«As Dusk Falls» review: the graphics remain a gimmick, but the story is captivating

What should I do? The bandits want to take my daughter as a hostage. Do I beg them not to? Fight them? Can I offer to take her place? Or might passivity be the better choice? «As Dusk Falls» is full of difficult decisions – each of which will impact the fate of the characters later on in the story.

«As Dusk Falls» plays like an interactive movie. I spend a lot of time just watching what’s happening. And then, suddenly the movie is interrupted by quick-time events. Either I have to press a key at the right moment or make the correct movement with the analogue stick or the mouse.

Every now and then, I’m asked to search a room for a hidden safe or have to free myself from a vehicle by clicking on the right object. This adds some variety to the otherwise rather passive gameplay. The game can be played both alone or with up to seven people. In the latter case, decisions are made together.

The centrepiece of «As Dusk Falls» is its dialogue. Together with the quick-time events, they determine how the story develops. Usually, there’s a timer to ensure that I can’t take forever. Time does stand still, however, for particularly difficult decisions. After each chapter, a tree diagram shows me where the story took a turn as a result of my decision. After finishing the entire game (that takes about six hours), more than half of the branches are still covered, which means I haven’t played that version yet.

The similarities with games such as «Heavy Rain» or «Beyond: Two Souls» aren’t coincidental. «As Dusk Falls» was created under the direction of Caroline Marchal, who was also lead game designer at Quantic Dream, developer of the other two titles. The main difference is that in «As Dusk Falls», I never manoeuvre my characters through the environment myself.

Predictable storyline(s)

The story centres around two families. The Walker family, husband and wife with their daughter and grandfather, are forced to stop at a motel in the middle of the Arizona desert because their car broke down. They involuntarily make the acquaintance of the Holt family, who are on the run after a failed burglary.

The story is set mainly in 1998, at the time of the hostage situation I mentioned at the beginning of this article. In the course of the game, we travel forward and backward in time, covering about 30 years in total. I regularly change perspectives and get to know both families.

The main characters are Vince, the father of the Walker family, and Jay, the youngest brother of the Holt family. I don’t want to spoil any more than this. Vince and Jay have the most control over the fate of those involved. This is where the game gets gripping. Be it when Vince suspects his wife is cheating on him or when Jay is torn between two sides.

The speakers, respectively actors, do an excellent job for the most part in making their characters seem like real people. Despite a few clichés, the corrupt small-town sheriff or the father with a drinking habit, for instance, the game almost always manages to give the characters enough depth that they fit into the story.

I was particularly surprised by the dialogue system. In these kind of games, I’m often not happy with the choice of answers I’m offered. Or the answer doesn’t result in what I expected. Not so in «As Dusk Falls».

At one point in the game, I have to say goodbye to my companion because I don’t want to expose her to unnecessary risks. It’s a shame, as I would have liked to see our journey together unfold. With a heavy heart, I choose the responsible option. I don’t like the short answer. I’d like to react differently. So I’m very surprised to see my character give a refreshingly nuanced answer.

Almost all dialogue options are realistic and authentically delivered by the actors. That’s what makes «As Dusk Falls» most exciting. It’s not the storyline. I’ve seen many similar ones before. It’s the way the story is told that makes a difference. The diagram at the end of each chapter shows many branches, but they usually boil down to two outcomes. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any momentous decisions to make in «As Dusk Falls» or that the quick-time events don’t have consequences. In fact, the game doesn’t shy away from serious topics such as suicide or abuse.

Unappealing graphics

Although the graphics are undoubtedly the most outstanding feature of «As Dusk Falls», they’re the one thing I struggled with the most at first. The characters are voiced by real actors, but move like animated stills. Now and then, moving vehicles or fluidly animated backgrounds provide some contrast, but the characters remain static.

On top of this, a watercolour-like filter makes the game appear like a comic book. I don’t like it. The lack of movement makes the game sluggish, and the comic filter doesn’t look pretty, nor does it make sense in terms of the story. In the movie «A Scanner Darkly», the comic book style reinforces the feeling of a totally monitored world, full of drug use and psychologically questionable characters. In «As Dusk Falls», it’s no more than a style choice.

There are moments in the game where the low-motion style paired with the design creates coherent scenes. However, they remain the exception. Most of the time, the graphics feel artificial and put on.

Gripping to the end

The design is what originally drew me to «As Dusk Falls». Now it’s my least favourite aspect of the game. At times, I got bored of watching the story, as there was nothing exciting to look at. But then the action grabbed me again and asked me to make the next difficult decision. Even though the story holds few surprises, it’s told in a gripping and believable way. I regularly found it hard to put the controller down in the evening because I wanted to keep playing. And that, after all, is the best thing you can experience when you’re playing a game.

«As Dusk Falls» was provided to me by Microsoft. The game is available from 19 July for PC and Xbox and is included in Game Pass.

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