Yeah, i'm going to test the (New) games i buy, so you will know what i think about them, and make your own idea.
From Dust, for PC, PS3, and Xbox.
Note: I'll only talk about the PC version (Which is almost the same as the console version)
From Dust is not what some people seems to expect from it. Some peoples think it would be like a Populous... Well, sort of... But for me, it looks more like a Lemmings-like puzzle game.
You act as the Breath, an entity that can change it's environment, move water, dirt, sand, and even lava. You can also move some weird plants, with different effect. All of this to help the tribe survive, and help them to get answers about their past.
Usually, the first thing you'll do is send them to build a village. Nothing big about it, it's just a village with 5 or 6 huts, and that's all (No special buildings or whatever, like in an RTS) then probably find a way to protect them against nature (Mostly against Lava, fire, and water) by using the said nature, like building a wall with some lava, to protect a village against a Tsunami, or move them from one village to another (or go take some special magic-stuff) by rebuilding the land scape. No enemy tribe or anything of this sort. And this is where it show it's true genre: a Puzzle game.
If you want an RTS, you should probably pass, though you could still like it after all for what the game is.
If you want a puzzle game, then you should probably try it.
The game have a bit of story, and a little encyclopedia about the world of From Dust. It also includes challenges, which some of them can really be challenging (The first few challenges are really easy)
Also, the engine's physics is really good. You can almost reshape the land as you want to. The water move as expected, and so does the lava. The sand is never static, so even if you think it doesn't, it may still move. And water have a (natural) tendencies to move it quite a lot too. So blocking a river with sand is harder than you can expect.
And the game run smoothly, without any lag or FPS drop (At least, not on my config)
There is some cons though.
Sometimes you will just lose because one of the Mask guy is not doing is job as soon as he could have done it, or is blocked by knee deep water... Also, the camera can be a bit annoying, since the game is pretty much (Completely) a port from console, so the camera follow your cursor. Talk about accuracy when you have to be quick...
Also the game got the usual Ubisoft-DRM-annoying-damn-thing-which-piss-off-everyone.
A bit harder would have been good.
And the game is quite short, with almost no replay value. But for this price, it's not so much of a con.
But it's still minor thing (Except the DRM) and for a price of 15 €uro, it's a good game.
So... The story is good (Nothing exceptional, but it's not a CoD-like story either) It looks decent and run well (No super heavy GFX) the physic is nice, and the puzzles ask you to use more than 2 braincells after a while.
There is still some little problems, which mostly come from either the Console port, or the DRM. But nothing big (No crash yet, no seriously buged level, etc...)
it may not be a must have (Like Portal) but it's a must try.
In the coming Month, i'll test Warhammer 40.000:Space marine; Dead Island; and Red Orchestra (Probably in this order)
I can give you a quick (p)review of Space marine, since i played the Demo:
There is a lot of actions, and blood. And Jet packs. Because Jet packs are good.
The engine run well (Another one) without any trouble.
Can't say much about the scenario, it looks basic, but could be decent (I know that Chaos Space marine will come later in the game, but nothing in the demo about that yet)
The best thing about this game is those "Holy sh*t" moments, and the adrenaline flow.
Though, be warned, it's not as easy as it may look. You can die easily if you go completely 'uber crazy cookoo pants super nuts' or get overconfident.
If you like a lot of actions (Like in Left 4 dead) and/or like the Warhammer 40.000 universe, then you have to try the demo when it will be out for everyone (Next week).
