Rust – PC Game Review

 

While browsing through my blog, I became aware of a startling fact! I have never reviewed the game Rust! I couldn’t let this injustice go! It had to be corrected, and that’s what this post is! A review for the game Rust!

So, what is it? Well, it’s basically a first person survival game! You run around this apocalyptic wasteland and gather material to build a base/house and craft weapons and clothes. You hunt animals for food and other useful resources…It’s a lot like Minecraft actually, except much better and nicer looking! Though, it’s safe to say that if you like the type of survival mode gameplay of Minecraft, that you would most likely enjoy the gameplay of Rust.

I’ve been playing Rust since it came out in 2013! In fact, it’s my most played game on steam! In recent years, I have stuck to Rust Legacy, which is an older version of Rust. See, Rust has been in early access, and has gone through a lot of changes! When the game first started, it was a zombie survival game, however they have since removed the undead hordes from the game and replaced them with wild animals, like bears and wolves(oh my!) in order to make the game a tad bit more realistic. Then they completely rewrote the entire engine! A lot of people liked the original one though, mainly because the newer one was much more demanding on your computer! So, they kept the original version in, you just had to switch over to it manually, and they named it Rust Legacy. The reason I stuck to Rust Legacy, wasn’t so much because my computer couldn’t handle the new Rust, it was mainly because regular rust crashed my computer due to Easy Anti Cheat(which is an anti cheat program that Rust and several other games use, to prevent people from using cheats and hacks in the game).

I have since then however gotten a new PC built from the ground up, and thankfully it doesn’t seem to have any problem with Easy Anti Cheat…However, I am lucky since a lot of computers DO have problems with Easy Anti Cheat, and if you google it, you will find pages and pages of people complaining about how EAC keeps crashing them out of games. In fact, it’s so common, I don’t know why game developers are even using it! It just seems counter productive to me!

Anyway, since I got the new comp, and it doesn’t have issues with EAC, so I have been spending a lot of time playing the newer Rust, and I have to say I am loving it! Is it as good as Rust legacy? Not at first, but that’s mainly because I don’t like change. Rust legacy was familiar to me, I knew where the animals grazed, I knew the best place to mine for iron, I knew the entire layout of the land like the back of my hand. New Rust was completely different! So, it annoyed me at first however once I slowly adjusted to it? I started enjoying it even more than Rust Legacy! The thing with Rust Legacy is that it got boring quick, because there was nothing new to do, The developers quit updating legacy a long time ago so things tended to get stale..The new version though? It is always being updated and is just overall fantastic!

I do wish they would texture some of the “Monuments” though. Monuments are areas that are unique and a good place to gather loot, such as armor and weapons. There are a lot of different monuments, such as a nuclear plant and a subway, however all of them are solid colors! It makes them look unusually clean for a wasteland too. For instance the inside of factories are so white and shiny it puts modern day hospitals to shame, and the subway system monument looks like the inside of a TNG era Federation starship…Still, it’s an overall excellent game, and one I am enjoying very much!

One thing that might put off some gamers, especially fans of MineCraft is that Rust doesn’t support an offline/single player mode, so there is always the chance that you will encounter other players. These other players could straight up kill you, and take your stuff, or destroy your base and raid you of your collected treasure horde. Even if other players don’t rob you blind, many servers do regular server wipes(Deleting all buildings and player data) to keep the land free of abandoned buildings. Even if you find a Wipe free server, there are still frequent mandatory wipes, mainly when Facepunch Studios (The developers of Rust) release a major update to the game. However, since the game is in Early Access those major updates can come at any time, and the game IS updated frequently!

There are however thousands of servers to choose from! You can pick a low population server to reduce the risk of bumping into other players, or if you REALLY just don’t want to fight people, Rust has you covered! They have PvE servers, where you don’t have to worry about other players killing you, but the wildlife can still slaughter you!

Now, let me be clear about this! The game is VERY much early access! I know I have said before about the risks of buying Early Access games, and have even gone so far as to suggest not buying a game while it’s in early access, however this game is a pretty safe bet! It’s been around since 2013, and has been updated frequently, and is made by the same developers who released the incredibly popular “Garry’s Mod“. So, odds are you will be fine with this purchase.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider – PC Game Review

I had been looking forward to playing Rise of the Tomb Raider since it was announced, and decided to pick it up on steam, because it was on sale for fairly cheap! I can’t remember the exact price, but it was cheap. Did it live up to my expectations?

Here’s the thing about ROTR: It’s very much like the original Tomb Raider. It doesn’t really bring anything new to the table! In fact, the graphics are very similar to the graphics found in the original Tomb Raider PC Release(We’re talking about the reboot of course, not the very first original Tomb Raider game). This isn’t a bad thing! The graphics in the original were absolutely breath-taking! I am completely happy with the graphics in both games, but it does leave me confused on why ROTR requires such a beast of a computer to run! The game is currently one of the current higher requirement games out there, and I just don’t understand why. Granted, I am not a game developer, so there is probably much that I don’t understand.

As I said, a lot of the game is very similar to Tomb Raider. This statement also includes gameplay mechanics. There are very few new tools at your disposal, The few new tools that DO exist don’t even come into play til toward the end of the game, and even then aren’t that interesting. It boils down to the same Ledge Climbing, Rock Scaling gameplay as the original. Complete with sliding down snowbanks/waterfalls and having to move left and right to avoid obstacles.

What the game DID do right however was the storyline! It had a very appealing any interesting storyline the focuses on an artifact that can grant eternal life. It also has an evil group which is a secret society who is seeking the artifact for themselves, and a group of rebels who are trying to keep the artifact from falling into the wrong hands. It has some twists, Moments of betrayal, Moments of loyalty…It has everything you could want from an adventure story of this type.

One thing that might upset some people, is that Rise of the Tomb Raider doesn’t have a multiplayer mode. What it does have instead is an expedition mode.I haven’t really mucked around with expedition mode too much, but it seems to offer you a variety of different modes that let’s you replay chapters of the story, while also giving you the option to increase or decrease difficulty through the use of cards which can be purchased using an ingame currency(Or using real cash apparently). Personally, I don’t find the lack of a PVP based multiplayer game disappointing at all. I love the fact that a game company still focuses on the creativity and story based captivation of the single player campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, I like when a game has both a rich and full single player campaign as well as a PvP mode. It’s just that more often than not developers go the lazy route and just toss in some half assed single player campaign that is completed in a half hour and basically serves as a tutorial for the online game mode. Other developers even go the more incredibly lazier route and toss out the campaign mode all together and stick you with a multiplayer only FPS, that when the servers eventually go down, or people quit playing..you are stuck just running around shooting bots. At least with a campaign, you have that to fall back on when the servers are gone.

Speaking of rich storylines! Rise of the Tomb Raider is an incredibly long game! It took me 22 hours to complete it, and that’s just the main story. That’s not including all of the optional tombs and side missions. I did a few of them, but there’s still plenty more for me to go back and do! There’s also the expedition mode which as I said before I have only lightly dabbled in.

Now, this long storyline might be good or bad. Depending on your view. I loved the game and the story, but even I was getting to the point where I was wishing the game was just over. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing I suppose. Like I said, I enjoyed the game. but 22 hours is a long time to find out what’s going to happen. For me, the perfect length of a main campaign is about 15 hours. Any more than that, and my attention starts to wander. This is mainly due to my ADD, so it may not apply to you.

Overall though, it was an enjoyable game. If you were a fan of the last Tomb Raider game, or the Uncharted game series(Which the gameplay shares similarities with) then you will most likely enjoy this title.

PROS
-Gorgeous Graphics.
-Long and in-depth story.
-Many Side missions to keep you occupied.
-Decent replay value
-Flawless gamepad support
-Impressive voice acting & Mocaping.

Cons
-No PvP based Multiplayer
-Game might be TOO long for some players.
-Micro transactions.
-High system requirements

Overall score: 7.5/10

Grand Theft Auto 4 – PC Review

 

Well, I have finally gotten burned out on GTA5, and GTA Online, so decided to plunge into my Steam Library and play another GTA game. I decided to go with Grand Theft Auto 4, mainly because it and it’s DLC are the only games which take place in the same universe as GTA4. I know it’s older, but I have never played it on PC, so figured I would give it a shot!

Let me just say that Grand Theft Auto 4 is a excellent game, with an enjoyable storyline. Granted, The main character isn’t my favorite in the GTA universe, nor is this the best story. It however is a fun and enjoyable game with good graphics for its time, even if they are slightly dated nowadays.

This game takes you back to a larger and grittier Liberty City than you might remember from previous games. The city feels like a living and breathing city, with so much to do. You can visit amusement parks, go bowling or any number of other activities. Then of course there’s the shadier activities.

Despite the game being very good, it is also pain in the ass when it comes to the installation. The game requires GFWL, which also in turn requires you to sign up for an xbox live account. I’m sorry, if I wanted to play GTA4 on Xbox, I would have played the damn thing on Xbox! On top of that, there’s also the achievements! See the game does technically have Achievements, but again: Those are only posted to your xbox live account, they aren’t displayed on your steam account or anywhere else but your Xbox Live account. It’s just stupid. This is the only game I own that requires GFWL, and the very fact that it forces me to sign up for 2 other services(Rockstar Social and Xbox Live) is insane. I’m fine with the rockstar social club, but the other is just overkill.

Another thing that irked me, was the controls just felt clunky. They didn’t seem as fluid as the console version. I assumed the xbox control would be flawless since the game SEEMS to want to be an xbox game(Even on Steam), however these controls left me disappointed.

Still, it’s an OK game, and fans of Openworld crime sagas should definitely check this game out, despite the hassles.

Pros

• Incredible storyline
• Online open world gameplay
• Plenty of side activites
• Large Open world to explore
• Side missions as entertaining as main story.
• Incredible sountrack

Cons

• Requires GFWL
• Dated Graphics
• Clunky Controls
• Resource hog

 

RATING: 7/10

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Silver Creek Falls: Chapter 1 – PC Game Review

Silver Creek Falls Chapter 1 is an RPGmaker title that serves as the first chapter/teaser for an ongoing game. It is available on Steam and is a free chapter. One thing to keep in mind, is this is an RPGMaker game, so expect your standard birds eye view, cutesy 16 bit style anime graphics and over sized headed characters. If you enjoy those aspects then yer set! Otherwise beware!

The game so far has been getting rave user reviews, however I am mildly disappointed..and I will tell you why!

First, the game has no guidance. While playing the game I first investigated 1 of the 3 crime scenes. After looking around a bit, it didn’t tell me what else to do. The car wasn’t allowing me to enter it. So, I remembered a sentence used by the deputy that neighbors had called the police the night of the murder. So, I assumed I would check in with the neighbors!

None of the neighbor doors were interactive so i tried the ones across the street. One let me enter, and inside was a tape, that essentially ended day one, and assumed I had visited crime scenes 2 and 3…which I obviously hadn’t! At first I thought “Well, maybe there wasn’t a crime scene 2/3 even though the NPCs were talking about evidence that I hadn’t encountered or seen.” However, when checking the Steam store front page for the game, in the screenshots area are screen captures of 2 crime scenes that I didn’t see. so, it’s a safe assumption that I accidentally skipped them.

The story seems disjointed, however that COULD be because it let’s you skip through a big chunk of the game(Seriously developer, you REALLY need to patch that and change the police station to a separate instance that doesn’t phase in until after certain objectives have been met, or at least add some guidance like “Ok, well….crime scene 2 is north of here, let’s check that out next”.

There is no combat in the game, at least in the chunks that I played, however the type of game isn’t really a combat game. It’s less RPG and more story driven adventure/interactive fiction.

Will I buy any future chapters? Not if this is any indication of what the future chapters will be like. The story seemed interesting, but the skipping two crime scenes thing? That’s a major flaw in my opinion, and is something that SHOULD have been prevented, and could have been with a little extra elbow grease.

Yes, I know it’s free…and for a free game it’s ok(Though annoying), however future chapters will cost $$$ and like I said, if this is the amount of effort the developers are going to put into them as well? I’ll pass.

Pros

• Interesting Story
• At least one scene with voice acting.
• Cute 16-bit graphics
• It’s free! DUH!
• Decent controls for a KeyBoard game.

Cons

• Bugged! Can skip half the game.
• Bad BAD voice acting. Not sure if sheriff is southern or from new orleans..or somewhere else.
• No controller support.
• No way to go full screen(That I saw?)

 

RATING: 3.5/10

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Beasts of Prey – PC Game Review

 

In a world full of Zombie themed survival games, Beasts of Prey stands out. As far as I know, this was one of the first dinosaur based survival games made, though certainly not the last. It did however take a chance on something “Different”, and in my opinion it paid off. The game is available on Steam for only 12 bucks, so it won’t put you in the poor house. It is however an Early Access title, so expect some glitches and bugs.

I picked up Beasts of Prey a little over a year ago, but hadn’t played it at all within the last 6 months. So, I installed the game, to see if the developers had done anything with the game, and I was blown away! Everything from the game play to the graphics had been improved! It looked gorgeous, and I was impressed! In fact, I remember thinking: “This game is really going places!”

After the initial awe struck period though, I realized that my hot bar was empty. After fumbling around, trying to remember how to open my inventory, I finally hit tab. I saw my knife and bandages there, although they should by default be in your hot tray IMHO. So, I decided to try and drag them to my hotbar, only to find that I can’t click on them. After about a half hour trying to figure out how to equip my weapon/tool I grew frustrated and went to quit. Only ESC wasn’t bringing up the menu. I tried several other keys, and couldn’t figure even that out. Out of frustration I Ctrl+alt+Del out of the game.

This seems like a lot of trouble to me. Sure, it’s got good potential, and looks brilliant. However trying so hard to just figure out the basics is annoying. I know a lot of these “Survival” games say they don’t want to hand hold you, and they want you to figure it out as if it was a real survival setting.  I’m sorry, but explaining how to hold a knife isn’t “Hand holding” Everyone should know how to hold an item. It’s common sense, not a learned survival trait. I’m not saying that they should explain everything, but the very basics is kind of a no brainer! Then not even being able to exit the game? You shouldn’t even need a tutorial to figure out how to quit!  In the end, i’m just not sure it’s worth the trouble. If you don’t want to add a tutorial, fine! I can deal with that but maybe add some “Game tips” or something so you aren’t forced to just stand there trying to figure out the most basic actions.

Now, to be fair…I’m not sure if the not being able to click or drag my equipment was a bug, or if the esc key doing nada was a bug….but IF they were glitches..these are huge issues, that need fixing.

Pros

• Gorgeous graphics
• Dinosaurs
• Original idea
• Low cost
• Tons of craftable items
• Single Player option

Cons

• No Tutorial
• Either Glitchy or confusing controls.
• Not a large player base
• Very few official servers(w/high pings)

 

RATING: 6.5/10

Stranded Deep – PC Game Review

Stranded Deep is an incredibly fun game from “Beam Team Games“and is available on Steam as an early access title for 15 bucks, However you can get it much cheaper when it’s on sale. For those who aren’t sure what Early Access is, let me explain briefly. You basically buy a game that isn’t done. You purchase an incomplete game, and then get to participate in it’s evolution to it’s final state. You basically pay to be a beta tester. This means that the games in Early Access might be unplayable, Ugly, Glitch heavy, or just incomplete. You also take the risk that the game never get’s finished. There have been several Early Access games that have been abandoned, thus leaving their customers with an unfinished and often times unplayable game.  Stranded Deep though has been in Early Access for awhile, and it’s been worked on regularly, so the odds are that this is going to stick around to completion.

The thing that impressed me most was that it had a tutorial(Sort of). Sure, it didn’t explain everything to me and it did leave me trying to figure out how to relight a campfire after the fire went out.  It however did help me with the basics. Usually survival games just grab you and toss you into their world with no knowledge on even how to pick something up, so having them explain somethings to me was refreshing. I didn’t feel like an idiot once the meat of the game started, however I still had to figure out how to do some things on my own.

The game, like most titles of the survival genre offers items you can craft. You can craft an assortment of tools and weapons and various other items all from things you salvage and find scattered around the terrain. Unfortunately at this moment in time, there aren’t too many items to craft. However I assume more craftable items will be added as the game continues to grow and evolve into it’s finished state.

There also aren’t many dangers in the game. On land, you are fairly safe, your only real threat is starvation, or from a brutal fall if you are a complete klutz. While I would like to see more land animals, odds are that won’t happen unless they also increase island sizes, since the island you are stranded on is just too small to have many other creatures on it aside from you.

One nifty thing I like about this game is that it has mods. So, if you want biggerish islands you can just mod it. Just be aware that updates break mods, and since it’s Early Access updates are frequent.

Overall, I would(and have) highly recommend this to anyone I know who enjoys survival games.

Pros

• Gorgeous graphics.
• Quick Download time
• Takes up less than a gig of HD space.
• Unique Crafting Method
• Randomly generated islands.
• Good controls once you adjust to them
• Unique tutorial(Something I haven’t seen in other survival games)
• Mods (with mods that fix some of the cons)

Cons

• No land animals(Other than crabs)
• Few sea creatures
• No character model
• Small Island sizes
• Annoyingly small inventory
• No Multi-player feature

RATING: 8/10