Dustforce is, Thankfully, Not Really about Dusting.

I played an early version of the upcoming computer game Dustforce about a year ago, when I was a judge for the Independent Games Festival. The beat-em-up—well, broom-em-up—was in need of a tutorial and/or a gentler learning curve. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun.

Up top is a look at a new trailer for the game.

Dustforce, is still supposed to be tough, but that’s not all. “We wanted to show that the game isn’t just a difficult platformer,” developer Woodley Nye of Hitbox team said in a press release. “We’ve also worked hard to make a deep, fun and impactful attack system that goes hand in hand with running and jumping.”

The second clip here is from a couple of months ago and shows more of the sweeping-based platforming. You know, if Super Mario Bros. could do great things with the side-scrolling adventures of a plumber, why can’t Dustforce do it with a guy with a broom?

Dustforce will be out for Windows and Mac in early 2012. Keep up with the game’s developments at the official Dustforce site.