Rust Review by Matthew
Score 9/10
Intro
Rust is a rogue-like survival-orientated game with touches of PVP, PVE, and loot-grind that all make it satisfying to slowly build your own base and gather items. Maintain your property by staying online long enough to find enough raw materials to put in your cupboard. Meanwhile, discover efficient methods of getting supplies and getting around with a stack of Low Grade Fuel, a Boat or a Chopper, and a clip full of nails in your Nail Gun, only to find you have forgotten a vital component you need or never had.
Gameplay
In Rust there are five primary server types: PVP, PVE, Creative, Modded, and Low Population, along with several blends of them all. There are far too many varieties of these blends so I will keep descriptions to those five types, however please keep in mind that there are mixes between these types of servers, which allow different things to occur either at different locations, times, and some with rules to wear required gear to mark you as either as a friendly or the next tango to be taken down.
PVP Servers
The stakes are high and so are the rewards as you aim your Rifle, Bow, or Rock at the nearest person’s skull as they run through their base in hopes of losing you and expecting to be able to slow you with rows of metal doors and the escape routes they have prepared; sometimes deploying backup plans as they gather their weapons of choice and turn around and either fight for their base or demolish you with either excessive firepower, naked fights on the shores, or overpowering you with a sniper-rifle from a cliff. Fights of all levels clash as your will to survive and your desire to have that next level of weapon and armor your opponent has are all that remain, all the while maintaining your life with food, bandages, or med-kits – along with maybe even more supplies.
PVE Servers
Your task is to take on hordes of zombies, scientists, or other NPCs who are fully armed without having anything. Produce a base where you will survive the harsh elements and lack of fresh water, begging the question of why you decided to make a base there for some reason. All of this happens while you and anyone you pick up slowly build an armory that can handle all the elements of survival and all the tanks and helicopters that the server has to send your way. Don’t forget the occasional bear or boar. Your ultimate goal you ask? Thrive in that environment. Grind your way to being the gun-slinging wilderness master you wish you were in real life.
Creative Servers
Welcome to Rust’s creative mode where the supplies are nearly endless, and the only limit is server load and your imagination. Here you make absolutely insane bases, often involving bridges over rivers to castles filled with any kind of loot you desire.
Modded Servers
These servers are the gold that allow this game to be as amazing as it is, with mods ranging from the ability to keep vehicles to reduced loot grind. There really are too many to properly summarize, but modded servers allow you to pick the way you want to play. Play with reduced loot grind to nearly obliterated loot grind, allowing you much of the freedom of creative servers while maintaining the aspects of the game that make it feel complete.
Low Population Servers
I honestly consider these to be the best servers to play on. They hold a unique balance that allows you to grind up and challenge the two or three neighbors in your area while maintaining all of the other aspects that make the game fun. You still have the large loot grind, but it becomes more doable because you don’t have 53 other people in the area consuming the game’s resources and making your task nearly impossible. It reduces the amount of human interaction in the game unless you are playing with a party. However, it allows you to master the loot-grind and gives you time to fully understand aspects of the game that are harder to understand otherwise, along with understanding all the secrets that the mysterious monuments have to offer. It is where I’d recommend going your first time on Rust to learn the game.
Realistic Loot-Grind in Normal Servers
The grind in this game can be unforgiving, as getting mowed down with a Double-Barrel Shotgun upon first spawn is a common occurrence, along with forgetting to make some clothes and freezing to death in a frost biome. It’s a heck of a learning curve! When you get the hang of smashing a rock on trees and other rocks, you can get yourself some shiny new tools for you to adventure out and die some more. Did I forget to mention you have to make a sleeping bag or you will spawn randomly on the shores of the map?
Conclusion
Rust is in a comfortable balance where it achieves accessibility to many while maintaining a high difficulty and learning curve, being just forgiving enough for you to come back for more punishment- all with enough variety to have something for almost everyone, except for those who have to play with potato graphics settings. In those cases, the game looks ugly as all sin. 9/10
Pros:
-Custom difficulty based on the server you pick
-Different server types for different kinds of players
-Loot grind is difficult, but ultimately satisfying
-PVP is as random as you’d expect
-Gunplay is smooth
-Graphics are good if your computer can handle it
Cons:
-Loading times
-High computer resource requirements
-Loot grind on higher population servers can be nearly impossible
-No tutorial at all. You may need to google how to do some things
-Graphics are bad if your computer can’t handle it
Written by Matthew
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