This year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live wasn’t home to many world premieres this time around, but to this writer, the world premiere of Dustborn stood out quite a bit…largely because it was baffling as to why it was being labelled as a world premiere. A road trip adventure form Red Thread Games, Dustbornwas first announced in June of 2020 back at the Future Games Showduring that time. Later on in December of the same year,it was announced that Quantic Dream would be publishing the game,one of their first forays into publishing, complete with a teaser on their YouTube channel. And yet now here we are, with the latest trailer for the game being called a “reveal Trailer” despite already being revealed and Geoff Keighley calling it a world premiere. What was up?
In fairness, the simplest explanation might just be that since a couple of years have passed without any major updates when it came to Dustborn’s development, a re-introduction might might have been in order. So welcome to the post-apocalyptic Divided States of America, as seen in the trailer below. It’s home to our protagonist Pax, a con artist who’s been hired to travel from Pacifica to Nova Scotia in order to deliver a stolen package, travelling with accomplices undercover as a punk rock band on a road trip across Neo-Western landscapes, all while avoiding the authoritarian Justice that now controls the American Republic. It’s a lot to take in, and this is even before we get into Pax’s powers.
Yes, Pax is an “Anomal” with the ability to weaponize language, as seen in the clip when she tells one of her companions to shut up. Pretty appropriate for a game all about the power of words, among other things. These powers seem to manifest in some moments of combat, where Dustborn’s comic book style really pops even further, with the use of stylish commands and effects as you battle enemies. There are also several locations to stop at where Pax will build their crew, work on relationships, tackle various missions, and more.
It all looks like a rather unique adventure, so it’s no surprise why Quantic Dream wanted to publish the game. Highlighted during the show as part of a trio of Spotlight by Quantic Dream games (which includes aquatic adventureUnder the Waves,due out next week, and past-manipulating hack-and-slash gameLysfanga: The Time Shift Warrior,due out in 2024), Dustborn is now due out in early 2024 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms, and should hopefully be worth the wait.
