Although most development houses these days stick to the popular genres like shooters and role-playing games, there are always interesting and unique offerings coming out of the indie developer crowd. From games like Crayon Physics to the incredibly popular Minecraft, it seems like every couple of weeks something new and exciting is being released by two or three man teams. This trend is certainly upheld by the recent release of Terraria, an adventure-RPG title by developer Re-Logic. There has been a great deal of buzz around the web regarding Terraria and anyone who has played it can vouch for just how fun and addictive Re-Logic’s decidedly wonderful title is.
The basic concept of Terraria is quite simple. The player is dropped into a randomly generated world of varying sizes and must gather resources in order to survive and explore. Initially equipped with only an axe and a pickaxe, players will spend their opening hour with the game harvesting enough wood from trees and stone from hillsides in order to build a makeshift shelter. As day turns to night, the undead begin to roam the land and will continuously attack until sunrise. Once the zombie horde has dispersed, it is up to the player to decide how to progress. Whether it be adding on to their hovel of a home, exploring natural cave systems in search of better resources, or beating down the local fauna for cold hard cash, there is no lack of options available.
As the game progresses, players will use better and rarer resources in order to craft new tools along with higher quality weapons and armor. Although there are plenty of caves and mineral deposits to be found above ground, the real treasure always lies deep beneath the player’s feet. Underground lakes, dangerous and incredibly aggressive monsters, dungeons, and even a vast Hell-scape all await the player should he dig far down far enough.
Terraria may sound like another Minecraft clone from the description, but this is certainly not the case. Aside from its 2D perspective, there is also a great deal about the game which separates it from the indie darling block-breaking game. While Minecraft’s focus is heavily on that of creative block-building, Terraria actually has a more structured and traditional feel to it which makes it feel less like a toolset and more like a standard RPG.
As the player continues to gain more resources and spending cash, various non-player characters will come to inhabit the world. In addition to a very helpful “guide” character which gives advice to the player, general goods merchants, demolition supplies shopkeepers, and nurses will all gradually move into any homes built by the character. Each of these NPC’s has a certain criteria that must be met before they move into the neighborhood and there is a definite incentive to getting these useful characters to appear. Although it may seem like a small feature, attracting new characters really helps to give new players a direction and the NPC’s themselves all offer services and good which prove invaluable.
More so than in any other popular world crafting game out there, Terraria is quite focused on exploration and combat. As players dig their way down into the labyrinthine caverns beneath their homes, they will encounter a number of hostile beasts which will pursue them to no end. While these monsters and undead creatures can be a nuisance, defeating them is key to making progress. Many enemies drop components essential to building better equipment and tools which come will certainly come in handy. For example, destroy enough skeletons and you may obtain a hook which can then be combined with a few lengths of chain to make a very useful grappling hook.
However, farming does not end with slaying a few wandering beasts. Subterranean dungeons are littered with vicious foes to be fought and tons of useful items to be gained; while massive boss monsters offer a real challenge and rare loot. Also hidden throughout the world of Terraria are demon altars which can be used to summon even tougher boss monsters and various layers of the world offer increasingly difficult encounters. Those players brave enough to venture into the dangerous portions of the world can get absolutely destructive equipment such as laser pistols and indispensable equipment like rocket boots. The risk matches the reward though and death can be an inevitable reality in Terraria. Fortunately the only penalty for an untimely demise is the loss of half the money on the player’s character. Minecraft veterans will be pleased to hear that no inventory items or equipment are lost upon death.
While Terraria can be played as a single player experience, it really does benefit from played online with other people. The ever addictive element of world crafting and user creation present in Minecraft is similarly present here as players work together to build sprawling towns and vast underground tunnels. The major focus on combat also means that smart players will want to work together to defeat boss monsters and get the rare drops they need. However more players in the fight doesn’t necessarily mean that things will be any easier. The number of enemies present in the world increase dramatically as more players enter in the world. Journeying into the mines by yourself in a populated server can be an incredibly risky move.
One particularly interesting feature of Terraria is the presence of a persistent character system by which players can import their personal progress into a friend’s game. No matter whether one chooses to play solo or with friends online, any items or money gathered by the player will remain on their character even when switching between worlds. Similarly, if other players join your world and contribute to the building effort, those changes will remain even after everyone leaves and in single player.
Terraria is an independently developed title and the game itself is still in its infancy. The team at Re-Logic has already promised players that they will be adding new enemies, biomes, and items to their title in regular updates. As of the time of this review, there is no built-in server browser so players looking to join friends online will have to use Steam’s instant messenger program to swap IP addresses. Multiplayer itself has a few issues as well as latency can cause collision problems and enemies can teleport around a bit when the lag spikes up. Again, Re-Logic has made its plans for continued support of their game rather clear so hopefully these problems will be resolved quickly.
Players who may have grown tired of Minecraft after building their giant Mario sprite or even given up before crafting their first fortress will definitely feel a bit more at home with Terraria. Re-Logic has really done a great job of taking the popular crafting mechanics of world building games and meshing them with traditional RPG elements to make something not only addictive but accessible. Hours quite simply melt away when playing Terraria and there is always an incentive to keep playing in spite of weary-eyed fatigue. This is the sort of game that, with the promised continued support of the developer and a growing community around it, could still be around quite a while. It is simply one of the most entertaining and original titles to come out so far this year.
Terraria is available on Steam for $9.99 and is also available as a 4-pack for $29.99 (buy 3, get 1 free).
