{"id":14798,"date":"2011-10-17T23:19:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T21:19:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T22:00:00","slug":"terraria-review-pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/reviews\/14798-terraria-review-pc","title":{"rendered":"Terraria review (PC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Developed by Re-Logic, composed of Andrew “Redigit” Spinks (programmer) and Finn “Tiy” Brice (graphics design).<\/p>\n

As with any other colossal drama in the gaming community, fanatic loyalists spend their days arguing away amongst each other on which game’s existence is justified: Minecraft or Terraria. <\/p>\n

Terraria’s Andrew Spinks, in an interview with Steam Addicts, was quoted as saying, “People need to understand that Minecraft isn’t a game anymore, it’s a genre. There are so many possibilities with the gameplay mechanics in question that they shouldn’t be limited to a single title.” Arguing, of course, that it is a genre worth expanding on, worth investing in and that if you like one, there’s no reason you shouldn’t fall madly in love with the other.<\/p>\n

One would have to be blind or wilfully obtuse not to see the similarities between the two games. After all, players begin in much the same way, needing to harvest resources and build shelter before nightfall and its hordes of undead come hungering for brains.<\/p>\n

It also incorporates the mining of ore and discovery of unique materials for crafting weapons and armour for players to become self-sufficient enough to brave the rest of the unknown world. Indeed, such games have become a genre in their own right. So the question is not how similar they all are but rather, what makes Terraria different to the rest?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first thing one would notice is that Terraria’s two-dimensional visuals are reminiscent of retro arcade games. Characters have that particular early Final Fantasy Nintendo feel to them with large anime eyes and cutesy forms. Colours are bold and cheerful on the surface during the zombie-free day and audiophiles are greeted with warm, playful music in the background that they simply can’t help but eventually wiggle their feet along to.<\/p>\n

Travel closer to the Corruption, however, and colours begin to turn to unnatural purples, acknowledging the territory of skeletons, demon eyes and all sorts of paranormal abominations. Sharp, damage-inflicting thorns occasionally lace the purple grass of the corrupted surface.  And, beneath, the Corruption’s near-impenetrable ebonstone mocks your lack of a molten pick-axe and explosives.<\/p>\n

There is a loving attention to detail in Terraria that’s hard to miss and impossible not to appreciate. It’s in the soundtrack as day turns to night, as you get closer to the Corruption or go underground and discover the underground jungles and the hells. It’s in the design of the art of the world; the zombies, the boss characters, the armours and the weapons. The most profound evidence of this attention to detail is that in this pixellated world, everything has the perfect proportions and nothing feels out of place.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Terraria is a game that can be played alone or in co-op with up to eight players. It provides you the option of running a separate server, included with the game, where you are able to create a  world and name it, or starting and hosting your world in-game. Of course it’s no doubt simpler and faster to do so through the main game client, but when hosted via a separate server your game world and items are saved upon exiting the server by typing exit in the server window.<\/p>\n

Should you host via the game client itself, it autosaves every five- or ten-minutes, meaning that should you quit before it has autosaved, you risk losing the time played between saves. Not really a risk worth taking when running the server separately is incredibly simple and user-friendly. Player characters are also able to easily switch between servers, keeping the items in their personal inventories.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Players begin quite humbly, with little more than a copper sword, pick-axe and hammer. Enough to chop down a few trees and create shelter. Cutting down trees or slicing through plants drops seeds and acorns, giving the option of replanting and reshaping much of the world to suit your tastes. Crafting is incredibly simple in Terraria, made even simpler thanks to the Guide, an NPC who roams around near your spawn site and is capable of telling you what you’re able to make with your materials as well as what materials are required for certain items.<\/p>\n

There are a few NPCs in the game and they are drawn to your home depending on what conditions you’ve met. Have you slaughtered a terrifying boss monster yet? Have enough money? Discovered a special item? All NPCs require a home and will automatically move in once you’ve met their particular conditions. There is an arms dealer, a merchant, a nurse, a dryad, a clothier and our beloved guide amongst others.<\/p>\n

Action is, of course, another of Terraria’s selling points. Some monsters have materials you require to make special armours and weapons with. Combat isn’t purely melee-orientated either. Bows and arrows, boomerangs, chakrams, pistols and even a few magical tomes are possible weapons just begging to be discovered. Boss fights are intricate and often difficult. The Eater-of-Worlds, for example, is a massive worm capable of burrowing through ground, breaking into new worms when a segment is destroyed. It’s all made worthwhile, however, when it drops valuable demonite ore and shadow scales, necessary for some of the more advanced armours and weapons.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It gets interesting should you break a shadow orb, three being necessary to summon the Eater-of-Worlds, which calls forth a meteor that can crash-land anywhere on the surface, turning the ground into valuable meteorite ore. But be warned, where there is meteorite, there are meteor heads – dangerous, fiery monsters that fly through the ground and home towards you and they will continue to spawn until the meteorite has been mostly mined. Not an easy feat considering meteorite ore burns you lest you have crafted the obsidian skull. An excellent incentive for co-op indeed.<\/p>\n

In Terraria, obsidian is an ore that can only be created when lava and water collide. Players are encouraged to find intricate ways of getting large pockets of water down to pockets of lava. Other players go one step further and create “obsidian generators” where they create make-shift vats out of previously mined obsidian, divided into two chambers—one for water and one for lava—funnelled through an opening. The lava and water, of course, transported to the generator by buckets.<\/p>\n

There are a wide array of items available for crafting; boomerangs to beds, chests and tables, flasks and even books. Some are mostly decorative but many are practical and have inevitable uses.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Players can increase their maximum health and mana by finding crystal hearts in dungeons and fallen stars at night. Every time a world is generated, it gets its own dungeon—a place where very unique and special items and weapons are found, heavily protected by monsters, as well as a particular NPC. There are also floating islands where players might find rocket boots or other mysterious objects like a weapon that fires fallen stars.<\/p>\n

Every so often the time comes for Blood Moon, an event where the moon and sky turn red, enemy spawn rates double, hordes of zombies come knocking at your doors and innocent creatures become corrupted and dangerous. There’s always some excitement in the world of Terraria and never a dull moment.<\/p>\n

Terraria is a phenomenally enjoyable game with its unique and exceptionally talented take on the sandbox genre. It is understandable that many would be intimidated by its two-dimensional graphics. It’s even understandable that many would consider it to look too “cutesy” at a first glance and, to be fair, the trailers don’t market it very well. However, on its first day it sold 50,000 copies; it has an intensely loyal following and no matter how you look at it, it’s honest-to-goodness fun.<\/p>\n

Terraria also has many information resources available online such as the Terraria Wiki<\/a> and the official Terraria forums<\/a>. The Wiki contains a vast amount of information on armour, weapons, mobs, bosses, items, dungeons and materials.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy sandbox gaming, you’d be silly to pass this one up.<\/p>\n

Terraria review (PC)<\/strong><\/a> << Comments and views<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t