SINGAPORE — Rabbits aren’t just fluffy puffs of cotton balls pottering about in a petting zoo. In the right setting, they could be gun-toting, scythe-slashing bunnies, as in the made-in-Singapore PC game Dusty Revenge.

The 2D, side-scrolling platformer game tells the tale of Dusty Milear, who returns to see his home in flames and fails to save his love Daisy from the burning wreck. Stumbling out of the inferno, he catches a glimpse of the culprits, who had also stolen an artefact left behind by his father.

Dusty goes on a rampage for revenge and is joined by two friends, heavy weapons expert bear Rondel Mohegan and sharp-shooting hound Casey McCoy, who are after the villain Craven for their own reasons.

As a side-scrolling platformer, you’d expect gameplay to be simple, but it isn’t. Dusty is very angry. And, after a forearm-cramping session mashing buttons to release killer combos, besting opponents that range from rats to armadillos, you will know just how angry he really is.

Aside from the addictive gameplay — trying to execute the perfect punch-slash-jump combo, for instance — Dusty Revenge is a beautifully rendered game. Characters are drawn to detail and full of personality as well. The game scenes and cutscenes are painted in such great detail that, at times, I paused just to take it all in.

However, I found the story too linear and simply not compelling enough. Also, because of the complex combos, controls can get a little confusing in the heat of battle. Of course, some gamers would say this is a good thing as it means the game has a full-bodied list of killer combos.

PD Design Studio started out making Flash games for clients, including a dengue-busting game for the National Environment Agency and Water Wally-themed ones for PUB. Dusty Revenge was more than two years in the making and is its main title.

The studio will be running a contest on its Facebook Page (http://facebook.com/pddesignstudio) between Aug 9 and 21 to give away Dusty Revenge T-shirts. All fans have to do is say what they liked about the game.

Dusty Revenge is currently available on digital distribution service Desura, the Mac App Store and the studio’s own store for US$9.99 (S$12.70).

Rating: 3/5

Platform: Mac and PC