Dysmantle Review

Game: Dysmantle
Genre: Adventure, Action, RPG, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows & macOS))
Developer|Publisher: 10tons
Age Rating: EU 12+ | US Teen
Price: US $19.99 | UK £17.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: March 31st, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to 10tons. 

From Twin Stick Beginnings 

Dysmantle is a top-down action game with survival elements. The title comes to us from developer 10tons who have been going from strength to strength in their output of quality video games. I originally came across their work back on PS Vita with Crimsonland, a kinda basic twin-stick shooter which I won a code for through a podcast I was listening to at the time. Not bad, nothing special either. But since then the developer has made consistent improvements.

They refined their art with the twin-stick shooter with titles like Neon Crome and Jydge but soon branched out to other genres including the dungeon crawler with Skeletal Avenger. It’s really great to see how far this developer has come and with today’s title, Dysmantle, the developer takes on possibly their most ambitious project and yet again succeeds at creating something highly enjoyable.

It’s the End of the World

The apocalypse has come once again but one sensible chap was prepared. Building a bomb shelter stocked with plenty of food he takes cover from the devastation above. But food only lasts so long. The game begins with you emerging from the shelter discovering the world is not what it once was. Now devoid of human life, instead replaced with zombie-like monsters. Your goal is to escape the island in the hope of finding survivors. As far as stories go it’s pretty straightforward. Generally speaking, your just a dude trying to survive which in all honesty works fine with this game’s design. I also kinda like that the developers avoided the term zombie and went with inhumans.

Break, Grab, Craft, Repeat

Despite being spelt wrong the term dismantle really sums up the core concept of this game. You start out with a crowbar and you very soon discover you can start hacking away at various objects to obtain the sweet resources within. Cut down the vines on a car to collect the leaves, destroy the fence to get wood and smack a filing cabinet to get the scrap metal. You then use your various resources to craft better equipment at a crafting station or campfire. After which you use said better equipment to destroy objects you previously couldn’t destroy eventually getting to a point where you can just about destroy anything on the map.

But it’s not all about resource gathering. The game often throws side quests at you which you can track at the side of the screen. You can also use this tracking feature when crafting items, to check you’ve collected the right ingredients. You can also find radio towers that will mark import points on the giant map which you’ll probably reference pretty frequently throughout your adventure. You can also engage in activities like cooking, farming and fishing. All of these gameplay elements are kinda basic but enjoyable.

The survival aspect of this game does not rely on irritations like hunger or thirst meters which may not appeal to those looking for an extreme challenge. Also, the fishing is really just you casting your line and waiting for a catch, without even requiring you to tap a button at any point to land a fish. Dysmantle is certainly more casual in its approach to survival, allowing the player to go at their own pace.  I found something strangely therapeutic about repeating the process of mining for materials and then stacking them in a nearby storage box to use later. Once the materials are stashed you don’t need them in your inventory to craft new materials.

One of my favourite things about Dysmantle is the small surprises and how it consistently drip feeds you with new content. The biggest thrill for me was heading off into unknown territory on the map and seeing what you could find. I stumbled across tombs which led to some satisfying puzzle sections but there was also this weird time I followed what looked like a spirit deer which led me to a dig spot to grab some rare resources. It’s little moments like this that had me coming back again and again just to see what I would find.  

Combat 

Combat is where the game’s main challenge comes into play. You can use your crowbar as well as a variety of other crafting weapons to kill enemies, but it does feel a little clunky in places. With your main weapon, you have a quick attack and a charge attack. You’re also able to dodge enemy attacks. When you are near an enemy a small reticle will appear over it allowing you to charge an attack to land a more devastating blow. This is very ideal too. Performing before the monster detects you allows you to do more damage and as you level up take it down in a single hit. The trouble with the charge attack is it doesn’t always appear as early as it could. Despite this niggle I actually liked that your character is not adept at combat, this made it feel more vulnerable, adding a satisfying survival horror element to the game.

You need to pick your battles, it’s easy to come across monsters that can outrun and kill you in one hit. Enemies will respawn every time you rest at a campfire a bit like a certain Souls series. However, soon into the game, you can craft a device to stop them from respawning in certain regions of the map tacking away some of the repetitive tedium. If you are killed you lose everything you were carrying, respawning you back at the last campfire you rested at which sometimes for me was pretty far. But not all is lost, head back to your now skeletal corpse and you can nab your resources again, just don’t forget about that enemy. 

The Sounds of Nature

In terms of graphics, the game looks just kinda fine on the surface. This is a pretty standard post-apocalyptic design with you raiding abandoned buildings and walking past empty cars and streets. I did like the small attention like vines growing on cars and fences giving the impression life has not been normal for some time. And yes you can cut these vines down for resources.

There is a nice variety of Zombie-like enemies from your standard melee walkers to some hulking beasts which take some time to take down. In terms of sound, the game mostly relies on ambience, with the sounds of nature, which made the experience pretty relaxing. Although it was funny to occasionally be running away from swarms of enemies while you peacefully listen to birds chirping in the background. It’s worth pointing out that while Zombies are featured this is not a gory game at all with the violence being kept on the shallow end.

Take Your Time

Dymantle is a massive game. With easily over sixty hours of content and even more if you want to do absolutely everything. There are small incentives to speed through such as timed crates dotted around the map but I don’t think I was ever fast enough to open these since I just kinda enjoyed taking my time with things. It’s a game with a simple control style making it easy to dip in and out of in long and short bursts. You can also have a friend join you on the survival trip in the local co-op which is a very welcome feature.

The game also comes with several accessibility features and graphical settings like a colour blind mode and camera distance which you can play about with. You can also turn on a feature that doesn’t auto collect resources so you can choose what to pick up instead of having your character automatically stash them in his backpack. 

Conclusion – Breaking it Down

Dysmantle may not seem like much from its appearance but there is a highly addictive survival experience here. Survival games are often hit and miss, sometimes the survival elements are a bit too much and more often than not the experience eventually dissolves into tedium. But I didn’t get that here, I found myself pretty keen to boot this game up over and over and set off into the unknown to see what I discovered. While overall game progression is slow, you always seem to unlock something through every play session. I never felt in a hurry to get off the island. I was pretty content to take in everything on offer. If you’re looking for zombie-infested island adventure alone or with a friend, you can’t go wrong with Dysmantle. I highly recommend it!

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up