Part 2 of 2 (Terraria Review)
Yup, that brings us to our Terraria review. Now, I don’t mind telling you guys I was a bit hesitant in checking it out. At first, I got caught up in the whole “it’s a Minecraft clone” and at first glance, it looks basically just like one but in 2d. And yes, it is a 2d sandbox building game, just like Minecraft minus a dimension, but it’s sooooo much more! And as a new Steam fan, I picked up this little baby for like $4ish during one of their blowouts and it was money well spent!
So what is it then? Well, sure, it’s a building and mining game, but that’s not the focus at all! Actually, I’d say it’s more of a crafting and action type game. See, the main difference is in the combat system. There are just TONS of enemies to battle, even big ol bosses you can summon! And there is a clear progression of the game as well. You make your weapons and armor, set off into the world, then collect materials to upgrade all your stuff. Once you get better gear, you can go into the more dangerous areas, get more stuff to upgrade, and so on. Not only that, but the crafting has lots of fun things to make. So you’ve got furniture, walls, doors, armor, weapons, and potions! Very awesome stuff!
Not to mention (wow, I’m on topic pretty early!), the feeling of township makes the atmosphere more interesting. Yeah, you might only see your NPC companions when you login or stash your junk, but there’s something about having people around gives the landscape some color. You’ve got your nurse, druid, arms dealer, creepy old man, etc… though I think it could stand to use a nice burlesque dancer… >)
Now, since Minecraft and Terraria are some kind of weird cousins that just met, we kind of have to compare the two. MC is the undisputed granddaddy of all sandbox blocky games, but it absolutely lacks the combat stylings of Terraria. This is where the T-meister beats MC hands down! In addition, you kinda get upclose and personal with your character. All your stuff that’s equipped or in your bag is transported with you to other worlds. Not to mention your health and mana upgrades. So you can connect to your character better. Just wish you could customize your guy more like in MC, but whatevs. Also, the crafting and population awards go to Terry as well. There’s just no reason MC has no people in it (single player) or massive amounts of things to craft. However, MC kicks Terraria’s butt in one area… building! There’s just no comparison. You can build structures in Terraria, sure, but you are kind of limited by that 2d thingy. Making a big 3d castle (or in my case, office building) in MCworld is so satisfying, even if the furnishings are a bit sparse. But in 2d, it just doesn’t feel so epic. Maybe that’s just me, but it’s the vibe I get.
So should you buy Terraria over Minecraft? Or the other way around? Um… no. Buy both! Together they’re cheaper than any other new game in the store and will provide you with lots of fun for many hours. Both are updated “regularly” with new content so things won’t get stale too much with either. However, the replay value of Terraria is a bit lacking at the moment because the progression was a bit easier (previous to the most recent patch)… meaning after about 40hrs and getting all the top gear and beating all the bosses… it was kind of done. BUT, like I said, they continuously release content, and in one of the future (next?) patches will be even more bosses and harder “next tier” content. Minecraft will give you countless hours of building fun, but unless you’re on a multiplayer server, it get’s kinda lonely out there, and the combat is kinda meh (again… something talked about in a future patch). So… in closing… buy both. LOL! But seriously… just do it! XD
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In case you missed it, I had a Tooned News update this Monday… think I might end up putting them there for now until I can figure the logistics of all this out. So here’s a link to my article on the Bethesda vs Mojang case and Notch’s unorthodox response.
Loling at the poll, mostly because I was going to reference 4d as well.
Last I knew the fourth dimension is time, but apparently on the word of a kid’s movie, the fourth dimension is smell.
Yet another reason for me to feel depressed about the intelligence levels of my country. *sigh*
On topic, I’ll pick up terraria in the future, just not anytime soon. I don’t have the time to pick up a new game, but when I do terraria is up there at the top of the list (along with pokemon white, which I STILL have not played. stupid life getting in the way.)
Heh! Ya know, I’ve been dabbling in my head about this for a little while and I’m almost convinced now that time is more like an overlay than an extra dimension. I used to subscribe to the classical model where the 4th was time, then it goes up and beyond from there… but the way they describe the 11 dimensions in string theory pretty much ruined that for me.
As an artist, we learn alllllll about dimensions. It’s kinda what we do. So in my head, I see it as layers tied together… so we have LxWxH (3D) in the physical world with only L (1D) in the temporal world. So only 1 dimension of time (that we can perceive).
When we talk about “what a cube would look like to a 2D universe”, it shows the limits of our abilities to preceive “outside the box”. We might not be able to fathom what a 4D physical object is. What could possibly be beyond length, width, and height? Is there even anything else? Who knows.
But yeah, that’s how I see it. 3D(space) + 1D(time) =/= 4D. Hmm… maybe I should make a comic out of that… with space badgers or something. >)
Um yes… anywho… I’d go to the Steam website often… like daily or every other day to check out their deals! The day after I bought it, it went down by another buck or so!!! Even if you don’t get a chance to play right away… not a bad deal at all!
Both, depending on the game.
Give me back System Shock (1), Thief, Deus Ex (1) and I’m totally into 3d (although the first SS is not full 3d, true)
On the other hand, Mortal Kombat 2, classic platformers and Adventure games (not necessarily the ‘give the sock to the merchant to get a punch card’ ones) and you have me backing 2d
To sum up, give me a game with a soul, and I will play it to the end, nevermind when it was made or is it 2d 3d 4d (though Virtual Reality could be fun)
Well, we all did play the heck out of those old console games huh? we only needed 2 dimensions (and I’d count the topdown isometric as this too) to have fun! and 3d isn’t bad either, but I don’t think it’s a preq to be good.
Just look at all the sonics and marios! Did GREAT as sidescrollers! Went 3d (except for mario 64) and went down the pooper! Years later, both did remakes using the sidescroll and fancy graphics and look fantastic. So I guess some things just work better in classic format. And some, like Zelda, should NEVER be sidescrollers… /shudder
Don’t forget, Minecraft is still in beta while Terraria is fully released. Also Notch has been working on… or should I say re-working on both the combat system and adding in NPC villages. MC is still highly WIP and can’t fully be judged yet, at least not on stuff that is being (but not yet) added to the game. I’ve played both and I still like MC way more even with what all is missing, but that’s just me.
like I said, they’re still coming out with patches to address all the issues I talked about… so MC 1.8 and Terraria 1.1 “should” fix all those problems I had. buuuuut, that doesn’t help me right now, does it! I’m a photographer type person! we demand instant gratification! XD
I do have a hard time letting MC get away with the “I’m beta” excuse. It’s been beta for a long time (granted, it was a one man show for a long time too). but according to Notch, it will go live in November. however, he also said it will be more of a ceremonial event, rather than an upgrade. meaning there wouldn’t be a big patch, it will just sort of get a gold star and say live. HOWEVER, that is not to say there won’t be future updates. I think I remember him saying it will still be worked on and improved.
So that said, I hold Terraria and MC the same in this regard. the fact that MC is “beta” is in title only, because if they were both live, they’d still get content updates. you could argue that both games are still a work in progress… kinda like wowland… so we kind of have to judge them on where they are now since there might not be a true end. >)
but yeah… I kinda like MC a tad more just cause of the building aspect. Once you get all the gear in Terraria… you’re kinda done. actually, both games I’m a little on hold with until the next patches. MC cause I’ll have to make a new game to get all the stuff and Terraria because I’m waiting for new “end game” stuff to do.
does “DD” make it 2D?
If not, then who cares? lol
hmm, I think 36DD would be better… but that might be just me…