I wish they would make more games like From Dust. It's fun and challenging, relaxing and tension building all at the same time. When you are dealing with the forces of nature things tend to be unpredictable and wild. You can never quite get the river to flow exactly in the direction you want it to, the lava and fire seem to have life and intelligence all their own. That's the beauty of the game though: Everything seems so organic and natural (which I suppose IS the point). The game itself works out to be a puzzler more than a god game, as there are no competing deities and your followers don't even seem to know you are there. You build land bridges and spread the soil so vegetation can grow. You direct your followers which totems to capture first and which defensive stones to grab in what order. Maybe you see a smoking volcano in the distance? Get them to get the Repel Fire stone first. It's that kind of planning that makes up the game. It always seems to be the case that your shaman will reach your village juuust as the lava is about to overtake it, saving it in the very last second. That's where the tension comes from. Every level you are basically capturing totems and surviving the elements until you can move on to the next portal. Things are kept fresh, though, in clever ways: One level is full of rocks and lava. There's a stream you can try to redirect to make a barrier between your villages and the volcano to hold of the lava flow at least temporarily. It's a constant struggle as you try to capture the Repel spells and try to have vegetation spread in the areas where it won't catch fire. The stream comes and cools some lava, but the volcano then erupts, drying up the stream. You are ALWAYS seconds away from failure... until you capture the last Totem! Once you do, Rain falls, cooling the lava and extinguishing the volcano. What was once a violent and harsh environment, suddenly transforms before your eyes into a lush and beautiful island paradise! Moments like THAT are what From Dust specializes in!

The game is kind of short, with only about a Dozen Story maps. It is extended by several dozen quick Challenge maps. There's definite AI issues and path-finding could be sooo much better. I've even heard that quite a few people, upon finishing the game, have their 360 lock up on them, forcing them to shut it down. Hopefully a patch is coming, until then I'll play and enjoy this very different game, and hope for fixes or someone to take inspiration from its sales and reignite this overlooked genre!

...and the credits roll on From Dust!

phantom_leo said:

Just preordered SF3: Third Strike Online, Tha Baconing and Bloodrayne!

Still haven't decided on Renegade Ops though!

Giant Bomb have a quick look up on their site. Looks fun!

As of 09/07/11:

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360:

• Bangai-O HD
• CastleVania: HD
• Crimson Alliance
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Galaga Legions DX
• Geometry Wars Evolved 2
• Guwange
• Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax
• Hard Corps: Uprising
• Ikaruga
• Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
• Ms. Splosion Man
• Pinball FX2
• Plants vs. Zombies
• Splosion Man
• Super Meat Boy
• The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile
• Trenched
• Trials HD

_______________

PS3:

• The Baconing
• BloodRayne: Betrayal
• Breath of Fire IV
• Castle Crashers
• CastleVania: Symphony of the Night
• DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes
• Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
• Shank
• Space Invaders: Infinity Gene
• Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition
• Tetris
• Vagrant Story
• Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls

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Added PS3:

• The Baconing
• BloodRayne: Betrayal
• Breath of Fire IV
• Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition

_______________

Added 360:

• Crimson Alliance
• Final Fight: Double Impact

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Man oh man... Street Fighter III: Third Strike.... I'd forgotten how fucking hard that game was. Worthless tools need not apply. I will still say though that Gill is the greatest bad guy of all time, cheap as he may be.

**Reviving my own thread, cuz it doesn't seem like much other conversation is going on in here lately!**

___________________________

My DL'able purchases lately:

___________________________

Shadow Complex with a Gravity Gun!

I must say: I am REALLY, REALLY LOVING the idea of the Only on Playstation Sleeper Games Downloads!

...Really!

...haven't forgotten the 360!

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I'm going to have to download this soon. Looks too unique to pass up --AND-- it takes place in --MY-- city! Only reason I haven't... I have TOO MANY DAMN, F'IN GAMES ! ! ! I have something like 51 games... 48 of which probably being DL'ables!