Earth’s Dawn (PC, PS4, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: OneorEight
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Earth’s Dawn is the sort of thing you get if take one part Vanillaware, one part Epic Games, mix it all together and garnish with a dash of QWOP. It’s all sounds pretty crazy, and while not the greatest game, Earth’s Dawn does give us something pretty unique.
When I first caught the screenshots for Earth’s Dawn I would have put money down on it being a Vanillaware title. It clearly has that Odin’s Sphere/Murmasa styling which gives the game its unique look. The game also plays a lot like those games being a 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash with RPG elements, only set in some post apocalyptic future world. But when you peel back the veneer of better games, you find that Earth’s Dawn falls a little bit short. It’s not terrible by any means, it’s just the sort of game that comes together when developers focus more on copying rather than innovating.
The main issue that plagues and holds back Earth’s Dawn comes from the repetition that hits pretty early on. The game feels very rinse and repeat and while the extra crafting and ability tree the game features helps, it isn’t quite enough to keep most players involved. The game itself is broken up into regions, each of which has a number of levels for you to tackle.
The positive is that each of these tend to only run a few minutes, so you aren’t going to be slogging through many. You can choose whichever mission you want from the menu and each has different objectives that earn you all sorts of goodies.
These are fun, but even before I finished the opening New York region I was already bored enough to take a break from our livestream. I wasn’t turned off by the game as I did come back, but you just sort of want a break so as Earth’s Dawn does not wear out its welcome.
The real cool bit comes from the timer on the main menu that is constantly ticking down. You can craft weapons, upgrade all sorts of things, and play region mission tills the cows come home, but when the timer reaches zero you are whisked to the next main region.
As you play you’ll earn material and supplies from killing enemies and completing missions. These goodies will allow you to craft new weapons and unlock abilities you can select. You can also pick up all sorts of accessories and cosmetic options that are a neat little addition.
Sure, they don’t do much, but when my burly Gear of War like character tosses on a pair of librarian glasses I get all warm and fuzzy on the inside. On the surface the ability tree looks scary and deep, but you’ll quickly find it’s really straight forward. It’s simply confusing to look at on first glance.
Thankfully Earth’s Dawn isn’t all that long and these crafting additions do help keep things interesting. I usually hate crafting and ability tech trees, but in this game it gives you something to do and gets yourself invested into your character and their build. There are only seven regions (levels) with around 100 missions in total. That sounds like a lot, but remember that many of these missions last only a few minutes.
While Earth’s Dawn is a pretty game, it’s gameplay isn’t quite so. You have two weapons at your disposal with your sword for close-quarters combat and the sidearm for distance stuff. My issue is that the gun is mostly used to drop barriers so that you can hack-and-slash your enemy better.
But a bigger issue is that I found myself shooting in the wrong direction more often than not because the gun controls can be a bit finicky. This is all as traditional as it gets; almost too much so. You tap the button a bunch and enemies die, it’s really as simple as that.
Where Earth’s Dawn shines is when using the dash button. This move is quite fluid and the controls are responsive so you’ll be flying all over the place very early on. Tack on a double jump and you are going to be pretty impressed with your own skills. You’ll easily be able to take on multiple enemies without ever hitting the ground, as your dash can chain your attacks for what feels like days. It’s fun to be sure, but I just feel that the game plays its full hand far too early in the experience.
But throughout my initial play I just kept wishing Earth’s Dawn went just a little bit farther, a little bit deeper with everything it was presenting me. The story is bog standard and takes itself far too seriously. I would have loved to see it go more EDF and less Gears of War serious.
The game looks great, but characters move like those people figures that you make in kindergarten whose arms and legs are connected with those brass tacks. The cut-scenes are likewise gorgeous, but they are partially animated GIF’s with some creepy looking lip flaps. It’s the ultimate case of being good, but still always coming in second place.
At the end of the day Earth’s Dawn is an okay experience. There are no major flaws with the game, instead just a lot of things that just never quite get fully developed as much as they should. If you are a big fan of all those Vanillaware games and their RPG style, hack-and-slash nature, then you may have some fun with this one.
While not spectacular, developer OneorEight is on the right track and I look forward to them developing this into something deeper with their next game.
“Earth’s Dawn is a good game that just never fully develops like it should”
3/5
“Good”
[Review code provided by publisher]
// Promoted Stories
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