate villages is essential to your success. For example, on one map your tribe finds themselves in a volcanic crater which is filling with water fast. In this scenario you can decide not to grab the evaporation power first, which allows you to lower the water level, but it's your (or rather your tribe's) funeral.

 

Playing through each level is a multi-layered joy. At first everything is against you, including time, as natural disasters are sure to to begin mere minutes after you set foot on new ground. The first part of most levels consists of a frantic building of walls and ditches, trying to divert rivers and lava flows away from your precious tribesmen. Once your first village is established and you're pretty sure mother nature isn't hiding any nasty surprises up her sleeve (and she might be), you then enter the puzzle stage of the level where you can assess the best way to position terrain so that your people won't get fried, drowned or blown up trying to reach the next village.

 

This is my favourite stage of a level as you have to begin thinking, not only about the immediate, but also the long term effects of your actions. Blocking up that stream might let you access a new power totem, but at what cost? Backed up water has to spill out somewhere and it always pays to have a trench already in place to take the excess load, otherwise you might find rivers springing up all over the place, making travel impossible or worse, destroying your villages.

 

My games always last an hour or two as I like to construct the most elaborate, nature-defying landscapes possible. There is something very satifying about spending 40 minutes sculpting a landscape for the simple purpose of creating a head on collision between a volcanoe's lava stream and a fast running river.

 

For those who prefer a real challenge though, there are also challenge maps which require you to complete a certain objective in a given time limit. I haven't tried these myself yet, but I can tell you that whoever wrote the descriptions for the maps has a good sense of humour.

 

As for bad points, the game is a console port and has had little done to it to make it pc friendly. As a result, the edges of the map are sometimes innaccessible and some challenges can be completed quite easily by taking advantage of the fact that anything that goes over the edge dissapears for good. Once you realise this, it can be quite hard to resist directing all dangerous flows off the edge and into the all-consuming void.

 

Another issue caused by this console port is that the mouse sensitivity is fairly poor. You can't always get the accuracy you need, which is nowhere near game breaking, but can be a point of frustration when you accidently pour a torrent of lava directly onto the heads of the village elders..

 

Finally, this game measures everything in the world. Every drop of water you spill will make its way across the map and either off the edge or into the sea. Every rock face will maintain its shape, even when buried under a ton of sand. Because of this, I should imagine this game could be quite intensive on lower end pcs. I haven't personally experienced any issues but I am playing on a specalised gaming/graphics based computer. I would advise checking the game's system requirements before buying.

 

To summarize, From Dust is a an extremely fun game which can literally never be played the same way twice. In the earlier levels it makes you feel desperation and excitment as a new, dangerous world is revealed. By the end levels you feel like god, scultping the very surface of the Earth to your own ends. This gem is definately worth the £11 Steam is asking for.

[Arredamaal]

Relevant: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/18/ubisoft-edits-forum-keeps-from-dust-drm/

 

You need an internet connection every time you start the game, just a warning. (Despite an earlier assurance that it would only require a one-time internet connection. Oh, Ubisoft.)

[Thor.]

I'm getting it for sure, it has to wait frot he weekend though. Work gets in the way of fun.:down:

 

Downloading it now from steam.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Thor.

[kibblesticks]

Relevant: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/18/ubisoft-edits-forum-keeps-from-dust-drm/

 

You need an internet connection every time you start the game, just a warning. (Despite an earlier assurance that it would only require a one-time internet connection. Oh, Ubisoft.)

 

Hmm, that's quite troubling :confused: I really hope this DRM fad isn't going to snowball..

 

 

Thor., great! It's definatelty worth it, although apparently only if you have an internet connection on startup.

[JimboUK]

I changed my mind when I saw the DRM, I won't encourage that kind of DRM by buying games that use it.

[Michlo]

I started it last night; I was only able to play for an hour but enjoyed it a lot.

 

I am very disappointed that UBISoft lied about the DRM but it isn't enough to have me request a refund (though Steam is now offering them because of the lie), however. The control is a little irksome too but overall, I like it.

 

The first time I saw the tsunami coming for my little village I was a little awed. It was genuinely scary. heh.

 

So far I think it well worth the measly $14.99.

[ub3rman123]

I was considering getting this when I first saw the trailer, but my game pessimism told me that there'd be one flaw that makes it not as fun as it looks. I think I'll buy it.

[Thor.]

Relevant: http://www.rockpaper...-from-dust-drm/

 

You need an internet connection every time you start the game, just a warning. (Despite an earlier assurance that it would only require a one-time internet connection. Oh, Ubisoft.)

 

Hmm, that's quite troubling :confused: I really hope this DRM fad isn't going to snowball..

 

 

Thor., great! It's definatelty worth it, although apparently only if you have an internet connection on startup.

 

Not a Problem, always online anyways, a always on dedicated connection. Although my firewall can cause some trouble, it has a thing for blocking apps.

Edited August 19, 2011 by Thor.

[Iv000]

The game is locked at 30 FPS, you cannot change graphics settings because there are none, mouse controls are very poor.

It's safe to assume that this game was ported to PC only to get our money. I'm disappointed Ubisoft.

 

I hope Assassins Creed Revelations will be better then I think and come out for PC same day as for consoles, or I will never buy a Ubisoft game ever again.

[kibblesticks]

The game is locked at 30 FPS, you cannot change graphics settings because there are none, mouse controls are very poor.

It's safe to assume that this game was ported to PC only to get our money. I'm disappointed Ubisoft.

 

I hope Assassins Creed Revelations will be better then I think and come out for PC same day as for consoles, or I will never buy a Ubisoft game ever again.

 

 

What do you mean by "locked at FPS 30"? Everyone keeps complaining about that but I don't see what the big deal is? The game runs very smoothly for me :confused:

 

Also the mouse controls are a bit fiddly but I wouldn't go so far as to call them very poor.

Edited August 19, 2011 by kibblesticks