Let's play Rust: surviving the zombie apocalypse in a dead world

This post is the second in our Early Access Experiments series, which will look at a bunch of Steam early access games before pitting them head-to-head and asking whether these games are good for consumers, and whether this is a monetization model that should be adopted by more Asian developers.

The second game in our early access series is Rust, and like its predecessor, it tasks the player with surviving and crafting a habitat in a harsh world filled with trees, rocks, and hazardous creatures. But Rust is taking its cues from DayZ, so it’s set on earth and in addition to zombies and radiation, you’ll be facing another dangerous enemy in Rust: other players. So what’s it like? Check it out:

If you don’t want to watch the video, or don’t have time, here’s the short version: like all of these early access games, it’s a promising concept that hasn’t been fully executed yet.

My biggest problem with Rust right now is that it feels pretty empty. Sure, on a server more packed with other players, PvP action will be more frequent, but in all my time in the game I’ve seen the same buildings, trees, and rocky hills over and over again. I spent a lot of time running around, but exploring never felt all that fun, because over the next hill you can pretty much guess what you’re going to find: more of the same.

There also doesn’t seem to be a coherent theme yet. I don’t need a full backstory — DayZ doesn’t give you much and I’m happy to fill in the cracks — but Rust just feels kind of slapdash right now. I have no idea where or when the game is set, why I’m starting with nothing more than a rock to my name, why parts of the world are irradiated, why there are zombies, etc. If the game ultimately drops little hints, it could make slowly learning this backstory into a fascinating element of the game, but right now it all just feels random.

Wait, is this game set in modern day or at the dawn of man?

If you’re a big fan of crafting and building in games, you’ll find plenty to do in Rust but for the average gamer, the game just isn’t worth picking up yet. Like all of these early access games, it has oodles of potential. But potential isn’t enough to warrant your purchase just yet unless you simply must have all games in this genre.

Join us next week as the series continues with a look at the promising Space Engineers!