Imagine my thoughts when I began downloading XBLA title Terraria and it was a grand total of 33mb in size. Don’t imagine them anymore; I was worried it was a glitch or that maybe this is going to be a short and basic game to complete. You’ll soon find out if the latter is true. Anyway it’s a game developed using Microsoft’s very own XNA engine by Re-Logic (now picked up by 505 Games to publish) and with the success gained on PC format, what better way to showcase it than on Xbox 360.
It’s hard to describe what Terraria is about because it depends how you personally take to the game, essentially I’d say adventure platformer that enables you to use any and all creativity you possess to explore, construct or destroy. I could call it a 2D Minecraft however that doesn’t do it justice at all, there’s something better about this game. The choice is yours whether you get the most out of it though as immediately after creating a basic pixelated character of your own you are chucked into a randomly generated World that is a blank canvas.
Luckily there is a tutorial that can be accessed before this which makes life much easier, the controls are simple enough to learn but it’s the added fact you learn that it’s possible to craft and mine items to make more things. The most important thing you’ll get from this though is the ability and knowledge to create/build a house, a key component in getting the most from Terraria in my opinion and I would be lost without one.
So that blank canvas, at first it was utterly daunting to the point of despair and I was struggling to get sucked in. Honestly it seemed like a pointless mission of nothingness; I woefully made a basic shelter and wondered what I could possibly gain from this. Then my mind opened up, it was time to recreate these fascinating ideas of architectural madness... I worked hard with my tiny pickaxe and axe to gain the resources needed to build an extension, turning my shelter in to a spacious two roomed house.
This isn’t just about building structures though, it’s also an open world to explore, finding whatever you are looking for and manipulating the world into your brain child. Not as easy as it sounds though when you add enemies to the mix, this to me is the only big criticism I can give it. Although the variety is clever enough I am not fond of having to scamper back into my safe home during nightfall (this is when most of the monsters appear) whilst I’m in the middle of mining a precious resource it’s taken me all the sunlight to find. There should be an option to turn those pesky enemies off so I can work peacefully on my master plan, unfortunately there is not and therefore I spend too much time indoors waiting for sunrise to continue playing the game the way I want to.
Why not fight them you coward? Is what most people are thinking, well I do have a nice range of weapons such as a sword, axe, cross bow and fire-tipped arrows. However the precision aim (can toggle between a more automated aiming or manual aim) I use makes fighting more difficult than I’d like even against the simple Slime enemies bouncing on me and when you die you lose coins even on the easiest starting difficulty. Good job I didn’t go hardcore where it all becomes awfully realistic and you’re only allowed one life, I might as well just ply my new builder/miner/lumberjack trade in real life in that case.
For those who thrive on combat it is possible to summon greater enemies, bosses, to test your might and newly crafted weapon arsenal. That part just isn’t for me, luckily the more variety in resources that are collected you’ll be entertained for hours decorating things to your taste. Fancy a putting up a shelf with a bowl on in your main room? Go for it, it really is these fine details and simple to construct or craft items that work hand in hand with creativity. Another perfect example is having to stick torches up when there’s no natural light sources as you are mining, subtle but brilliant.
Despite me personally not having any friends that own Terraria currently I was unable to test the feature fully but you are able to open your World up to your friends list to join in and give a helping hand. A very wise decision not to make it available to anyone in the game, I guarantee it would just see random gamers entering and sabotaging your hard work in an instant. That’s how some people work.
Overall I found myself getting lost in Terraria when I just fancied a half hour bash it would quickly turn into an hour or two. If it were not for the irritating enemies that disrupted my fun times I would happily give this my highest recommendation but with a combat system that hindered me so much I really cannot. For 1200 Microsoft Points you will most likely get your monies worth, it all depends on whether you can let your creative juices flow and keep the monsters at bay or adapt like I did and take a nap during in-game nocturnal hours. It’s one of those where you need to allow yourself to get sucked in, but beware once you are in there’s no way out. Big things do come in small packages.
