Dust & Neon

Dust & Neon is a fun isometric twin-stick shooter, enveloped by the trappings of a roguelite that won't be for everyone. Even so, it never felt unfair, thanks largely to its tight and fun gunplay mechanics that fans of twin-stick shooters will easily latch onto.

Dust & Neon is definitely going for something, and it does include a very satisfying overall gameplay loop, but the technical issues can be grating in the long term as they are persistent.

What a time its been for the booming roguelite genre with Vampire Survivors, Cult of the Lamb, Returnal for PC recently, and then of course the hotly anticipated sequel to Hades, coming soon. The rogue genre has seen a huge increase in quality titles with various budgets and styles lately and I’m all for it. I have been enjoying a great deal of them lately, so when I saw Dust & Neon’s interesting ...

Roguelite twin-stick shooter Dust & Neon starts off all guns blazing with stylish visuals and slick shootin’, but misses the mark in almost every other area. With an erratic difficulty curve and repetitive missions, the core mechanics have a lot of heavy lifting to do.

In the end, though Dust & Neon nails the fundamentals of a twin-stick, looter shooter it feels far too limited, familiar and simply isn't ambitious enough to stand out from its genre peers. Though still reliably satisfying to play at times, Dust & Neon just doesn't offer anything new.

Dust & Neon makes a strong debut as a unique twin-stick shooter rogue-lite. The moment-to-moment gameplay requires thoughtful decisions and patience, which results in epic shootouts, satisfying gun mechanics, and a solid progression system. While the boss fights might leave some players asking for more, the overall experience of leading a legendary gunslinger to victory is one most won’t forget.