Out of all the games that I had prepared to write about for PAX East 2024, Red Thread Games’Dustbornmay actually have ended up being the most difficult one to write a preview for. Not because the demo provided wasn’t substantial enough, or because of the quality (I did declare it to beone of the show’s best games,after all). Instead the issue is that the demo basically consisted of a selection of various scenes from the game, except all of them appeared in the gameplay showcase video that was a part ofthe game’s release date announcement.So it kind of feels like anything else that I can bring to the table would kind of be redundant. Still, let’s see if we can’t get another view of what’s on display here…
Another One Rides the Bus
Things kicked off with a bit of a puzzle segment, as we were introduced to the tour bus that would tackle protagonist Pax and their fake band across the game’s divided America. Unfortunately, said tour bus had somebody pinned underneath it, and it was our job to save them, introducing us to the special skills of everyone involved, from the ability to calm someone down using their voice to hacking and engineering skills, or just brute strength, in the case of the robot ally holding up the bus. Unfortunately, in an always-online world, even a jack needed to finally lift the bus up won’t work without a connection, so the final step was to use a device to find the router and fix its damaged antenna. Simple stuff, but it works, and provides us with a good introduction to the characters. My only minor beef is that instead of just pressing a button to interact with things, you have to hold it down, which takes a little getting used to.
The next part sees our fake band have to actually play real music, done via another simple yet effective rhythm game. It helps that the song itself is catchy as well, giving us a good punk-tinged number. The more interesting part is that Pax’s band had to do this to convince the uniformed police forces that they actually are the band that they say they are. According to some text that appeared upon their introduction, these special forces are the result of the Kennedy assassination…except inDustborn,JFK survived, but it wasJackiewho was killed by accident, and JFK apparently created this group in response. It shows thatDustborn’salternate history goes back much further than one might expect, and shows a commitment to world-building.
Dustborn Receives an August Release Date
Read Thread Games has unveiled the release date for their upcoming game Dustborn, complete with a nifty gameplay showcase as well.
Next up was a bit of character development on the tour bus, where Pax could talk to their traveling companions, potentially altering their personality later on in the process. We also see that Pax has the ability to write new songs via additional mini-games, suggesting that the band’s quality can be improved through various breaks where more music is created, which will likely play a part down the road. The final part showcased the game’s combat, where Pax had to fend off various forces attacking her sister, currently residing at an abandoned camp. Combat in adventure games such as these is tricky, but it works here, showcasing attacks that can dealt via Pax or their allies, and highlighting Pax’s special powers to use words as actual weapons, such as knocking soldiers back or being able to trap them in place. It was fun stuff, capped off by a moment where we had to use a pitching machine it order to hit a ball at a sniper, all while dodging bullets. Overall, it’s just fun, solid stuff.
The demo ended with one last bit of character development, dealing with issues that involved secrets about Pax being kept from her sister by their mother. It was nice and well-writte, featuring more choices that can affect the attitudes of those you travel with, which is important as our sister joined the journey. The only issues here is that the character’s model seemed to be glitching, which hopefully gets fixed in the final release. Overall,Dustbornis shaping up to be one impressive road trip, and while we won’t get to see the full scope of what every action and choice can lead to until the full release, what was here already turned out to be great, charming stuff that should have everyone anticipating the game’s August 20 release date.
