Dustforce

At $10, Dustforce offers up a lot of value for platforming fans. If you love a hearty challenge, or simply enjoy a gaming experience that forces you to get better, then you’ll get your money’s worth.

An original platformer that's good fun. [Apr 2014]

Dustforce works well on a variety of levels. Unfortunately storytelling and accurate controls are not among them.

A great game. It’s fun, it’s addictive and it has a learning curve that demands you keep improving. While the multiplayer isn’t nearly as entertaining, at least it offers you a good way to scrap with friends or strangers.

Dustforce is an addictive and challenging 2D platform game.

If you’re looking for an incredibly nuanced platformer, Dustforce is an excellent choice.

Dustforce demands a lot from its players, but the rewards can be just as great for players who get swept up in its challenges.

While definitely not for everyone, Dustforce is an ambitious and charming game that shows touches of brillance as frequently as it punishes and annoys.

Dustforce is an amazing game that every platformer fan should play. It can be extremely difficult in spots, and there are a few glitches for the PS3, but this game will keep you coming back to improve your score.

Dustforce's delightful sweeping puts a fresh spin on the average platformer premise, with alluring presentation and exciting scenarios that help it stand out.

This game isn't dusty at all! Alright, that may have been a horrible pun, though the amount of variation and great visual style do make this a highly enjoyable platform game. It's sort of sad then that the controls are at times not as responsive as they should be.

The presentation, along with its impressive soundtrack, is a wonderfully alluring incentive for persevering through the challenging gameplay.

Dustforce is highly entertaining and absolutely unique. It has a few small drawbacks common to lower-budget efforts, but these hang-ups can’t cripple a decent, well-designed game.

Dustforce is a fast bet, suitable for any audience, funny but competitive. An amusing experience and its great music is its best asset.

A highly addictive platformer whose shine is marred by a few control issues. [April 2014, p83]

A fresh and entertaining action platform experience with some controls issues and a stiff difficulty level.

If you’re looking for something with that “just one more go” mentality and are willing to overlook its flaws, then grab a broom and be prepared to get swept away.

Spring cleaning has never been so entertaining in this well presented and cunningly addictive physics-based platformer.

Unique and very challenging, it's one of those games you should try before you buy. If you're a platforming fan who wants a game to play till you reach perfection, this may well be the one you're looking for.

I'd hesitate to suggest Dustforce as a must-play type of game, but for the cost of entry, you'll get some enjoyment out of it.

As a game it’s a good amount of content for a fair price, but I would advise checking out the demo before jumping in.

For those who can overlook the controls to appreciate the complicated game design behind the plain wrapper, you will enjoy your find. For everyone else, I'd recommend holding on to your money.

A perfect example of a game that is only as good as what you are willing to invest into it. If you have never really understood the need to do a speedrun or care very little about perfecting lines, chances are you will tire of its repetitive nature long before you reach the end. But, if you do enjoy learning maps and running along generally linear paths against the clock, you will find it here in spades and with enough style to possibly make it worth the $9.99 investment.

What might have been a good game is dusted by poor controls.

Dustforce may look fabulous and has some really interesting ideas but the overall execution falls somewhat short of expectation. Though still enjoyable, the fiddly controls add an unnecessary amount of challenge, barring both younger audiences and casual platformer fans.

While the retro style graphics and soothing music by chiptune artist Lifeformed turns Dustforce into a very meditative experience, there isn't much to the game beyond being simply another two-dimensional indie platformer.

Despite being won over by its personality – a catchy minimalist electronic score and simple but endearing aesthetic give it a feel all its own – I just never found my groove in Dustforce.

I never fully recovered from the wall I hit, thanks to the fidgety controls. Dustforce offers plenty of challenge and variety, but too much of that value is hidden under a layer of grime.

That beauty is just so fleeting, though. Dustforce doesn’t give you these moments enough and often it felt more like attrition instead, where the game and I just beat each other down until we were both bloody messes with me as the last one standing.

Dustforce's core problem is its unrewarding player experience, as completing a level to earn the maximum combo and unlocks doesn't lead to anything except more of the same, and given its frustrating difficulty, the repetitive gameplay tires quickly.