Dust & Neon

Dust & Neon brings players back to the wild west, with this roguelite shooter. In this game you play a mysterious gunslinger who may even be a cyborg. The gunslinger is tasked with several missions, with each level of the game lasting about 5-10 minutes. At the end of each level, players can upgrade their weapons and skills so that they are better prepared for the next stage of battle. The game has a variety of different difficulty modes, so everyone from new players to very experienced ones can feel challenged.

Stunning Artwork

As the name suggests, Dust & Neon has a splash of bright neon colors that adds a certain flair to the wild west backgrounds. The color scheme is unique, and works well with the theme of the game. Beyond the colors, the artwork is detailed and pleasantly drawn in a 2D style.

Notably, the game does a spectacular gun loading animation for each gun, despite the topdown style which makes showing these animations more difficult. These animations are the perfect polish for a beautifully done art style.

Battle is Well Thought Out

The game also performs well for the battle section of the game. There are 3 different classes of weapons: shotguns, revolvers, and sniper rifles. Each weapon does well in a specific situation and you’ll have to think about your choices to make sure you are bringing the right gun to the fight.

Boss battles are also notably well done. The bosses are built in such a way that you will need to take full advantage not just of weapons and upgrades, but also cover and hiding spots to make sure you can defeat them.

The game has a punchy style very similar to games like The Ascent. If you liked this sort of playstyle, you will probably like Dust & Neon.

No keybinding adjustments

One major flaw of the game is that you can’t adjust the keybindings to suit you. In a fast shooting game like this one, sometimes the keybindings of the developer’s choice aren’t the best ones for you personally.

Being unable to change the keybindings means you may not be quite as fast as you have to be, or have to deal with awkward placements.

Upgrade System is Unbalanced

Another drawback to the game is the upgrade system. While the system has a lot to choose from for upgrades, all the upgrades are absurdly expensive. You may have to make several runs in order to be able to afford one, minor, upgrade.

The game pushes offensive upgrades, but for defensive upgrades you pay a lot for very little. This should definitely be addressed by the developer.

Pros:

• Fabulous artwork
• Lots of play value
• Challenging Gameplay

Cons:

• Upgrade system lacks balance
• No keybinding adjustments