Dex is a game that definitely deserves to see and experience. It is not the game of the year or the best indie RPG we've ever played, but it's a well-built effort that will excite fans of 2D action games, sprinkled with reasonable quantities of RPG mechanisms and a satisfactory story to support it.
Its retro-style gameplay may be a bit too simplistic for its own good, but, nevertheless, Dex manages to depict a detailed cyberpunk environment and tell a well-written story.
Game made with dedication and love. Got a lot more than expected – it's a real RPG in side-scrolling format with a nice story, different ways to finish quests, moral choices, character customizations etc.
Best characteristic I can give – it kept me up till 2 a.m. at night, which is rare for a guy with 20+ years of gaming.
I didn't really know what to expect from Dex. An unusual mix of side-scrolling, RPG, and cyberpunk that nonetheless not only works, but is enormously good fun.
Once you get used to the side-scrolling controls, Dex takes you into a world that is perhaps a little cliched, even predictable in places if you're familiar with the genre, but we get so little in the way of decent cyberpunk, I can't help but fall in love with it. It simultaneously manages to take me back to old days of Beneath A Steel Sky and more recent and more combat-oriented games such as Deus Ex or Shadowrun. That alone is to be appreciated. Some potential is unrealised, but that just speaks to the emotional investment in wanting more from what is a great little game.
The characters and voice acting are well done, particularly for such a small studio, and the game helps you build your blue-haired protagonist & beautifully voiced Dex your way. Do you favour stealth and alternative entrances or combat and out-and-out slugging? Silver-tongued dialogue or brute force? The missions are nicely varied both in content and approach, giving you a real chance to tailor the resulting experience to a given style and role. The soundtrack is wonderful, and really helps build that dystopian vibe. While small, the wonderful world built has nothing spare about it - everything ends up having a purpose, which is a joy to encounter as you progress further into the game and go 'oh, so that's what that is for'.
I'd like to see more of this, please, Dreadlocks. Even just more of the same would be just fine.
Dex delivers an interesting story and a solid gameplay, but there are some bugs and aspects with some room for improvement that prevent it from becoming a better experience.
Dex creates an interesting world, but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired. It's a Kickstarter-funded game that quickly shows lack of budget and skilled developers. If you can see past the shortcomings and crude fighting system you will find a few hours of decent fun.
It offers all the right elements that the genre needs, but fails to utilise them in any particularly original, entertaining or - indeed - working state. [Issue#162, p.112]
The game surprised me. It is really cyberpunk which I love. Dex has enough content to give pleasure and not to get bored. Simple pixel graphics make me do more attention to story.
The game is simply not good. Most of it plays like Galaga or a generic space shooter due to the horrid hacking mechanics. It's not a true RPG either, no real sense of choice. So many games have done the Cyberpunk genre better, Snatcher, Gemini Rue, Shadowrun. All are much more satisfying Cyberpunk titles
L'indé daubé du jour veut se la jouer jeu de rôle, rien que ça ! et "cyberpunk" avec ça, y en a vraiment qui ne doutent de rien... mais quand on a pas de moyens, pas de pétrole et encore moins d'idées, comment voulez-vous déboucher sur quelque chose à part un étron pas vidéo ni ludique pour un sou...
On a donc une espèce d'ersatz de "jeu" tout en 2D, de la 2D plate comme la main comme on en faisait au début des années 90... encore que même l'Amiga proposait en son temps des trucs plus jolis que ce machin-là. En dehors des 256 couleurs et des personnages tout pixélisés, la direction artistique est simplement dégeulasse, générique et fade.
Le gameplay est foireux et très limité, l'histoire est très neuneu, les dialogues sont risibles ; les voix en anglais sont d'un amateurisme effrayant et la musique vient de sortir d'un ascenseur en panne. En outre, je ne sais pas ce que branle le jeu pendant qu'on essaye de "jouer" à ce bidule mais il trafique le disque dur. D'ailleurs, l'une des mises-à-jour sur GOG tyrannise le disque dur pendant un quart d'heure, et ça avant qu'on ne l'annule, car on craint pour la santé du disque, vu les bruits qu'il fait... j'ai pas installé Stacker 4.0, que je sache... putain !
Voilà, c'était le petit étron indé du jour qui se prenait pour un jeu de rôle (lol), bricolé par deux mains gauches et programmé avec les pieds. On aura tout vu !