DUST 514 Review

If there was one word we had to use to describe CCP Games’ new first-person shooter/MMO hybrid, it would undoubtedly have to be ambitious. Yet, even ambitious doesn’t accurately describe the innovation that CCP have managed to achieve with DUST 514. There are some truly unique ideas on offer here for the would-be space soldiers among you, but it’s not all good news for the studio’s first foray into console gaming.

For those of you unfamiliar with the essentially PC exclusive world of MMORPG gaming, DUST 514 is something far more than just an FPS with RPG elements; it’s an experiment. Dust is the creation of the same studio that runs the massively successful spaceship-simulator world of EVE Online. The hugely popular MMO has been virtually unparalleled in its deceptively large world, where players battle it out in moon-sized battleships for control of the galaxy with help from army sized clans (or corporations as they like to be called).

Dust is a part of this same universe, but unlike EVE’s exclusively off-world setting, CCP’s newest offering takes place on the thousands of previously unexplored planets that litter the cosmos.

Story details are rather short on substance in the game’s opening cinematic, but suffice it to say, all you really need to know is; the many corporations that run the galaxy have discovered a method in which to clone the consciousness of people, essentially making the human race immortal. With this rather convenient invention, the powers that be finally have the resources to deploy ground forces of infinitely replenishable soldiers.

As one of these soldiers, you simply pick one of the corporations to fight for and go on your merry way into the battlefield. Well, if you’ve ever played EVE before you will, but for everyone else, you’ll probably spend your first 20 minutes with DUST reading through tutorials.

You see, there’s nothing inherently complicated about DUST’s actual gameplay at all, but CCP have seen fit to incorporate EVE’s rather convoluted user interface into a first-person shooter. Whilst experienced EVE players will feel right at home with the almost identical menus and inventory screens, for everyone else, what you’re presented with is a rather counter intuitive layout with a steep learning curve.

Once all the formalities are taken care of however, you can finally exit your cabin quarters and enter the fray. Matches take place in various locales across space, with a number of different but now standard game types available. The mode we found most enjoyable, and which seems to be the main focus of skirmishes, shares more than a few similarities with Battlefield’s conquest, where parts of the map must be contested by both teams. The more areas your team controls, the faster the enemy ship takes damage and vice versa, with the victor being the first team to destroy the behemoth in the sky.

Fire-fights are generally satisfying, with the expected selection of sci-fi equipment on offer being adequately satisfying to use. However, the aesthetics of DUST are one of the areas where the game falls sorely short. Levels, whilst vast, lack any real atmosphere or detail, with texture popping and invisible walls a frequent occurrence. Likewise, muzzle flashes and explosive effects genuinely wouldn’t look out of place in an FPS from the 90’s.

It would be remiss of us to base a games merit purely on visuals though, and there’s certainly a good if slightly unattractive game here. Like the myriad of other multiplayer titles that compete for your time, DUST features a class based system. They are split into the standard infantry, medic, engineer classes and all players begin with identical basic equipment. New weapons and suit upgrades are obtainable through a marketplace system (where player-to-player trade takes place), or alternatively, ‘salvage’ can be awarded at the end of each match played. This material comes in the form of various useable upgrades or blueprints. The latter can be used indefinitely to create vehicles or firearms with the former being limited use items.

Skill trees expand in much the same way too, with advancements such as weapon proficiencies or suit augments, branching out into massively complex and versatile skill sets that CCP has stated would take seven years to master them every single one. It’s an interesting alternative to the tried and tested experience based levelling found in practically every shooter since the first Modern Warfare, but the whole system heavily relies on DUST remaining as populated as it has been.

What sets DUST apart from the rest though, is its integration with EVE and the unique features that this has allowed. If you have clan members who are in the vicinity of the planet you are currently fighting on, you can call in fiery death from their orbiting ship to level the playing field. Additionally, map layouts are decided entirely by EVE players, adding a nifty re-playable aspect to proceedings.

Unfortunately, these features are only available on special servers designated specifically for player run clan wars, which means you’re unlikely to see any of these features unless you’re heavily invested in both titles. DUST has undoubtedly been built for people who are a part of both communities, and whilst that won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the title’s progress since its inception, it’s probably also the game’s biggest downfall.

CCP Games can only be praised for trying so many new ideas, but for anyone not familiar with the franchise and looking for just a new FPS experience, they’re likely to feel alienated by its sheer complexity. You could argue this as a moot point, as there are far better FPS games out there for players who aren’t interested in the crossover mechanics, but for fans of the deeply intricate ecosystem metagame, DUST provides a new, interesting angle. Either way, the game is entirely free to play (thanks to the increasing popularity of the micro transaction model), so there’s no reason not to at least try its unique world, just don’t be surprised if it’s not the right one for you.