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[Review] ‘DUSK’ Evokes the Spirit of Classic Shooters, But is So Much More Than That

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dusk review pc

It’s time to practice that bunny-hop and strafe so you can slay a legion of evil cultists in this ingenious throwback to the lightning-paced shooters of yesteryear. Read our DUSK review to see why it’s one of the best games of 2018.

This past week saw the 25th anniversary of DOOM, perhaps the most important shooter of all time. So it’s almost as ballsy as it is timely that New Blood Interactive released a game that is a celebration of that era of shooters at heart. This is no desperate attempt to cash in on an established name though, because DUSK is so much more than a simple throwback. It’s a pulsating blast ’em up in its own right.

From the 90’s 3D visuals to the chugging metal soundtrack, at a glance, DUSK looks and sounds very much like it could have been part of that Golden Age of PC shooters that saw Doom Guy and Duke Nukem become genre icons. There’s no auto-healing, you begin the game practically defenseless, and you move at a blistering pace. To play just a portion of its opening level it even feels like a trip back in time. If you had to place it, DUSK could be the missing link between DOOM‘s speedy corridor-shooting, and the Gothic openness of Quake. As you delve deeper into DUSK, you will discover that it has a few tricks from beyond that era too.

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The plot is secondary here, but it does at least accommodate the set dressing. It involves a satanic cult of sorts and sees you pitted against everything from bag-headed, chainsaw-wielding maniacs to invisible goat demons as you take in a surprisingly varied amount of scenery. Despite the lightness of a blatant narrative, there’s still an impressive amount of environmental storytelling that gives you an indication of what to do and what may be coming.

The environmental storytelling is unquestionably helped by some cracking level design that only improves as DUSK goes on. There’s a pleasing mixture of wide open arenas and winding corridors to each stage and while there’s a measure of backtracking and key-grabbing to be had, the design ensures that it takes on a modern Souls-esque pattern of looping back round to your starting point instead of simply trudging back the way you came.

Along the way, you’ll be doing plenty of shooting of course, and DUSK‘s shooting is pretty damn satisfying, to say the least. The speed at which DUSK plays is shown to be necessary as the enemies can materialize from anywhere and often in great numbers. What follows is a hi-octane dance of death, where you dodge and weave through a hail of gunfire, picking off each individual threat with its corresponding weapon (it’s phenomenal how naturally you end up switching between weapons for each situation).

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What initially seems like an intimidating one versus many contest turns into an almost strategic evisceration of the enemy, as you corral swarms of nasties into the path of something explosive to gain a high bullet to death ratio. It’s simply sublime to experience. It’s an exhilarating reminder of how intense shooters can be, and proof that photorealistic/stylish visuals aren’t a necessity to make that happen. DUSK runs butter-smooth too, so the action rarely suffers for iffy framerate.

That gunplay lesson the game gives you in the early stages really comes in handy later as the levels become more eccentric and wild. At one point you end up firing your way through a violent interpretation of an Escher painting and it’s as bonkers as it is effective. The opening chapter ends up feeling a tad ordinary by comparison as things get crazier and crazier up until a highly satisfying final boss encounter that acts as a fine payoff for the deliciously hellish six or seven hours you’ve gone through.

If there’s anything close to a downside then it’s clearly the multiplayer mode. It’s not to say that it’s anything terrible. While the main game is a grisly tour-de-force fusion of old and new, the multiplayer is almost completely a throwback with little in the way of a modern flourish to it. It’s functional, enjoyable, and sadly that’s all there is to it. It seems daft to suggest a competent yet unspectacular multiplayer offering sours a cracking single player campaign, but it does take the shine off ever so slightly.

What matters most is that DUSK is still a fantastic shooter despite this. It channels the twitchy, quick feeling of PC shooters of 20-odd years ago and somehow makes it play like it never went out of style by peppering in a few novel touches. In an age of photo-realistic visuals and painstakingly-modeled guns, DUSK is proof positive that good old-fashioned shooters can still be relevant and thrilling decades after their heyday. Especially when handled as efficiently as New Blood Interactive has managed.

DUSK review code for PC provided by the publisher.

DUSK is out now on Steam PC.

 

 

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‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Review – Latest Monster Mashup Goes Bigger and Sillier

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GODZILLA X KONG review

The heavyweight championship event that was Godzilla vs. Kong ended in a tenuous truce that saw Godzilla holding dominion over Earth while King Kong claimed Hollow Earth. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire introduces a new Titan-sized threat from the depths of Hollow Earth, one so dangerous that Kong and his human allies will need all the help they can get to defeat it. Director Adam Wingard continues the kaiju spectacle with the latest Legendary Monsterverse crossover event, this time injecting an even greater sense of adventure and silliness. It’s the type of epic-sized popcorn movie that unleashes nonstop monster brawls and tongue-in-cheek humor in equal measure.

Since the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla spends his downtime curling up for naptime in Rome’s Colosseum when not snuffing out rogue Titans that emerge. The kaiju king’s activity is closely monitored by Monarch and Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). Dr. Andrews also keeps a close eye on Kong through stations established around Hollow Earth access points, and poor Kong is lonely as he still searches for others like him. Then there’s Dr. Andrews’ adoptive daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the sole survivor of the decimated Iwi tribe from Skull Island. Jia’s struggles to find her place in school and society at large get exacerbated by strange new visions that seem directly tied to Hollow Earth.

Dr. Andrews enlists Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) to help her navigate Jia’s new plight. Once the new threat makes itself known, all three, along with wisecracking kaiju vet Trapper (Dan Stevens), descend into Hollow Earth for answers. Instead, they find a terrifying new battle heating up for kaiju sovereignty. 

Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong

The Monsterverse franchise often struggles with its human characters and how they fit into the kaiju mayhem, but screenwriters Terry RossioSimon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater may have finally cleared this hurdle by trimming down the human cast and keeping it simple. Jia’s heritage creates an emotional conflict between her and her adoptive mother that injects a sweet earnestness, while Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie brings levity. Then there’s the scene-chewing Dan Stevens, whose Trapper gets introduced in style as he performs a tooth extraction from an aircraft with infectious exuberance. Stevens plays the character with the bravado of an ’80s action star but one that’s fully aware of himself and the absurdity of his unique gig. Trapper’s boisterous personality goes far in demonstrating to audiences just how much we’re meant to be having fun and not take everything seriously, so much so that Godzilla x Kong could stand to see more of him.

Of course, the real stars are the monsters, and this, once again, is Kong’s show. Godzilla remains the undisputed heavyweight champion, but it’s Kong’s pursuit of finding his place in Hollow Earth that drives Godzilla x Kong. The required exposition delivery as Wingard corrals the converging plotlines into an action-heavy final act does slow the momentum in the first two-thirds, despite frequent action set pieces. But the main event delivers the promised team-up and then some, thanks to at least one pivotal surprise up Wingard’s sleeves that brings the wow factor to the final battle. That key surprise is pivotal, not just for fan service, but to offset how underwhelming the new enemy is, a generic mirrored inverse of Kong and his frenemy. 

Angry Kong

Wingard and crew seem fully aware of that and play up the cartoonish quality of the premise to maximize the fun factor. While it does indeed evoke the intended sense of fun, especially when Kong flings a smaller ape around as a weapon or dons a power glove, there’s a weightlessness to the whole thing. There’s no real impact to any of it, even though it often looks cool.

It all amounts to a visually polished Saturday morning cartoon filled with monster brawls and the humans who love them. Beyond the charming entertainment, though, Godzilla x Kong is more hollow than Hollow Earth.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire roars into theaters and IMAX on March 29, 2024.

2.5 out of 5 skulls

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