[Review] From Dust

[Inkriql]

From Dust is a video game of God, designed by Éric Chahi and developed by Ubisoft Montpellier. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2011. Described as a spiritual successor of Populous, the game revolves around The Breath, which was summoned by a tribe to help them find and recover their lost knowledge. In the game, players, controlling a cursor, can mani[CENSORED]te matter such as lava, earth and water. Players can help tribes overcome challenges, such as finding different totems and overcoming natural disasters. In addition to the story mode, the game features a Challenge mode that offers a shorter but more difficult experience.

Originally began his life as a strategy game, From Dust marked the return of Éric Chahi to the video game industry after an extensive sabbatical year after completing his last game, Heart of Darkness. The project was created as a result of his fascination with volcanoes and his desire to combine the ambivalence and violent characteristics of his nature in a new video game. The team was further inspired by the African and New Guinea tribes, Conway's Game of Life, works by the Polish painter Zdzisław Beksiński and Koyaanisqatsi. Some features, such as the biological life cycle of the tribes, were left out of the game due to the large amount of work they would require. Ubisoft originally had doubts about the project, but then Chahi convinced him. The game was made by a small team within the Montpellier studio, so it was considered an independent game produced by a large publisher. The game was announced at E3 2010 as Project Dust.

The game received a generally positive reception at the launch, and critics praised the physics, simulation, opening and graphics of the game, while criticizing artificial intelligence and camera angles. Opinions about the game's Challenge mode and mission design were polarizing. The PC version of the game was worse than other platforms because of its technical problems and digital rights management. The game was a commercial success for Ubisoft, sold more than half a million copies and became the best-selling digital game of Ubisoft. Despite his success, Chahi confirmed that he will not develop a sequel again.

Playability

In From Dust, the tribe can learn songs from ancient relics, in this case "repelling water" allows a village to survive a unharmed tsunami.
In From Dust, players assume a first-person divine perspective from which they mani[CENSORED]te an archipelago environment in an effort to save and illuminate a nomadic tribe and help them find their lost knowledge. [1] With a spherical cursor, the user controls certain types of matter in real time. The lava cools to form solid rock, the vegetation spreads in the ground and spreads naturally once a village is built, and the moving water quickly erodes the ground. Physical changes in the world occur extremely fast, allowing players to restructure the islands in minutes. [two]

The campaigns in From Dust are structured as a sequence of missions, whereby completing certain objectives accelerates the progress of the tribe and grants additional powers, such as the ability to gel water. [1] Tribal shamans alert the player to natural disasters, especially tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, shortly before they occur. These disasters can be inhibited by creative and physical mani[CENSORED]tion of the environment: a tsunami can gelatinize, extinguish forest fires and divert lava flows. [3] [4] [5] [6] Although there is no 'explicit litter box' mode, Chahi stated that each mission has a different map, to which the player can return and mani[CENSORED]te more. [7]

From Dust has the option of two main game modes, one is the Story mode and the other a Challenge mode. The first consists of a sequence of missions that play through the history of a lost tribe that is using the player (who controls "The Breath") to travel at different levels in an attempt to discover what happened to his former tribe. By helping the tribe find the different totems scattered on a map, they can start building their village next to the totem. Players can also send people from the tribe to search for magic stones, which will give them the ability to mani[CENSORED]te the world, by repelling water and fire, for example. [8] When the tribe successfully builds villages next to each totem, a portal will open and the player can move on to the next map. [9] These maps become increasingly challenging as players progress. New elements, such as trees that explode in fire and plants that explode, are introduced at later levels. [8]

Challenge mode uses a gameplay similar to that of story mode. The difference is that the gameplay for the Challenge mode is faster, offers more puzzles and sacrifices any story in this mode. It consists of 30 levels and players must meet certain conditions before being successful. Each level lasts only a few minutes, offering a more exciting, but more difficult game. The time required for players to complete a level is recorded in an online leaderboard that other players can see.

History
From Dust's history revolves around a tribe that has lost the knowledge of their ancestors - The Ancients. They are located in unknown territory. To solve this problem, the tribe gathers and summons "The breath", controlled by the player, in the hope that it will help them communicate with nature. However, after the summons, the tribe desperately wants answers to their questions and has a strong desire to recover lost knowledge. The Breath then guides the tribe to different totems that allow them to perform rituals and build villages and settlements. A passage will unlock and allow the tribe to discover new lands and places.

After discovering and traveling through islands of different characteristics, the tribe, with the help of The Breath, has overcome numerous natural disasters, including tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. The tribe follows the path of the Ancients, but their lands are nowhere to be found. On the last island, players have the opportunity to place the totem around the island and create and form their own island. After placing the final totem, the tribe arrives at the site for the final ritual. After the ritual is completed, the entire island collapses and is reformed and sinks into the sea, leaving only the passage above sea level. After the tribes pass the entrance gate, they realize that they have returned to the first island where they began their journey. The story ends with the narrator saying "And here we are, like the first day."