Dustforce is a game about what it’s actually like to be a janitor– the secret ninja tests, learning to double jump, and air dashing are all a prerequisite to cleaning up surface messes. Fortunately for us, Hitbox saves everyone the trouble of doing anything physical while still being able to enjoy speed cleaning by virtue of releasing an indie title to PC.
As it stands, sweeping can actually be fun, but there’s still no verdict on vacuuming.
What Hitbox has created is a gorgeous-looking test of skill of the likes not seen since SMB or some other game I can’t think of off the top of my head. Platformers exist on the basis that their core mechanics are simple and versatile, which gives players a simple toolset to romp around a given level with. It’s what makes Mario such a success – as well as Meat Boy’s tightly wound controls – in that nothing is impossible if you know how to drive the game. Controlling jumps in Dustforce is just as critical as it is in what we’ve come to understand in past titles, but more interesting is the attention drawn to covering surfaces in a specific route rather than B-lining to the finish. That’s not to say that time isn’t of the essence, as the online leaderboards will assuredly humble players into repeated viewings of the top score’s run until there’s simply no physical way to move a thousandth of a second forward, but S-ranking a level depends on both skill and coverage.
Basically, one must learn to walk before they can lose their legs in an automobile accident and later break records with prosthetic appendages– or something.
3) You suck at jumping. And running. And 2D parkour. While you may be a master of the tutorial level, and even a few of the opening forest sections, it’s going to take some time to understand the game’s nuances about when exactly double or triple jumping is allowed, if a wall jump is necessary or whether air-dashing will toss you far enough to safety, and so on. Seeing as characters can literally be guided along 90-degree angles until upside down with just the joystick/arrow keys, and will even give a brief hop off walls at the end of a vertical run, there appears to be a wealth of finesse to wrangle in the most basic of actions. Learning to understand which character you play best with is its own bit of research as well, but anticipating how your inputs will be affected by environment design or animation flourish is an entirely different beast which must be tamed before real progress begins. The most frustrating part comes straight from 4) the game’s own difficulty. Later stages will have you questioning your sanity, and while S-ranking easy levels to unlock harder rooms is a challenge at first, what lies beyond the gold locks are some of the most quizzically designed levels I’ve seen in maybe my entire life.
Dustforce is a steal at any price under $20 with its wealth of content, including local multilayer (which begs for the future incorporation of online multiplayer to be patched in) and a level editor-to-be proposing a healthy life past release for the title. While it has caveats and nuances that initially seemed confusing (such as controller input being digital rather than taking advantage of analog input and pressure-sensitive buttons), these gameplay design decisions reveal themselves in time, at least in adjusting to them. Chalk up more precise controller integration to my small wishlist of little things I’d like to see patched. The fact that it costs half of my proposed cost-against-value, it’s impossible for me not to recommend any fan of platformers or 2D games to wait any longer to play it. What a great way to build an argument, right? Nonetheless, not only is there a tightly wound indie game to champion as a diamond in the rough for 2012, it’s wrapped within a great coat of aesthetics and a dreamy little soundtrack to go with it. Very worth one’s time, outside of becoming an actual ninja janitor.
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