Summer of Arcade Review – From Dust

Jmlane

From Dust is a fun puzzle game that successfully combines vibrant art direction with accessible and creative gameplay. The compelling story of the lost memories of the tribe of men effectively propels the game forward. As the Breath, the guardian spirit of the tribe, you must tame the world to help your tribe find their memories and hopefully the mystical ancients who came before men.

As you progress, you discover the power of the elements, of songs, and of the Ancients' totems, each of which give players a new way to interact with the world and its inhabitants. Your strategies for how to best use those tools are tested by the increasingly complex levels, which are beautiful and alive with the power of the elements. The world can change itself significantly before you have time to notice, foiling your current plans, if you fall inattentive to the presence of the elements around your tribe. The challenge mode and the quest to unlock all challenges will prolong the enjoyment of From Dust for puzzle game lovers and those wanting to experiment with the game mechanics.

Mecandes

As a fan of Another World (a 1991 Amiga game), I was really interested to check out this new project by the same designer, Eric Chahi. I'm pleased to report that old-school gamers will not be disappointed! From Dust borrows a riff from another classic, Populous (a 1989 game by Fable creator, Peter Molyneux) by casting you in the role of a protector of a small nomadic tribe. However, instead of controlling the tribe itself, you manipulate the landscape, water and lava with the goal of shaping the world into a place which will allow the tribe to complete its goals.

The visuals of From Dust are remarkable, and the realistic physics of the elements makes this the sort of game you will want to show off to your friends. The gameplay is introduced with a gentle learning curve, easy to grasp and immediately rewarding, but most importantly it remains fun! (You'll never forget saving your tribe from their first tsunami!) Once the rules of the sandbox are established, it becomes clear that the possibilities for new levels are endless: indeed, in addition to the story missions, there are dozens of additional "challenge" missions with leaderboards to test the skills you have learned against your friends.

There are a lot of cool little touches in the visual design of this game. Everything from the subtitled native language and oral mythology, to the way important tribespeople are highlighted (not with a flashing arrow or icon, but by flying a little kite and streamers) add to the ambience. Even if it doesn't sound like your kind of game, be sure to check out the demo. I definitely consider From Dust to be near the top of my list of "must-have" Xbox Live Arcade titles.

Unlike other types of god games, in From Dust you're not all-powerful. You are what are known as a "The Breath" and can control the natural elements. The main story has you sending tribesmen to establish a village around various totems. Graphically the game looks rather amazing especially once you start deforming the land to help your tribes survive disaster events like tsunamis.

You need to find all the totems and get the tribes to build villages in order to move to new areas. There are also objects that you can send your tribesmen to that give them powers like the ability to protect their village tsunamis with the power of music. That brings up another very cool part, the sounds in this game are very good and I found them very soothing but also provide cues to some oncoming disasters.

There is also a challenge mode that puts you in a level with goals to accomplish and you get rated for the leaderboards so you can see how well your friends and others are doing on Xbox Live. This will keep you coming back for more.

I've got to say, I'm very impressed with this title and would recommend you giving it a try. Oh, did I also mention they give you an avatar item too?

The hits keep coming in this year's Summer of Arcade with From Dust by Ubisoft Montpellier. Designed by Eric Chahi, From Dust puts you in the role of The Breath, a force called upon by a nomadic tribe that's able to harness the elements to aid them in their search of the ancients.

In the game, you control a swirling cursor that is able to pick up earth, water and lava to deposit elsewhere. You can then create paths or remove obstacles for your tribe so they may venture to build villages or gather totems that allow protection from natural disasters or to augment your skills. The main goal is to lead your tribe to the next gateway so they can settle on new islands, each with their own challenges and environmental dangers.

Visually, the game is stunning. Water ripples and snakes its way through earth you've created to find its way to the sea. Lava burns vegetation and forms rock when cooled. Earth falls as grains of sand and turns to mud near water. Everything has been thought out to act as a true living environment.

Forming bridges from cooled lava can aid or hinder villagers trying to cross rivers. They can be too steep or too low to water only to watch them carried off by the current if they try to swim ashore. It's truly the attention to detail that makes this game so unique to play in an industry dominated by more action oriented genres.

I highly recommend From Dust. In my attempts to lead my tribe on a journey to discover their origins, I've been positioned to think of nature as either savior or destroyer. You can always play in demo mode, but I'm sure you'll be quickly addicted its unique gameplay. The question remains though, will you be a happy god or a vengeful god?