The mobile games market and that of games for PC and consoles almost always run along parallel paths, offering, on the one hand, experiences designed for quick and extemporaneous use, but often capable of proposing truly innovative ideas; on the other, more structured, consistent and, in general, traditional productions.
However, it sometimes happens that the borders between these two worlds become thinner or even disappear, thanks to technological progress and the now amazing capabilities of the latest generation smartphones and tablets; And so, even the evaluations of critics, which move within the framework of reasoning based mainly on the state of the individual platform, find themselves suffering a small short circuit.
La Dust and Neon review is a great example of this: the roguelite-style twin-stick shooter developed by David Marquardt Studios It is available not only on iOS and Android in free format for Netflix subscribers, but also on PC and Nintendo Switch; and it's at its best only when you put aside the touch controls to hold a controller.
Structure: too light roguelite
Within aalternative and futuristic western setting, Dust & Neon puts us in control of a new Frankenstein monster: a cyborg created by a (mad?) scientist and mass produced, in the sense that after each death it can be replaced by an identical clone, which also retains Progress. done in terms of updates despite losing your equipment from time to time.
Our task, as part of a campaign that will allow us to explore four different areas to arrive at a comparison with six powerful bosses, will be to complete a series of tasks that tend to repeat themselves cyclically: clear a map of the robotic sentinels that occupy it, sabotage a factory and possibly collect precious resources.
Starting from our creator's laboratory, where we can use the money and objects obtained up to that point to unlock to update for the character but also new weapons that will occupy the three equipment slots (one for the pistol, one for the shotgun and one for the rifle), we will have to go through a kind of citadel until we reach the mission access terminal.
At that moment we will find ourselves projected into the scenarios that form the backdrop of the different challenges, generated by a procedural system and therefore with all the limitations of a solution of this type, which pays little attention to level design and soon ends up offering us paths that are all more or less the same, full of chests to open and buildings to steal.
Gameplay: A weapon that gets stuck
Dust & Neon's twin-stick shooter mechanics bring back a Great satisfaction when shots hit enemies. and they present surprising strategic implications, in the form of objects behind which our character can automatically hide, then appear to shoot when the left trigger of the controller is pressed.
We talk about controller Not in vain, because despite having tried the mobile version of the game we were forced to run it on an iPad with a Bluetooth gamepad connected to the tablet: in fact, the only really effective configuration to enjoy this experience without problems. HE play commands In fact, they have a problematic design, with the weapon switch button too close to the left virtual joystick and a very delicate reloading mechanism.
The developers had the interesting idea of managing the recharge showing the barrel of the equipped weapon on the screen and asking us to press the button as many times as we want to insert cartridges: with physical controls this works well and we can also be quite fast in the middle of a frantic confrontation, while with the touch screen it is crazy and You have to resort to automatic loading, which however loses that visual signal and works more slowly.
Obviously it doesn't help degree of challenge far from trivial, again an exception to the rule if we take into account how mobile games usually work. It is possible to choose between the easy and normal level, but only at the beginning of the game: if you do not want to lose the progress made up to that point, you will have to put on a brave face and take advantage of the game's overs linked to a system that makes yes available to do somersaults to get out of trouble, but at the same time it tends to fill the screen with enemies during ambushes.
Technical realization: nice but limited.
La graphics by Dust & Neon makes discreet use of cel shading to represent an almost cartoonish style, very cute and functional for the action, also thanks to the isometric view and the possibility, on smartphones and tablets, to bring the settings to the high default value of 60 frames per second, thus enjoying a fluidity that also positively affects the precision of the gameplay.
The price to pay for the mobile phone is a considerable battery consumption, but if you have to play with the tablet placed on a stand and the controller, no one prevents you from connecting the device to the power, right? It is a shame that the aforementioned procedural system ends up giving us scenarios that are quite similar to each other, increasing the feeling of generalized repetitiveness.
Conclusions
Tested version iPhone digital delivery Steam, Nintendo e-store, app store, Google Play Price Free Holygamerz.com 7.0 Readers (1) 6.6 your voteDust & Neon is a roguelite-style twin-stick shooter that features some great ideas but too many rough edges. Shooting enemies at point-blank range with a powerful shotgun gives great satisfaction, much more than stalking and shooting from a distance, but the frenetic and complicated situations that are often staged do not adapt well to the touch control system, which becomes confusing and It really forces you to rely on a controller, perhaps taking advantage of the larger screen of a tablet. If you're a Netflix subscriber, you should give it a try, but the repetitiveness of the structure may make you turn your nose up after the first boss.
PRO
- let's say it's a beauty
- Some notable ideas
- Stylistically interesting
AGAINST
- Difficult to play on the touch screen.
- Quite repetitive
- Some annoying difficulty spikes
