Tweet
As has long been prophesied by film and game alike, The Future is set to be a gritty, grimy, cybernetic-y kind of place. So it is with Dex, a side-scrolling action RPG that represents this vision of our grey and cheerless future with hand-drawn aplomb. There's a hint of Blade Runner about the initial clutch of environments and character designs, but the gameplay has more in common with Syndicate's upgrade system and Streets of Rage's combat than it does with po-faced monologues about tears in the rain.Now released on Steam's Early Access program, Dex was successfully Kickstarted last year when it landed over double its modest £14,000 target. It fell short of some of its more optimistic stretch goals - so, no "major console" support - but has still managed to secure an extended single-player campaign and an eventual Wii U port. For now, though, this alpha release provides the bare bones of a game and gives a flavour of what's to come, including cybernetic implants, platforming, stealth takedowns, gunplay and over a dozen short side-missions.
The biggest omission from the current build is any form of wider narrative, which is currently a work in progress, undermining developer Dreadlocks' goal of making Dex a story-driven experience. However, the current playable area of New Harbour reveals a number of NPCs looking for someone (you) to solve their problems for a variety of reasons, from tracking down a missing accountant to putting a local drug syndicate out of business. This is achieved through a mix of stealth, platforming, melee combat and recently implemented gunplay, with some varied results.
Read more…
More...