As Dusk Falls in First Reviews - Microsoft's Small but Good Exclusive
As Dusk Falls is another title worth having the Game Pass subscription for. At least according to many reviewers, although there were also more critical voices.
Among the titles that will hit Game Pass tomorrow, we will find As Dusk Falls - an adventure game in the form of an interactive movie. The debut work of Interior/Night has already been reviewed. Is it a successful exclusive from Microsoft's catalog, and another good adventure game after June's The Quarry?
You will be able to find out our opinion tomorrow.
As Dusk Falls - selected reviews
- Wccftech - 9.5/10
- GameSpot - 9/10
- TheSixthAxis - 9/10
- Dexerto - 8.5/10
- God is a Geek - 8.5/10
- GamesRadar - 4/5
- Spaziogames - 8/10
- Metro Game Central - 7/10
- Stevivor - 7/10
- Hardcore Gamer - 3/5
- Twinfinite - 3/5
- GameRant - 2/5
- Video Games Chronicle - 2/5
- OpenCritic: 76/100 (average of 40 reviews)
- Metascore on PC: 79/100 (average of 9 reviews)
- Metascore on XSX/S: 76/100 (average of 49 reviews)
A new work by a team that includes the co-creators of Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain, gained favor with the reviewers, but was not without some complaints. At least not about the characters, because the voice actors did a good job and even in the most critical texts the authors showered them with praise.
Adventure game without gameplay
The review scores were also slightly affected by very modest gameplay. As Dusk Falls is, as mentioned, an interactive movie rather than a typical adventure game. Rare QTE sequences are trivial, and the fun almost entirely comes down to decision-making. Nevertheless, I don't think anyone expected anything different from this type of game, though.
Probably for many gamers this immediately crosses out the purchase of As Dusk Falls. However, as some reviewers note, this makes the game accessible to people who don't usually deal with video games. Perhaps it will encourage "casuals" to play together with their gamer friends?
As Dusk Falls has a (too) original style
De facto lack of gameplay can somehow be justified, but the accusations against the title do not end there. The visual style evoked mixed feelings among reviewers, failing especially during action scenes. Some also complained about the controls or the lack of an option to skip already familiar dialogues.
And what about the story and decisions, the most important elements in this type of production? In this respect, the vast majority of reviewers were delighted with As Dusk Falls, although - as usual in such titles - not everyone was convinced of the importance of choices.
However, several texts complained about the uneven or even abysmal pace of narrative, which is supposed to be a side effect of the time jumps on which As Dusk Falls relies. In places, there are also mentions of occasional stumbles in an otherwise excellent story (for example, in, as one reviewer put it, the sometimes melodramatic dialogues).
To sum things up: As Dusk Falls is a (very) good game for adventure fans who are not looking for elaborate gameplay, but will appreciate an intriguing story. How much truth there is in these opinions, we will find out tomorrow, when the game debuts on PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (including the Game Pass service).
