Last May, the game Terraria got released. However, it wasn't until last christmas that I acquired a copy of it for just 2,50€; and I've got to say: man, how much fun you can have with just 17 mb. There is so much content in this game and replay value you're going to play it for a long, long time. But first of all, I'll show you what this game is all about.
Well, it's been about two years since the creation of the very first Minecraft, and since then, there has been a lot of fuss around about block sandbox games. I tried Minecraft at its time, and didn't like it, because you could only dig and build things with blocks. This year is when I heard about Terraria, and how it was in some aspects better than Minecraft. After looking at some gameplay videos and learning a bit about the game, I decided to buy it for the price I was being offered. At first, it's an extremely confusing game: you don't know where to go, you don't know what to do, and you don't know how to do it. It wasn't until a couple of minutes into the game that I found out that you could build utensils using a work bench. Then I decided to build my own house with strong, sturdy, stone blocks and wooden doors. Afterwards I made a furnace, and after some mining I turned all the ore I collected into all types of ingots which I would later on put together to create all sorts of pickaxes, axes, swords and bows. I would then make myself some rooms with beds and decorate them with candles and chests, where I'd put my most precious possessions. Once I had everything in perfection, I'd wander the lands battling Gels, skeletons, zombies, flying eyes, huge bosses, and finding curious items like boomerangs, grappling hooks, bottled clouds, and revitalizing heart stones. All this happening in a world created randomly that can perfectly be played with your friends in a server. The idea of Terraria being tiny and huge at the same time is astonishing and a good bang for your buck.
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| Some random house I found underground |
Graphics
Well, there's not much to say here, really. The thing is that you really have to put a lot of effort to make a game that is eye-candy and two dimensional at the same time, and Terraria delivers this with great ease. It doesn't have beautiful explosions or epic artwork that is seen on games like Shank or Limbo. However, these games are not comparable simply because the style and theme these are completely different and have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Still, Terraria lacks some things like effects and things that other games of the same visual style have. I'm not calling the game ugly, don't get me wrong, the background is vivacious and very cool, the whole environment is vast and colorful, and the animations are totally fluid, but I wish it was more shiny in some aspects. To get things clear, the game is good graphically, but there's no actual innovation here.
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| Home, sweet home. |
Sound
The sound has its ups and downs. While the soundtrack shines with 8-bit glory and really goes with the ambient of the game, it can get really repetitive at times. Depending on the type of person you are, you will find this either unimportant, or utterly unpleasant. Personally, I don't dislike the soundtrack and don't find it annoying; I even consider the tune very catchy and have found myself whistling the actual song. The sound effects are not mind-blowing, but they're not mediocre either. They are just there, and you notice them, but there's nothing admirable or annoying either.
Gameplay
While the two aspects of the game mentioned previously aren't extremely innovative, the gameplay is extremely fun and responsible for keeping you on your seat for whole hours. The game follows the Minecraft scheme in which you use resources and materials to build anything you want. It's not like Gmod where, for example, you want a barrel and you simply have to go to the menu and spawn one. No; instead, Terraria forces you to mine the materials that the barrel is composed of, and then turn them into the barrel using a workbench. This makes up for a much more fulfilling experience, as all you find and build is thanks to the time you have dedicated. There is nothing that can describe the feeling of spending nearly an hour finding different materials to create a grappling hook, for example. Not only this, but the items you get actually augment your experience considerably, to the point that you will be able to defeat a boss or go somewhere you couldn't before. Adding to this, there are so many things, materials, and playable land that the possibilities are endless. This is only the single-player. There is also a multiplayer which lets you get into any server through IP address. It would have been a major advancement if you could have a server browser, but it's much more preferable to play with some friend than with some stranger. Plus, now the IP of the server you entered before gets saved so that you can go back whenever you want.
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| You are now entering the corruption! |
Lasting Appeal
Endless. The land is made randomly, so your experience is always different. Materials and items are scattered all around the map, so you've got quite a lot of things to find. There are numerous bosses, all with different skills and of different levels. Hundreds and hundreds of things to make with the materials, and many ways to upgrade your house. All these things combined, and added with a pretty cool multiplayer game make up for a massive and addictive experience that will make you want to get back to your old legos and remember old times.
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| 4 out of 5 stars |
