A Drone by Any Other Name...
Duskers is a deceptively well made game.
I say deceptively as the initial graphics and games play that I saw didn't appeal.
However, the game is well crafted and delivers on it's promise of Survival.
You start off the game with 3 Drones aboard a ship with only 6 days of fuel left.
Each Drone has a set of upgrades. The standard ones are Gather, Tow, and Generator.
Those three are a mandatory. Then the drones can have additional upgrades to help with the exploration of other Ships, Stations and Trading posts.
You have a schematic of the Universe/Galaxy and the System that you are in.
You use propulsion to move about your system until you run out of propulsion.
Then you can Jump to another Galaxy to explore a new System.
A simple detail, demonstrating the fun nature of the team who made this game, are the random names provided to the Drones.
Brendon, Ian, Ruby etc just makes me laugh when I am Towing Jerry back to the Dock after being disabled.
Simple Lines can be Terrifying
When you configure your Drones and arrive at a destination then you are ready to Board.
Your ship docks and the first two rooms are infestation free.
You are trying to find Scrap, which is used to upgrade and trade, and other Drones, which you can Tow or strip of their Upgrades to use or trade in.
While onboard you have two maps to work from. Both are top down.
You can manouvere from an above drone perspective. Drones have different views of their surrounds. Some can be brighter, darker, different shades and differing headlight illumination.
Here you use the arrows to move them around. Alternatively, you can type in commands into the interface on your bottom right.
You use phrases such as, "navigate 1 r4", to have Drone 1 move to room R4.
By using command, "generator", to have the power come on to operate the doors of the facility to open and close.
The game outlays rooms with an "R" designation, Doors with a "D" and Airlocks with an "A".
The second map available is the schematic of the floorplan (as pictured above). However, you only can see the parts of the map that you have revealed.
The Terror
The terror comes from an infestation killing you.
There are different alien types that can kill you.
I won't spoil it by giving too much information. Just play it and learn through many swear words and jump scares.
Not Stable
Radiation and Asteroids are the sort of environment variables that can kind of force your hand when making decisions.
You try not to hurry. But explore slowly in a fast way!
Drone Upgrades
Not all upgrades are created equal.
You can add Turrets, Motion detection, Room Scanning, Shields, Sensors and so forth.
Based on my play style, I found myself enjoying Upgrades like Sensor, Motion and Turret moreso than the other ones.
But you have to use the tools that you are given.
The starting Drone upgrades are radomly provided.
Ship Upgrades
Once a ship has been cleared of Infestations you can "Commandeer" it if you think it is a better ship or that your ship has deteriorated beyond repair.
The ship also has upgrades that can help with your exploration.
You don't need a mouse
Apart from loading the game, once you're in, then you don't require your mouse anymore.
You can type commands and move about with your arrow keys - which somehow feels like I am an inept commander from an Alien movie.
It is nerve racking when your Drone, with the Tow ability, has been incapacitated. You attempt to send, Drone Bob, to creep close to, Drone Eric, and, hopefully, Swap out his "TOW" ability and have Bob bring him to safety. Drone are expensive to lose.
Plus, you remember after you die that you forgot to use an ability.
Just try not to panic!
A game that took me by surprise.