As Dusk Falls is a 2022 adventure game created by Interior Night and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game was released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on July 19, 2022. It was later released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 7, 2024. Critics gave the game mostly positive reviews.
Gameplay
The gameplay of As Dusk Falls is based on interactive storytelling, where players make choices that shape the story. The game uses special methods to find out what players agree on when making important story decisions during cooperative play with others. The story follows two families whose paths cross in the Arizona desert in 1998, and it covers events from several generations.
Synopsis
In 1998, the Walker family—Vince, his wife Michelle, six-year-old daughter Zoe, and father Jim—are moving to St. Louis, Missouri. On their trip through Two Rock, Arizona, they are in a car accident with the Holt brothers, Tyler, Dale, and Jay. Their car breaks down, so the family rents a room at a nearby motel called the Desert Dream. The Holt brothers go to the home of Sheriff Dante Romero to steal money from his safe. Jay also takes a book about birds because he likes them. Sheriff Romero returns home unexpectedly, and the brothers run away, but Romero sees their truck and sends all his officers to find it. The brothers go to the Desert Dream motel, take the Walkers, motel owner Joyce, and handyman Paul hostage, and plan to hide until nightfall. Because of choices made by the characters, the police are alerted and surround the motel.
Flashbacks show that the Walkers’ marriage is troubled in Sacramento, California. Vince lost his job as an aircraft engineer after a technical error that caused injuries and a death. He warned the company about the problem, but he was forced to take blame for the accident in exchange for money. Michelle has started an affair, and Jim, who has not been close to Vince for a long time, has a brain tumor. The Holt brothers come from a poor family because their father, Bear, is a gambling addict. The brothers rob the sheriff to pay their father’s debts and protect themselves from other debtors. Jay either stops Bear from killing himself for insurance money or lets him die.
The Holt brothers’ mother, Sharon, tricks the police into letting her enter the motel by saying she will help them capture the brothers. Instead, she works with the brothers to escape. Sheriff Romero contacts Vince and asks him to find a black book that the brothers stole. With help from Jay, they discover the book is hidden inside the bird book Jay took. The black book shows that Romero has been corrupt, accepting bribes and hiding money in a foreign account. Romero insists the money belongs to dangerous people and needs the book back, leading to failed police attacks that injure officers. Finally, a school bus is driven through the motel’s front door, set on fire, and explodes. The surviving Holt brothers escape with a hostage, either Vince or Zoe. Dale is shot and killed, and depending on choices made, Michelle, Joyce, or Vince may also die.
The Holt brothers crash their car, forcing Sharon and Tyler to flee, leaving Jay behind. Jay recovers but is hurt and taken in by a girl named Vanessa. They bond before Jay leaves and later reunites with Sharon and Tyler in a cabin in the woods. Jay learns that Tyler plans to run to Mexico with Sharon because Jay is not actually Sharon’s son—he was born to her sister, who died during childbirth. Jay decides to run to Canada alone.
Jay escapes to Salt Lake City, Utah, and calls Vanessa for help. Vanessa struggles with her strict father and still grieves for her brother. She runs away with Jay to help him escape. They stop at a party in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to ask a friend for help. Depending on choices made, Vanessa may leave Jay or help him run to Canada as a friend or lover. Jay may escape the FBI through Glacier National Park in Montana with or without Vanessa, jump into the water marking the border (and be assumed dead), or be captured. Sharon meets Paul, Romero’s cousin and a friend, and depending on choices, Paul may help Sharon escape by taking the money from Romero’s account or have her arrested.
In 2012, Zoe still has nightmares and anxiety from her experience at the Desert Dream, especially after receiving letters from Jay asking her to write back. She talks to Jim, who had lied about having a brain tumor to be closer to his family. Jim now has Alzheimer’s and encourages Zoe to face her fears. Zoe finds Jay, who is either in prison or hiding in Canada. If Jay escaped with Vanessa in 1998, he explains that he and Vanessa lived together for years, but she eventually grew tired of hiding and moved to California. The story’s ending depends on choices: Zoe may forgive Jay but ask him to stop contacting her, or she may turn him in. Jay may live freely, be captured, or be executed. Tyler may be caught or continue hiding on an oil rig. Sharon may be arrested or escape to a tropical beach with Paul. Vince may take blame for the accident and work an office job or sue the airline and start his own flying school. Michelle may die, separate from Vince, or marry someone else. If Bear survives, he places flowers on Dale’s grave. After visiting Jay, Zoe returns to see Jim, who is attacked by a stalker. A phone message from Jim reveals he has a secret past in Two Rock that he has never shared.
Development and release
The game As Dusk Falls was announced on July 23, 2020, during the Xbox Games Showcase event.
The development of the game was led by creative director Caroline Marchal, who previously worked for Quantic Dream as a designer for the company’s games Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.
The game was released for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on July 19, 2022. It was also available on Xbox Game Pass for cloud, console, and PC through Steam. The game was later released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and GOG.com on March 7, 2024.
Reception
As Dusk Falls received mostly positive reviews from critics, according to the review website Metacritic. Another review site, OpenCritic, reported that the game was strongly approved by 71% of critics. Many reviewers praised the game’s storytelling, art style, voice acting, co-op mode, and the emotional impact of choices players could make. Some criticism focused on the ending and the difficulty of controlling the game.
Michael Goroff of Electronic Gaming Monthly wrote that the game had well-directed scenes, an art style inspired by painting, the ability to see alternate story paths, a co-op mode, and engaging storytelling. However, he noted that the second half of the story lacked tension and ended with a cliffhanger. Robert Purchese of Eurogamer called it "the best interactive movie game I've played," highlighting the multiplayer feature, art style resembling comic strips, effective visual scenes, strong voice acting, character development, storytelling through flashbacks, and how it handled serious themes. He concluded that the game showed how well games can tell stories and make players care about characters.
Game Informer’s Matt Miller gave the game 8.75 out of 10, saying it appealed to a wide audience. He wrote that even people who do not usually play games could enjoy it because of its strong characters and storytelling. GameSpot’s Mark Delaney praised the motion comic art, audio drama format, voice acting, thoughtful themes, meaningful choices, and the developers’ skill in pacing and character development. However, he criticized some action scenes that felt out of place and an ending that hinted at a sequel.
Dustin Bailey of GamesRadar+ liked the game’s TV-style pacing, well-developed characters, and how multiplayer improved familiar gameplay elements. However, he noted that the choices players made felt less meaningful when replaying the game. Gabriel Moss of IGN said the game was highly replayable because of its impactful choices and branching story. He wrote that the game allowed more meaningful decisions than other similar games, and these choices felt real rather than just an illusion.
Donovan Erskine of Shacknews called the Xbox version of the game an impressive debut by the developer, Interior Night. He praised the emotional depth of the writing, delivered through strong voice acting, but mentioned the music was weak and the controls were difficult to use. The Guardian’s Keza MacDonald gave the game 4 out of 5 stars, saying it exceeded expectations in storytelling, character development, and how flexible the story was.
Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat said the game felt like a mix of soap opera and drama, but criticized the lack of logical choices, which made it harder for players to connect with the story. Jordan Middler of Video Games Chronicle gave the game 2 out of 5 stars, saying that while some parts of the story and art were strong, the dialogue sometimes felt unpolished, and the art style made action scenes less effective.