Moments later and this dog wasn’t just terrible, he was dead. “Playing as a dog is hard,” I apologised. Since we started in full view of the bandits, I couldn’t use stealth, either. Unfortunately I was a dog, which meant every enemy turned into a Jackson Pollock painting before I could even get to them. Or at least it would have been thrilling if I hadn’t been a dog. Explosions, blood and guts filled the area as bandit after bandit fell. ![]() Enemies who, in a matter of seconds, found themselves flying through the air or exploding in a shower of glorious gibs. We spawned just outside the bandit hideout, and before anyone could even say “howdy”, we were surrounded by enemies. It was a co-op match, pitting around six or seven of us against AI-controlled bandits. They don’t call me Fraser “Perseverance” Brown for nothing, or indeed at all, but if they did, it would be appropriate because I absolutely did persevere, eventually finding myself in a game lobby. When I returned, it was already in full swing. ![]() And that’s why I ended up waiting beyond that hour, after the one game that appeared did so when I was in the toilet playing Animal Crossing on my phone. Dustwind has even more to contend with than some other multiplayer romps because it’s both session-based and it stops new players from joining once the game begins. It’s the curse of the multiplayer indie title: without enough concurrent players, there is no game. I continued to think about all the wonderful things that Barkley would do for the subsequent hour as I waited to find a game. Since dogs are incapable of using guns (unless they’re mounted on a vehicle), I poured everything into stealth and melee, envisioning some sort of murderous shadow who can take out a room of enemies in a heartbeat. Now if only I could go back and let Past-Fraser know. They cover all the bases, including dogs, and you’re less likely to end up with a broken character. Dustwind flings you straight into the deep end, but it at least gives you some inflatable armbands.Īll of this can also be sidestepped by just picking one of the many pre-made characters hanging around in the barracks. However, every character you make can be edited at any time, as long as you’re not in a match. There are so many places where you could go wrong, and a lot of it seems meaningless, as there’s no real context to all the percentages and bonuses if all you’ve played is the tutorial. Dustwind just dumps a huge amount of skill points on you and from there you make a fully developed character. In your typical RPG, all of this would be doled out through experience and quest rewards over the course of hours. Guns, knives, bows, rocket launchers and grenades - there’s a bounty of death-dealing instruments to choose from, along with armour and support kits that heal and repair. And that’s before the gear loadout has to be picked. Dustwind comes laden with a great number of RPG skills and traits, from proficiency in light weapons to fixing up vehicles and turrets, so figuring out what’s valuable and what’s just going to burn through skill points takes forever. What a handsome blue boy! And he comes complete with objectively the most important of dog accessories: a fetching bandana. You’ve got your boring old humans, your loud and heavily-armoured robots, and then you’ve got everyone’s best bud, the loyal canine. ![]() How could I say no? How could it go wrong?Īfter an entirely unexpected, properly robust series of tutorials - an early access miracle - I immediately flung myself into the barracks where all Dustwind’s murderous characters are born. No, Dustwind’s pooches are battle-hardened terrors, capable of covering the battlefield in mines or manning a vehicle’s turret. And we’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill, hangs out in dog parks defecating everywhere kind of dog. ![]() I'll admit it - I decided to take Dustwind for a spin primarily because of one line on the Steam store page: “Play as a dog.” In post-apocalyptic battle arenas that evoke Fallout and Wasteland, no less. This week’s Premature Evaluation dumps Fraser in Dustwind’s isometric wasteland, forced to murder other players in grisly real-time tactical brawls.
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