Ubisoft’s PC port of From Dust arrives with gameplay issues and different DRM than promised.
PC owners can finally play From Dust, but it may not be quite what they expected. The popular simulation game, already available on the XBLA and the PSN, made its way to the PC today. However, the game suffers from massive frame-rate issues, game-crippling bugs, and a totally different kind of DRM than initially promised.
According to Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the port limits From Dust to 30 frames per second, making the game choppy on higher-end systems. Graphical options are few and far-between; anti-aliasing appears to be missing, and higher resolutions do not function in windowed mode. Some users have also reported a bug that prevents the game’s menu from loading up.
The game’s DRM scheme is also a departure from Ubisoft’s original plan. While Ubisoft originally stated that From Dust would be playable offline following a one-time activation, users have reported that the game requires a constant Internet connection. A post on the Ubisoft forums detailing the one-time activation disappeared, then reappeared in the course of a few hours, this time promising an upcoming statement. Ubisoft suggests that dissatisfied customers can request refunds through their support team.
Ubisoft did not give a reason for why the PC port was delayed, but the extra few weeks were apparently not enough time to iron out all of the game’s issues. An official statement from the company should be coming soon.
Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun
