Heaven Dust from indienova is an isometric homage to old-school survival horror games. Learn more in our Heaven Dust review!

 

Heaven Dust from indienova is a game that pays homage to the survival horror games of the 1990s, particularly the Resident Evil series. As for this game’s story, in the 1970s, a scientific team found a new virus within blood samples from the primitive tribe of the Torkue in New Guinea. It was believed to be the key to a new scientific discovery, leading to unlocking the secret of immortality. The name given to this virus? Heaven Dust. As expected, things go terribly wrong, and the whole thing has led to a zombie outbreak.

 

Your journey begins at the mysterious mansion in the U.S. that served as the hidden research facility where the potential for Heaven Dust was being explored, a location that has now been overrun by deadly zombies. StarDust was in charge of all the research related to Heaven Dust. Can you survive all of the zombies out to get you and eventually uncover the truth about Heaven Dust? You need to be careful because anyone who has died inside of the mansion could have been infected with the virus, so don’t trust a single corpse!

You’ll move your character around with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, aiming your gun with the R button. Once you’re ready, you can then attack with the Y button, changing targets with the L button, and reloading with the X button. As you pick up items, they will be added to your inventory, which you can check by pressing the + button. You have limiter resources to work with, as well as a limited inventory space, so you should make good use of the storage chests you’ll find. Your map is, well, mapped to the – button, so that you can check your overall progress and find the next area that you should investigate.

 

The starting area in Heaven Dust will also work as the game’s tutorial since it teaches you the basics as you interact with different items. You’ll learn more about the notes you can find to learn more about the game’s overall story and setting, the light puzzle elements you’ll need to take care off, the limited ammo and healing resources you can collect, the storage chest you can use in order to maximize your inventory’s space, o how anything that moves is bad and should be dealt with right away with some well-placed bullets.

As you explore each room, be sure to keep an eye out for any tokens you can add to your collection. Tokens are very important since they can be used at the vending machines you’ll find during the handful of hours you’ll spend playing Heaven Dust. These vending machines will offer you maps for each area of the mansion, gunpowder for you to craft ammo, something to boost your speed, or perhaps even some valuable information on a secret or two! These upgrades will make a huge difference in your odds of surviving the whole thing, along with always having at least one green healing herb on you at all times.

 

Heaven Dust is a fun, bite-sized release that pays homage to the classic survival horror games from another era, particularly the beloved Resident Evil series. You’ll find a deadly virus that has turned people into zombies, herbs to heal your wounds – which you can combine with other herbs, locked doors engraved with sword symbols, and a massive boss – with a huge eye on its chest – for you to defeat. Heaven Dust is out on Nintendo Switch for $7.99.

Disclaimer
This Heaven Dust review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by indienova.