Often when you see a game touted for being old-school, what that kind of praise really means is that the game in question is needlessly archaic, chained to the past and mired in empty nostalgia. I had been interested in Dusk since its reveal and was sort of worried that despite the aesthetic and design, once I jumped into the shoes of Duskdude, I would be disappointed at a game unwilling to look forward.

Thankfully, that is far from the case. As soon as you start up Dusk you realize that this isn't a game that is selling itself purely on you being able to remember Quake and Doom. This is its own thing, and it pays homage in small ways that add to, rather than distract from, the overall package.

The level design is the standout feature for me, and what I'm going to be primarily focused on here. You start the game in a small house in rural Pennsylvania, having freed yourself from meathooks. Your only weapon is a pair of sickles, and without warning you are attacked by cultists brandishing chainsaws. Your surroundings are dank dungeon walls, and it's imperative you learn to circle strafe quickly to kill these maniacs without dying yourself. They have the advantage of numbers and weaponry, but you? You can move like you've been speedrunning 199X FPS games for thirty years. You will instantly feel just how precisely tuned the momentum of the game is, and soon you will learn how bunnyhopping isn't just an advanced component but a necessary part of every fight (though, graciously, Dusk puts more weight on you learning how to be efficient rather than precise timing, as bunnyhopping is simple and easy to learn). You also have the ability to pick up objects scattered around the areas, throwing them as weapons, making much of the environment more than just window dressing.

The level transitions from dungeons into a small house with cramped stairways and tight corners, something more in common with Rainbow Six than Doom. Once you get out of the house, you're treated to some fresh air and new enemy types as the game opens up into a small outdoor area. You're taught how to slide, adding another quick evasive maneuver to your arsenal, and then it's over.

At this point, I'll admit to having been impressed but not overwhelmed. The game felt good, the enemies seemed fresh, the layout was cool. In the back of my mind, though, I was beginning to worry that the level design might be overly simple, that Dusk might be content with just setting up a couple boxes of spooky enemies per mission to shoot your way out of and calling it a day.
The mission after the first goes bigger and wider, opening up the outside areas and showing just how good these developers are at crafting buildings that are fun and tense to play through. I was wrong to have been worried, checking each new door and corner with apprehension and excitement. Powerups, dual-wielding, the game was broadening at a fast pace. A hedge maze area, filled with dread-inducing corners and dead ends, populated by shotgunning scarecrows.

By the third mission, a level centering around a huge and horrifying church, I was completely hooked, but it was the ninth, penultimate mission of the first episode that made me a Dusk evangelist. Simply titled Ghost Town, this level sets you loose on a city block full of buildings to enter and explore, searching each nook and cranny for necessary keycards and bonus loot. Cultists on rooftops throwing fireballs from far away, soldiers with assault rifles lurking inside buildings. This level shows off just how good the game is at mixing claustrophobic close-quarters combat with long-range, hit-and-run battles.

It's here that I'll stop talking about the levels, because in Episodes 2 and 3 of Dusk, the game throws new and unique concepts at you over and over, and each one deserves the surprise that the developers carefully craft. Instead, as my word limit draws near and my time runs out, I'll do a quick rundown of everything else I liked and didn't.

The music is sublime, ranging from atmospheric tracks to fill you with dread to bass-heavy, pulse-pounding metal, making you ready to put an end to any cultists who dare to shuffle their masked selves towards you and your super shotgun.

The graphics, while intentionally rudimentary, still manage to look good and instill fear, and the use of color to break up drab palettes means you're never awash in a wave of samey areas.

The guns are absolutely incredible, each one useful in different ways and each one a pleasure to learn the intricacies of. The shotguns are my favorite, but I really enjoyed the long-range hunting rifle for picking off troublesome enemy types from a relatively safe distance.

The bosses, which I was surprised to see exist, are each fun and provide interesting challenges (though some of them are also skippable if you so choose).

That's about all I have to say about Dusk, a game I was enthralled with and finished in two sittings on the day I bought it. It is a fantastic game whether you're nostalgic for classic FPS games or not, whether you like horror or sci-fi, and regardless of how you feel about the super shotgun (though if you don't care for it, you are on the wrong side of history). I truly believe this to be one of the best shooter campaigns in the last few years and I'll be thinking about some of these levels (Escher Labs!) for years to come.