Dust: A Tale of the Wired West Review

You're broke, dirty and on the lam from The Kid, one tough hombre, all because of a poker game turned ugly.

Dust opens with you, The Stranger, on the doorstep of 1882 Diamondback, New Mexico, a fictional locale that's one horse shy of being a one-horse town. And that's the good news. You're broke, dirty and on the lam from The Kid, one tough hombre, all because of a poker game turned ugly.

Credit CyberFlix, known for their futuristic shoot-'em-ups, not only for departing from what's been successful, but for delivering an engaging, if not the most challenging, adventure game. Dust has the requisite items for you to find and store for later use, and people for you to talk to in order to gain useful information, but this standard fare is given new and sometimes humorous twists. An apple pie, for instance, can be traded for a pair of boots or used to kill one of Diamondback's more unsavory elements.

Most puzzles have several solutions, each of which leads you down a different path to your ultimate rendezvous with destiny. The entire town has a very fluid look and feel, including citizens who go about their business as you go about yours, and cinematics that help advance key story points.

You'll interact with more than 30 different characters as you attempt to rid yourself of The Kid, solve the mystery of a lost Spanish silver mine, and save this destitute town from itself. One aspect of this game that leaves plenty of room for improvement is the acting. Maybe they were meant to be colorful or amusing, but most of the characters are simply annoying and you will likely find yourself irked by almost all of them at some point.

Overall, Dust is a far better-than-average game and is an especially good introduction to the adventure genre. While this title is not terribly taxing at the outset, even seasoned gamers will have to leap a few hurdles before happily riding off into the sunset.

The Good

  • N/A

The Bad

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