Dust & Neon

Dust & Neon has all of the tools and gunslinging gameplay needed to offer up a good time, but it's hindered by a lack of story or characters to be invested in, bad AI on occasions and a structure that just ends up dragging things out for too long.

Dust & Neon features meticulous gameplay that demands attention to each decision made, and adds a unique twist on the twin-stick shooter genre.

Dust & Neon is an enjoyable twin-stick shooter with a cool cover mechanic set in a colourful world. But it's held back by a strong sense of deja vu and a lack of fresh ideas.

Dust & Neon from developer Rogue Games is an interesting, and oddly relaxing twin-stick shooter. Its RPG backbone and simplistic mechanics will keep you coming back for more, even when the unremarkable enemy variety, sans the bosses, might dull down the experience. There is still a lot to do and explore in the game, which makes it at the very least a good action title.

In the end Dust & Neon feels like a bunch of great ideas and mechanics that don't quite push the roguelike genre in any innovating direction. That's not to say it isn't fun though as its fast-paced run and gun gameplay always entertains. I just wish there was more variety in the weapons and missions, and a richer story wouldn't hurt either. The potential for an even more impressive sequel feels very likely if the interest is there and I, for one, am interested enough to see one.

Dust & Neon is a game that, if it came out at full price, might still not be easily recommended. In this case, with the price so low that it is offered, and as soon as we play a few games on it, it is a game that is easy to redeem and that we can enjoy if we approach it with the right expectations. Direct action, replayability, variety that can be improved even for the type of game it is, and zero complications when it comes to having fun.

In the end, though Dust & Neon nails the fundamentals of a twin-stick, looter shooter it feels far too limited, familiar and simply isn't ambitious enough to stand out from its genre peers. Though still reliably satisfying to play at times, Dust & Neon just doesn't offer anything new.

Dust & Neon is a fun isometric twin-stick shooter, enveloped by the trappings of a roguelite that won't be for everyone. Even so, it never felt unfair, thanks largely to its tight and fun gunplay mechanics that fans of twin-stick shooters will easily latch onto.

Dust & Neon’s fast-paced combat, satisfying reloads, and streamlined gameplay loop are good enough to get one hooked right away, but the lack of variety in its zones, guns, and secondary systems leaves little incentive for anyone to keep playing past the game’s bare-bones story.

If you want a new roguelike to play that’s more on the gentle and forgiving side, Dust & Neon certainly isn’t a bad effort. The gunplay is satisfying, making you feel like a badass gunslinger, but there’s too much to fault regarding its repetition and sense of sterility that what glimmers of goodness there are get submerged in banality. Whether it’s the feather-thin story and context, the dull mission objectives, or the general lack of character, Dust & Neon fails to make the most out of its Western setting and its pleasing gunplay. Dust & Neon is worth unloading bullets into robot cores for an hour or two, but it won’t sustain you for too long afterwards. Consider this one scrapped.