Game Review: DUSK

By Weston

Players: 1 (Online: Up to 16)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

DUSK is a Survival Horror FPS game by Publisher New Blood Interactive. Specifically, DUSK is a modern FPS game that was inspired by the classic FPS games like Doom, Half-Life, Quake, and Wolfenstein. The story takes place in the fictional rural town of Dusk, Pennsylvania, were the locals have discovered some Lovecraftian ruins that turn those nearby into a demonically possessed being. Since that initial incident the government sealed the town hoping to stop the spread of the evil that they had unleashed upon themselves. You play as the "Dusk Dude", or "The Intruder", who has recently arrived after hearing that there is treasure within. As you make your way to the town you are caught by the locals and placed near a farm, set to be a sacrifice. As The Intruder you make your way through farmland, factories, the underground, government bases, and the town itself.

Gameplay consists of you fighting your way through several levels set in three areas of the game, in a quest to reach the exit. You'll face several hazards like cultists, demonic animals, possessed soldiers and locals, sentient creatures, and the occasional boss monster. While you're traversing each level you'll pick up a variety unique weapons such as a shotgun, a pistol, magical arrows, magical sword, and so on. You will also pick up unique items like keys, alcohol, health packs, gasoline, furniture, crates, etc. Each time you complete a level you are given stats on how many enemies you've killed, secrets you discovered, how fast you completed the level, and also a second time score from the creators to compare to how fast you beat the level. If you are defeated in a level, or killed by a boss, you start from the beginning the level. So you have to survive from the start to the end of the level. DUSK also has an Endless Mode where you fight your way through infinite waves of monsters and evil creatures to see how long you can survive before you inevitably succumb to your imminent death by theses ferocious Lovecraftian monsters. Multiplayer is done in a style similar to the Deathmatch Mode found in Quake, that sees you take on up to 16 players as you all fight to the death with the multitude of weapons with your disposal.

The in-game settings have variety of options to make the gameplay either easier or harder for you, so you can enjoy or hate your time playing the game. The other settings give you the option to add or remove weapons and ammo, skip levels, and start levels either fully loaded or with nothing at all. Intruder Mode lets you use sickles as your main weapon at the start of the level, and you fight the creatures to obtain more items. Other options have things to customize such as display, the crosshair, color palettes, and pixilation to make it like an early 90s PC game, or even to make it similar to a handheld pixel format.

If you are committed to playing from start to finish of DUSK, you will find many easter eggs drawn from all forms of horror. On average you can beat the game in about 6-7 hours, but if you are a completionist who wants to find every secret in the game, then hopefully you have around 15-17 hours to fully commit to it. The pricing gives you lots of game for your buck, and comes in at just $19.99. For a game like this, that's just about right.

Overall DUSK is a must play! I feel this is in the same tier along with Doom and Quake, and other games from the early days of the FPS genre. This game is a modern example of what FPS games can be with a heavy dose of horror/survival style gameplay as well. Do yourself a favor and check out the trailer. Then come back and tell me that it doesn't look like it will give you the groovy thrill of playing a low-polygon, old-school, horror style FPS game for modern platforms. 

Check Out DUSK on The Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dusk-switch/

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Story: B
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A 60 frame per second game with exceptional graphics.
+ A well-polished modern horror FPS game.
+ Controls well in both handheld and with mouse and keyboard.

Cons:
- Lack of maps make it somewhat confusing to know where to go.
- May cause motion sickness if one isn't used to the higher framerates.
- Challenging, but very mid on both enemies and boss battles.

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