As a child, I didn’t have access to most computer games. I was, to put it in layman’s terms, I was a console kid. This is not to say that I would’ve chosen to grow up in a different way, but there are many computer games that I wish I could’ve experienced in their prime. Fortunately, I was in the midst of putting down my PS3 and Nintendo Wii, in favor of PC games when the gem, Terraria, was coming out.
Terraria is a pixel, 2D side scrolling, survival game that at first glace is similar to another block based game, Minecraft. The comparisons are endless, but Terraria is also different in so many ways. Like most survival games, Terraria drops you into the world and expects you to survive with almost no help. Unlike other games of this genre, Terraria has one of the most fleshed out (pun intended), combat systems of any game. The combat is simplistic at first, starting you with a simple short-sword that does a quick stab to anything in front of you. However, the further you venture into the game, the more complex things start to get.
There are three main damage types to consider, melee, ranged, and magic (Terraria players reading this might disagree, but I’m going for the very basics). In each category there are numerous subcategories of weapons, for example: In just the melee damage type there are swords, scythes, flails, spears, axes, and even yo-yo’s, that’s not even all of them! With this surplus of weapon types and different weapons of every category, the combat is always changing. Not to mention that as you progress, every weapon has new cool abilities, like a sword that shoots projectiles to a spear that leaves damage particles after thrusting. The amount of time that the developers put into just the combat is incredible.
Aside from just how you affect combat, the actual amount of enemies in the game is insane. From regular slimes of many kinds to crazy huge bosses that borderline on computer breaking with the amount of projectiles on the screen, the combat is always intense, and there is no telling if you will survive the next fight.
Moving away from combat, the different things for players to do in the game seems to be almost too much. Players can spend their time mining for ore to upgrade their gear, building houses and villages for new NPC’s to move into, fighting the never ending hoards of enemies and bosses, or even just taking in the land and fishing in the sea. The sheer amount of time you can sink into a single playthrough of this game is amazing. That being said, every world you create is procedurally generated so that no two worlds are the same.
Without giving much away, the seemingly “final” boss of the game changes your world and basically creates a whole other game to play with harder versions of bosses and monsters that you have seen before, to new harder bosses that you wouldn’t have even imagined. Basically, my point is that this game will take over your life. There is so much to do and see in this game that you will spend hundreds of hours just living in this virtual world.
Terraria is an amazing game, with an amazing community. It was one of my first PC gaming experiences and I am glad that it was. It is and will remain, one of my favorite games ever. With the massive replayability and the adreneline that pumps through my blood with every moment of calm and craziness, Terraria is a game that is one of a kind. To anyone that hasn’t played it, buy it, play it, and fall in love with it. Its worth it, every second of it.
Ally's Thoughts 