Dustborn comes at quite a convenient time considering the United States of America is as divided as ever, but this upcoming single-player action adventure game shows you that the power of words is as strong as ever.
Set to release on 20 August, Dustborn is a “story-driven action-adventure game about hope, love, friendships, robots…and the power of words” according to developer Red Thread Games.
The demo is now available on Steam and gives you around an hour of gameplay but instead of giving you access to the start of the game, the demo consists of various scenes to give you a taste without spoiling too much.
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As a result, although I don’t know too much about the story from the dialogue I heard, I have already got an impression of the diverse characters, combat and music system and I am desperate for more.
On a perilous trip across a Divided United States of America where Justice has become a fully fledged army trying its hardest to step all over human’s rights, you play as Pax, a member of a band seeking justice.
Featuring a cast full of LGBTQIA+ representation, strong political views and regular fights against facism, Dustborn has already been marked as “woke” which gives you all the more reason to play it.
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Through various scenes throughout the demo, we get our first look at Pax who has seemingly been estranged from her sister Ziggy for sixteen years.
We soon discover that the sibling’s mums sent Pax away due to her having unique powers and we see the moment the sisters are reunited.
It is here we are given access to the bat which is one of the most fun weapons I’ve ever used.
Much like Kratos’ axe in God of War, Pax can throw the bat and have it return to her hand immediately. She can also upgrade the bat using a skill tree as well as implementing skills such as Discord which causes enemies to turn on their own.
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She can also be joined in battle by her bandmates and it is this group that I have already fallen in love with in such a short amount of time.
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Alongside Pax, we have Sai who is rocking the vitiligo, the ever-gruff Theo and Noam who I am pretty sure is nonbinary although this was not confirmed during the demo.
The group already shows unique personalities and I especially enjoyed the scene in the tour bus when you are able to strike up a conversation with them each individually.
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For example, you can have a chat with Naom who is reading a biography of Marilyn Monroe who, in this universe, is still alive at the ripe old age of 104. However, much to Noam’s dismay, Pax has never heard of her. Blasphemy, if you ask me.
The group as well as some other NPCs we meet in the demo also show us that disabilities and prosthetics are quite common in this broken America.
Pax’s mum has a prosthetic leg, Noam has a prosthetic and gold-plated arm and Ziggy’s eye has been replaced by what looks like a bottle cap.
As a result, each character looks completely unique and different and wonderful and I can already tell I’m going to have some favourites by the time I am done with Dustborn later this month.
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Aside from being badass activists, Pax and the group are a punk/rock band known as, you guessed it, Dustborn and throughout the game you will partake in QTEs which see you play some amazing music.
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I am not the best with hand-eye coordination but I still found these segments a lot of fun, especially when you can build up a bar in order to bust out an incredible note.
When the band is not performing together, Pax can kick back in the tour bus and work on some new music, allowing you to unlock new songs as you go along.
She does this whilst Sai is drawing, Noam is reading and Theo is sitting up front with the robot driver.
As they drove through the Pacific North West with the tall trees framing the futuristic tour bus and the sun hitting Pax’s face as she reflected on the journey ahead, I had already fallen in love with Dustborn and I can’t wait for the full product later this month.
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