Terraria

Terraria rules also in console format. [May 2013]

Terraria deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with Minecraft as a sandbox classic. [June 2013, p.70]

Terraria was utterly fantastic on PC, and has made a near-perfect jump to console.

A Live Arcade must have: an addictive unlimited 2D sandbox, capable of entertaining the most creative players for many, many hours.

Apart from that issue and sometimes unresponsive building mechanics (which I only rarely encountered), Terraria is nearly perfect for what it is and unlike any other game you’ve played in a very long time. If you’re a fan of replayable, explorable and challenging games, you need to try Terraria. Most importantly, the game is incredibly fun, and that’s something I can dig.

Like Minecraft, the biggest difference to most triple-A titles lies in Terraria not wanting to tell you a story. It's waiting for you to craft one of your own. Think of a "normal", big action-adventure game as a glass of your favorite beverage. Terraria just gives you a pitcher and a bunch of ingredients to brew one of your own. Some people will prefer a walk to the bar, to get something prepared in advance. Others will happily go ahead and create the drink of a lifetime.

Fresh elements – like an absurdly expansive crafting system, a broad scope of monsters to battle, and a slick retro 2D presentation – make it a stand out among the pack.

Even with console controls, Terraria is still perfectly playable and definitely one of the most enchanting indie games in recent history.

Regardless of how you approach things, though, the basic rhythm of this astonishing piece of work remains the same. For your first few hours, Terraria will seem like a bewildering - occasionally terrifying - strain of chore. Put in the effort, though, and it eventually reveals its true nature. This isn't a game or even a toy. At heart, it's a vocation.

Terraria for consoles is still a brilliant sandbox RPG platform from 2011, with lots of enhancements. Graphics is nothing but average, and the ticket is a bit expensive, but you will enjoy this ride.

Deep, fun and engaging, Terraria is a little/big game. Or, better, a little/huge game, considering the amount of time you'll need to fully explore it. The PC-to-console conversion is successful and even if the price on Xbox LIVE Arcade may appear a bit expensive, the game repays you with an original and exciting experience.

Come for the Minecraft similarities, stay for Terraria's own sense of self-worth. Hours of exploratory gameplay, incremental improvements and just a handful of jaw-on-floor surprise deaths. It's Dark Souls put through a Minecraft filter.

Immensely enjoyable. Almost endlessly so, in fact. If you haven’t played it yet, you’re missing out on a very clever 2D crafting/survival game that wears its retro influence on its sleeve. If you’ve already spent hundreds of hours in this world, there’s some new stuff to see in this version of the game.

A lot of games tried to copy Minecraft – or at least participate from its' success. But this two-dimensional take on the well known formula is the only game that is able to step out of the shadow of the indie phenomenon that inspired it. It leads you into a unique world full of creative magic and translates well onto consoles thanks to the very good pad controls.

It may not be the best possible way to play Terraria, but taken on its own merits the Xbox version is still a triumph.

As absorbing and oddly addictive an experience as you'll find on 360. Just keep an eye on the clock - this game devours hours at a time. [Issue#98, p.81]

It's a slow starter, then, but you'll struggle to find a game this year that offers quite so much as Terraria. [Issue#135, p.122]

Part action game, part LEGO playset, Terraria is more or less Dig Dug taken to the extreme. The first hour or so is slow going, but once Terraria opens up, it can be very difficult to put down.

Terraria may not be accessible, but this sandbox is so deep that you might find yourself buried in self-appointed goals and chasing that carrot of upgradable gear into the early hours of the morning. The combat and controls could use more polish, but a nearly infinite well of items and randomly generated worlds make up for those faults. A lot of games try to hold your hand through a scripted experience, but Terraria makes a good argument for the merits of directionless creation.

An incredible experience, and no game has filled me with the same sense of wonder and drive to explore in a very long time.

As a game, I think Terraria shares a lot of personality traits with the worlds it randomly generates. Sometimes they aren’t pretty, sometimes they’re rough, and sometimes they aren’t the friendliest places to be, but once you dig in your heels and dig under the surface of what you’re given, there’s a whole world of wonderment just waiting for you to explore.

Don’t be deceived by the simplistic 2D presentation – Terraria is one of the deepest games currently available on PSN or Xbox Live Arcade.

Terraria is a genuine action-platformer game. It is also a survival adventure and a RPG. And above all, is a great 2D sandbox game with amusing gameplay options.

Another indie classic makes the successful leap from PC to console, in this masterful mix of Minecraft and Metroid.

When Terraria sucks you in, you might find yourself digging and crafting for far more hours than you originally intended.

Initially, Terraria is tedious and many players will be put off by the slow-pace and the constant dying at the beginning of the game. However, with a little persistence, this is an enjoyable title with depth.

Terraria is a game you can completely lose yourself in, also on consoles. The transference to controller was mostly successful and other elements like a map and a (short) tutorial make the game more playable. It still throws you in the deep end right away though, so learning how to swim might take some fishing around on the internet. Whoever manages to get through the first, nearly impenetrable, layer, awaits a deep world with expansive (home-made) adventures.

The longer you spend in Terraria, the more you discover that the Minecraft comparison, while obvious, isn't fair to either. Compared to Mojang's all-conquering virtual Lego set that encourages creativity, Terraria is more of a "game" with definitive goals, rules and progression that deserves to stand on its own merits.

The problem is that it arrives on this platform quite late. Apart from this, the game offers a very original concept that needs some time to work out, but it's rewarding and engaging in the end.

An extremely solid port of the original.

A fantastic game of exploration and survival. You can occasionally feel lost in its open-world that lacks any real signposting, but the simple joy of digging and crafting means you’ll keep playing to discover the naturally-occurring progress.

Terraria's debut on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 follows the extreme fidelity to the concept of the PC version published two years ago.

Terraria is funny, it's addictive and it's big, but it's best played on PC. Re-Logic has a good idea, different from Minecraft, a game that you might want to know and maybe it will soon be your favorite. 2D pixel style with RPG, platforms and freedom.

Gamers that need a clear goal in a game will do well to avoid Terraria. If on the other hand you like meticulous searching, deep crafting, exploration, surprises and totally open-ended gameplay, Terraria is a game that can keep you in front of your screen for days, weeks, months.

What sets Terraria apart from its obvious inspiration is more than just 2D design; it’s the action-centric tone that emerges the more you dig around and buddy up with pals, especially online ones who have cultivated their own worlds and arsenals (though local split-screen multiplayer is included).

It might not make a great first impression, but it’s going to be awfully hard, even this early in the year, to find a downloadable game that can offer this much content. You’ll always find more and more excuses to just keep digging away.

Terraria could do a better job of leading players toward the treasures they need for basic survival and the knowledge they need for basic progression without robbing them of freedom to discover most of what it has to offer at their own pace. There's an alluring game buried under these little issues; it just takes some digging to find it.