Go straight to the game's trailer.
From Dust is available both on XBOX 360 (XBOX LIVE) and PC (Steam). It will be available on Playstation 3 (PSN) some time this month. The versions are identical both in terms of content and graphics. As it isn't available in stores, the price table above shows the cheapest offers for XBOX LIVE points, which allow you to buy the game on XBOX LIVE Marketplace.
We tested the game on XBOX 360. Note, at the moment the PC version requires you to maintain a constant Internet connection. This will be rectified in an update.
With Populous, the Bullfrog developers (Theme Hospital, Theme Park) built their reputation on a very particular genre, the god game, in which you become the creator and organiser of a world. Since its release in 1989, the games in the genre that have managed to offer a viable alternative to the original and very particular style are few and far between (Black & White). So when Éric Chahi (Another World), decided to put his grey matter to the service of the creation of a tribal version of a god game, how could we ignore it?
From Dust is certainly more about the concept than the game scenario. In itself, this isn't a fault as god games are more like strategy games than plot-driven action titles. The player is a god who guides an aboriginal tribe in the footsteps of their ancestors.
The player controls soil, lava and water in real time with an invisible hand, opening the way to territories by collecting the different resources represented on the earth. These resources can then be harnessed to help you progress through the game.
Sand is indispensable for creating routes through the landscape.
Sand, the main element of the game, allows you to channel water, at least to some extent, as you will find the channels you create erode quickly. When it comes into contact with liquid, lava solidifies to create rock and there are a variety of combinations that can be used to move the tribal people towards their goal: crossing through their ancestors' portal. Once this has been achieved you move up to the next level, in the same way as in Settlers.
To cross through this door to another world however, you have to activate totems beforehand. These are sacred artefacts around which the tribe sets up camp. Interaction is limited however and there's no management (harvest, construction) of villages. Nevertheless, the colonisation of these totems is indispensable.
Each artefact bestows special powers on you as the god. In addition to wind, the player can freeze water, evaporate it, move earth or make matter disappear, all of which comes very much in use as nature itself gets entirely out of control. What with tsunamis that can devastate the flora and volcanoes in full eruption, the collateral damage can become irreversible. The obelisks you'll find en route have protective power (like a sort of invisible shield) against water or fire.
It'll take you a little under seven hours to finish the solo campaign and make your way through the fourteen levels that get progressively more difficult. Difficulty levels are well managed and the challenge mode allows you to go back to the various maps with different constraints and extend the lifespan of the game.
Popular above all in the nineties and the beginning of the noughties, god games had their hour of glory on PC, the good old mouse/keyboard combination being optimal for this sort of game. It's difficult to get to the same level with a gamepad - the same goes for FPS titles. Not necessarily instinctive and rather heavy at the beginning of the adventure, the gameplay here nevertheless gets better when you work out how to juggle between the close up view and the view from a distance. It does take some getting used to.
There are numerous desert regions.
Camera changes are very useful when you have to be both rapid (from a distance) to collect sand, water and lava, and precise (close-up) to offload minerals and protect villages from the natural elements. The accumulation and dispersal of matter is fairly simple to handle - you just press the trigger. The same goes for the different powers of the totems, configured with the directional arrows.
In addition to the simple and attractive level-design, the success of the game is also down to the physics engine. Each game is unique. It's impossible to start a map and finish it without the environment changing significantly. Everything is allowed but not everything is possible.
Encircled by lava... but there's more to come!
The laws of nature rule in what are ever more hostile environments. If you change the trajectory of a river, say, a lake will form beside one of totems! Deviate lava and flames and forests will be devastated! Every change you make to the landscape can either improve security in the villages or lead to danger. Any security is ephemeral in this world of capricious catastrophes and you're very much aware that nature is in control.
The AI of the aboriginals could be improved. The multiple changes to the decor in real time don't make it easy for an AI which sometimes struggles to orientate itself.
From Dust is available both on XBOX 360 (XBOX LIVE) and PC (Steam). It will be available on Playstation 3 (PSN) some time this month. The versions are identical both in terms of content and graphics. As it isn't available in stores, the price table above shows the cheapest offers for XBOX LIVE points, which allow you to buy the game on XBOX LIVE Marketplace.
We tested the game on XBOX 360. Note, at the moment the PC version requires you to maintain a constant Internet connection. This will be rectified in an update.
Content: the hand of God
From Dust is certainly more about the concept than the game scenario. In itself, this isn't a fault as god games are more like strategy games than plot-driven action titles. The player is a god who guides an aboriginal tribe in the footsteps of their ancestors.The player controls soil, lava and water in real time with an invisible hand, opening the way to territories by collecting the different resources represented on the earth. These resources can then be harnessed to help you progress through the game.
Sand is indispensable for creating routes through the landscape.
Sand, the main element of the game, allows you to channel water, at least to some extent, as you will find the channels you create erode quickly. When it comes into contact with liquid, lava solidifies to create rock and there are a variety of combinations that can be used to move the tribal people towards their goal: crossing through their ancestors' portal. Once this has been achieved you move up to the next level, in the same way as in Settlers.
To cross through this door to another world however, you have to activate totems beforehand. These are sacred artefacts around which the tribe sets up camp. Interaction is limited however and there's no management (harvest, construction) of villages. Nevertheless, the colonisation of these totems is indispensable.
You have to cross through the portals to move from one map to another.
Each artefact bestows special powers on you as the god. In addition to wind, the player can freeze water, evaporate it, move earth or make matter disappear, all of which comes very much in use as nature itself gets entirely out of control. What with tsunamis that can devastate the flora and volcanoes in full eruption, the collateral damage can become irreversible. The obelisks you'll find en route have protective power (like a sort of invisible shield) against water or fire.
It'll take you a little under seven hours to finish the solo campaign and make your way through the fourteen levels that get progressively more difficult. Difficulty levels are well managed and the challenge mode allows you to go back to the various maps with different constraints and extend the lifespan of the game.
Gameplay: become a god with a gamepad, a real challenge
Popular above all in the nineties and the beginning of the noughties, god games had their hour of glory on PC, the good old mouse/keyboard combination being optimal for this sort of game. It's difficult to get to the same level with a gamepad - the same goes for FPS titles. Not necessarily instinctive and rather heavy at the beginning of the adventure, the gameplay here nevertheless gets better when you work out how to juggle between the close up view and the view from a distance. It does take some getting used to.
There are numerous desert regions.
Camera changes are very useful when you have to be both rapid (from a distance) to collect sand, water and lava, and precise (close-up) to offload minerals and protect villages from the natural elements. The accumulation and dispersal of matter is fairly simple to handle - you just press the trigger. The same goes for the different powers of the totems, configured with the directional arrows.
Graphics: a homage to mother nature
In addition to the simple and attractive level-design, the success of the game is also down to the physics engine. Each game is unique. It's impossible to start a map and finish it without the environment changing significantly. Everything is allowed but not everything is possible. 
Encircled by lava... but there's more to come!
The laws of nature rule in what are ever more hostile environments. If you change the trajectory of a river, say, a lake will form beside one of totems! Deviate lava and flames and forests will be devastated! Every change you make to the landscape can either improve security in the villages or lead to danger. Any security is ephemeral in this world of capricious catastrophes and you're very much aware that nature is in control.
The AI of the aboriginals could be improved. The multiple changes to the decor in real time don't make it easy for an AI which sometimes struggles to orientate itself.
From Dust Trailer
Pros
- Realistic video engine
- Nice level-design
- Nature in pure form, beautiful and devastating
- Well-dosed difficulty levels
- Return of the god game
Cons
- Poor AI
- Gameplay not easy to master
- Lack of interaction with villages
Conclusion
Not exactly picking up where Populous left off but not bad all the same. It's refreshing to see Ubisoft returning to the god game genre as it has been very little exploited over the last ten years.
OUR SCORE
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