Can the apocalypse be cozy? Yes, it can, at least going by The Road of Dust and Sorrow. However, that’s not to say that bad things won’t happen, because the end of the world is usually not a happy event (unless you are one of those zombie preppers, of course). Yet, there is something about the vibe in this game as you follow a mother and her adorable daughter, slowly traversing the dangers of mankind’s new existence to give us glimpses of humanity in the darkness.
Wasteland road trip
You play as “Mom”—who might have a name, but I have unfortunately forgotten—driving through a dead landscape with her daughter in her RV, doing scavenging jobs for survival—the dangerous kind that has you going into creepy abandoned buildings where others have failed, their grotesque corpses displayed at the door.
The mission centers on an “egg”—some kind of mysterious super-tech that cleans the soil to make it usable for farming again. This egg acts as the ticket to become a member of a successful settlement, but things are not all hunky-dory. First off, this machine is half-broken, a fact that requires you to visit even more dangerous locations to repair it. Secondly, the way the mother left the first village comes off as a bit suspicious to me. I can sense a horrible reveal in the full game!
It’s an interesting and human story, as the interactions—while linear—tell a good, grounded tale, with the cute relations between mom and daughter providing some real weight to the narrative. Especially since you have to protect her occasionally—talk about stress!
Another excellent element here is the world-building. It seems humanity screwed itself by making some kind of a strange crop that didn’t turn out quite as expected, driving field workers mad and violently hostile, for then to spread. You get the backdrop by reading news articles, which I found well-written and fascinating—making for a pretty unique take on the “zombie” apocalypse.
Clubbing infected
The gameplay feels heavy and deliberate. The infected go down fast, but you are no ninja! I took a few bonks on the head learning to aim since the weapon sways a lot—so long-range shooting with the pistol is out of the question. But being a 2D platformer, the bullets can only go so many ways, which means that you are bound to hit something eventually.
You also carry a baseball bat with nails, but it’s limited to only a few uses, as the durability drops after each successful attack. This forces you to scavenge materials to craft items, which share the same raw resources for an extra challenge. Do you repair your bat, or save those materials for bandages to patch up your nasty wounds? I didn’t find the combat too challenging after a while, so I had plenty of resources—but I’m a hundred percent certain the game has a few surprises in store the further you get.
The standout
While I enjoyed the environmental puzzles and combat, the real standout—beyond the story—is the atmosphere and splendid pixel art style. It looks great and feels very inviting, making exploration a cozy yet deadly pleasure. I have a feeling The Road of Dust and Sorrow has the ingredients to be a real hit if you enjoy a good end-of-the-world tale with some brutal violence sprinkled on top. According to Steam, it releases in four weeks on December 3rd, so it’s not too far off. Make sure to take the demo for a spin, and wishlist the game!
Thanks for reading.
– Thomas
