Even at your most frustrated you’ll find solace in the soothing chillwave score, the colorful graphics with a hand-drawn aesthetic and the fluid animation that perfectly fits a game about heedlessly throwing your body around enclosed spaces. In a sly move the game’s art and music minimize that stress. It’s not nearly as minimal and repetitive as Super Crate Box, but patience is still mandatory. If you aren’t interested in playing the same minute-long level twenty times in a row you probably shouldn’t buy the game. Then you walk through another door and start over from scratch.ĭustforce doesn’t just reward obsession. Your streaks grow longer, you gather more and more dust and eventually you’ve scored that twin S and a shiny new key. You can pick out the best routes and the perfect spots for wallrunning and springboarding. You remember every inch of every level, every wall and enemy and scrap of dust, and you start to react without thought. Your mind reorients itself to think like Dustforce. Again: repetition, repetition, repetition. It will probably take you at least a dozen attempts to finish off any single level. Score an S rank on completion and finesse and you’ll get a key to unlock a new level. As in videogames, an S inexplicably means perfection. As in real life, an F is a failing grade. Completion tracks how much dust you sweep away and finesse basically boils down to the length of your combo streak.

You’re graded on two components for each level. Otherwise you’ll stare long at locked doors and wonder what sort of videogame cruelty waits within. There are sixteen levels accessible at the beginning of the game, and to unlock more you have to win keys that are only earned by a perfect score. The word “perfect” isn’t used lightly – you literally have to be completely perfect at a level to unlock another one.

These human dustbusters aim to clean up every speck of dirt in sight while preserving a perfect combo streak. Our elders might think they’re a serious waste of time, but videogames understand the value of a hard day’s work.ĭustforce lays claim to that lineage by presenting us with a roster of heroic janitors. A jumpsuited plumber is still the biggest star this medium has ever known. Think Peter Pepper of Burgertime and the harried barkeep of Tapper. The videogame industry has celebrated the working man since its earliest days. It’s like videogames are preparing us for the limited job opportunities of the future. The point is to sweep up dirt as quickly and smoothly as possible. Dustforce makes a more explicit reference to manual labor. A couple of weeks ago I called Super Crate Box “assembly line gaming”.

Dustforce art