The Importance of Dust 514

For some reason I was pondering my gaming history, and how it shaped my desire/excitement for Dust 514. I was also thinking of the importance and impact of Dust 514 to the industry.




I was not much of a gamer most of my life- the first game I seriously put time and commitment into was the browser MMORPG Runescape that I played until I was level 81. Then I found tons of other MMORPG's with much better graphics, and more complex and aesthetically pleasing art styles. Kal Online first introduced me to the concept of guild vs guild warfare over territory like castles while other games like 2Moons fed my desire to kill others. In spite of all this, I stopped playing MMORPG's. Like many 'bitter vets,' I was tired of all the cliche business of just killing monsters and doing endless, pointless quests. My craving for a system that allows players to have a more meaningful impact on their world, and having a real reason to fight was not quenched by these games. I eventually stopped playing these soulless click fests, as they were pretty much generic, cliche crap.

Kal Online - "Vicious Summoner"

During senior year of high school I had my first taste of multiplayer first person shooters (MPFPS's), and that flavor was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Looking back now, it's hard to imagine myself actually liking a Call of Duty game, but it was easy, fun, and simple. Plus, it got me into multiplayer shooters, and multiplayer shooters got me into other genres.


In these MPFPS's, there are things I've found myself gravitating towards like large scale, objective based shooters that focus on teamwork. Games like BATTLEFIELD: Bad Company 2, KILLZONE 2, and most of all, MAG, pulled me in like a black hole. In addition, aside from my love of complexity, I think I like this style of gameplay because I don't have to be some elite master killer to be successful (in fact, in most shooters I usually have a poor kill to death ratio). However, all of them were missing something very important that I was craving, but could not find in any console shooter, and that something was persistence.

Mael Radec from KILLZONE 2

This factor of persistence, and fighting for a real reason, was one of the main things I was looking for that no console shooter seemed to have, and is a large part of why I'm looking forward to Dust 514. With that in mind, it isn't only the persistence that makes this game look so appealing. Everything I am looking for in a shooter: leadership, large scale, team-centric, objective-based, dark scifi art style, leadership, squad system, large scale (did I say that already?), deep customization, vehicles, etc, is right here. This game is so close to be my dream game... it scares me to get my hopes up about it because it seems a little bit too good to be true. So, I'll try to remain cautiously optimistic, while waiting with rabid, fan girl/boy attention.


Even if Dust 514 ends up disappointing me in the end, as long as its financially successful, more companies will try to make their own persistent MMOFPS. A revolution is necessary in the FPS market, and Dust 514 can be the agent of change needed to start the revolution. If one shot can topple an empire, then one game can change an industry.


I welcome everyone to share why they are interested in Dust 514.