What DUSK is
DUSK is a retro first-person shooter in the style of the '90s classics, built by David Szymanski. You fight through three hand-crafted campaign episodes, cutting down mystical backwater cultists, possessed militants and darker things while trying to work out what is lurking beneath the Earth. The arsenal covers melee and ranged options: sickles, swords, crossbows, rifles, dual-wielded shotguns, double-barreled shotguns, plus grenade and rocket launchers when things get crowded. The soundtrack comes from Andrew Hulshult, and the whole package leans into old-school level design, fast movement and heavy gore with a streak of dark humor.
Playing together
The group side of DUSK is DUSKWorld, the online arena multiplayer where you go head to head against your friends. Matches take place in arenas where darkness hosts the worst of humanity, so expect straightforward shooting duels rather than team objectives. On top of that, the game includes an Endless Survival Mode that puts you against wave after wave of merciless enemies, which works well as a shared challenge: take turns seeing how far you get, or compare runs against the same waves. There is also a level editor, so someone in the group can build a map and everyone else can run it.
Before you start
DUSK is built around speed and aggression. Movement matters as much as aim, and the enemies keep pressure on you, so standing still is a quick way to die. The campaign is split into three episodes with distinct settings, and the difficulty comes from swarms of enemies and tight spaces rather than slow tactical encounters. Expect plenty of blood and gore, plus a Lovecraftian undercurrent to the story about what is buried below. If your group wants to play together, the arena multiplayer is the mode to load up; the campaign and survival mode are singleplayer affairs you can still compete in by trading scores and wave counts.