Demo Impressions: Dustforce (PC)

Sweeping. It’s one of the most mindless and boring tasks one can perform. It certainly isn’t an activity to base a videogame off of, right? That’s what I thought. Then comes this Destructoid article about a new indie game called Dustforce. Yes, it’s a platformer where the goal is to sweep dust, leaves, and other various junk off of walls and floors. I hope I didn’t lose all of you with that last sentence. For those still here, read on about the greatest game that might cause your allergies to flare up.

The goal of Dustforce is to use one of four janitor characters to spruce up various locations. The demo gives you access to the blue and red janitors, with a purple and green janitor available when the full game is released. You also get access to seven different levels; three game levels and four designed using the game’s level editor (also included in the demo). This mass of content in a free demo is fantastic for showing off the various aspects of the title.

High-flying acrobatics, similar to Super Meat Boy or N+, are the heart of the title. Wall-jumping, dashing through the air, grabbing ceilings; it’s all very parkour-like. By running over dust and debris you sweep it up, adding to a combo multiplier. You can gain more dust by knocking it off of objects floating in midair. By attacking the object with X you knock the dust off and reveal the hidden item beneath (books, gargoyles, maids, etc.). You can also use a power strike (with C) that knocks the dust onto a surface, allowing you to collect it as you would any other dust. At the end of each level is a final, larger debris-covered item that must be hit multiple times to get clean. You then get a final stage grade (S through F) based on how clean the level is, and how high your combo score is.

The controls take a little getting used to before you’re flying about with the skill of a ninja. Thankfully there’s a great optional tutorial level. Here you learn the basics of running along all kinds of surfaces and tricks for keeping aloft. For instance, every time you knock dust off a floating object, you get an extra jump. There are also floating blocks of debris that are destroyed on contact. It’s all boilerplate platforming stuff, but the setting and execution of it is sublime.

On top of all this, Dustforce might be one of the most gorgeous titles I’ve ever seen on my PC. The graphics are reminiscent of Cave Story, but hand-drawn rather than pixilated. The way dust and leaves fly everywhere in your path is straight-up gorgeous and everything is so thoroughly beautiful. I spent more time than I should’ve just staring at the screen, looking at all of the details. It’s rather stunning, as is the score. Hitbox Studios has done a great job pacing the music with the environments, and I hope they release some sort of soundtrack to accompany the game.

Between finding out about this game and playing the first level, Dustforce has become one of my most-wanted titles. The acrobatics on display, coupled with the graphics and music, make for a fantastic title. I’m shocked that the demo had so much content. If this is just a sample of the actual game, I cannot wait to see what’s in store for the full experience. And I might just clean my room today.