From Dust
By Ubisoft Montpelier
Genre: God game (strategy)
Rating: E10+ for mild violence.
A fantastical, mythological re-telling of the distant origins of man, From Dust sets you as the Breath, a godlike being represented by a simple cursor on screen, but capable of manipulating the elements of Water, Earth and Fire to reshape the many lands your followers travel on their way to… conquest? Enlightenment? Whatever the case, you must lead them through to it.
In each of the dozen or more lands you first direct the Men to claim a totem, establishing a village and growing lush greenery wherever they can reach. You repeat this process, bridging gaps and sometimes even changing the courses of rivers, until you reach the Passage somewhere in the level. You go through, and thereby get to the next level.
At first, all you can do is pick up and drop soil and water, helping your Men to plant trees and other foliage that will eventually draw animals and even unlock new Memories (small blocks of text that flesh out the story and the rationalization of game play), which can also be unlocked through finding special stones in the levels themselves. This is also how you find new musical powers; your Men, early on, will gain the power to repel water; drumbeats and didgeridoos somehow send the onrushing water from a tsunami pulsing back from your village.
The various totems you find not only serve as village build points; some also carry special powers of their own. Jellify water, for instance, temporarily freezes water in place, allowing you to move it easily out of the way. Evaporate can lower the water level in an area, again temporarily, allowing your men to cross to a difficult-to-reach spot easily. These and other powers may help you to survive…
However, some areas are truly difficult and others just cheap in how they require exacting attention to detail. It’s not possible to clear a later level by drilling holes in sand willy-nilly, for instance; Sources are everywhere, which gush water endlessly and threaten to flood your village, unless you can find a way to build around them effectively. But there are so many in this one level, it can be very frustrating…
I actually have to give this game 4 out of 5, for its very daunting difficulty bordering on unplayability. I’m nowhere near a gaming coward; it’s just that some scenarios in this game demand too much even of me. Still, it’s an excellent game, and if you have the brainpower, I’d definitely check it out.