Quantic Dream dropping a cel-shaded game caked in social political messaging like Dustborn was not something that was on my 2024 bingo card. The game was developed by Quantic Dream Spotlight while the main Quantic Dream team hacks away at Star Wars: Eclipse. Still though, it makes for a fascinating departure from what we have come to expect from the French studio.
Sometimes a vast variation from the status quo like this can be a good thing, just look at what Tango Gameworks (RIP) was able to do with HiFi Rush following The Evil Within. Other times though, it can end up being a baffling mistake that makes every fan of said studio collectively wonder what the hell the team was thinking. After playing through the first couple of hours of Dustborn, I’m still not sure what camp it will fall into.
Dustborn will release for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox consoles on August 20.
Quantic Dream classifies Dustborn as a story-driven action-adventure game, so it only makes sense to first focus of the game’s writing and characters. Inevitably, this is going to be the most divisive aspect of Dustborn and may be enough to turn certain audience members away from the game entirely without even trying it out for themselves.
For those amongst you willing to give it a chance, your mileage will likely depend on your tolerance for extremely on the nose political parallels being drawn via snarky dialogue. Personally I am torn; there is a part of me that draws petty pleasure from knowing how annoyed Gamergaters will get upon hearing some of this dialogue. On the other hand though, I do prefer my socio-political commentary with a lot more nuance than what Dustborn offers.
A Colorful Cast of Misfits
Pax is our main character who we play as, and thus she also serves as the audience’s surrogate into this world. Unfortunately this means that she is arguably the blandest character out of her crew, with no real defining character traits being portrayed within the first two hours of the game. Perhaps we will get to see her follow a rich character arc upon the release of the full game.
The other members of the crew include Theo who is essentially the dad of the group, and Pax’s partner Noam, who is a non-binary character that uses gender-neutral pronouns. Then there is Sai, a broadly built Muslim woman who has vitiligo and serves as the group’s muscle, and Pax’s younger sister Ziggy, who suffers from anxiety and some other undefined hyperactive mental disorder that resembles ADHD.
By associating each of your cast members with the LGBTQ+ community, or having them cope with mental health issues or visually represented skin conditions, you inevitably introduce the challenge of having to walk a fine line. Is the reason for featuring a cast of this nature just for the sake of checking all of the boxes on a diversity bingo card, or is the intention actually to bring some much needed respectful representation to the medium of gaming?
Although the some of the writing can come across as holier than thou, fiercely liberal rhetoric, the voice acting is decent and helps the audience to invest in the group of characters we are following. The voice cast does a lot of heavy lifting during the game’s opening hours to elevate the script and get the player engaged.
Dustborn’s Combat Misses the Mark
Moving onto the combat, I have a lot less to say. It is not the most engaging element of the game, in fact it is pretty lackluster. A futuristic road trip across the heart of the US sounds like exactly the kind of environment that would breed some solid combat encounters against robotic antagonist, but Dustborn really misses the mark in that aspect. Melee based combos have never felt so bland.
Thankfully the adventure gameplay elements are a lot better than the action gameplay elements. The game presents you and your crew with multiple problems that you need to solve and you can utilise various means to do so. If you need to open a door, Sai can ether brute force it down, or Theo can use his lockpicking skills to get you inside.
I have come away from my time with Dustborn feeling pretty conflicted. The cool art style, the dynamic voice acting and the exciting adventurous aspect of the game all left me wanting to see more, although the combat and the writing left a lot to be desired. As this is a story game with a focus on action, this is somewhat concerning. I guess we will have to just wait and see how things pan out on August 20.
