And had a pretty good time, all things considered
I first played Rust back in January. It was at times scary, confusing, and frustrating, which is to be expected in an anything-goes online multiplayer game about naked men trying to survive with rocks and crudely-fashioned hatchets while others possess pistols, assault rifles, and explosives.
Thanks to its players and their chaos, Rust was entertaining in a way that a scripted game could never be — up until the point at which it wasn’t. It eventually got old. I stopped playing.
More than that, I quit paying attention to all of the updates in the pipeline for this Steam Early Access game. At about 16 hours of play time, I had gotten my fill, thanks. So I left, impatient and somewhat unsatisfied, unsure if I’d ever truly return to the game.
But I have, now that Facepunch Studios is rebooting Rust. Work has ceased on the original version most players know while the team rebuilds the game from scratch in what it is calling an experimental branch. It’s playable now and as janky as things are, it’s promising.
Let’s take a look! (Warning: there will be some butts.)
Upon launching the experimental branch of Rust, you’re greeted with a nice new scene. (Actually, the first time I tried it, none of the text appeared… so I just sat there like an idiot for a minute, waiting for something, anything to happen. The bear just kept sniffing the ground.)
There we go. I’m on the one and only server available. Not too crowded. Digging the new graphics. As you’ll already notice, though, not everything is properly implemented. No big deal.
The new user interface looks slick.
I’m not really sure what these floors are. Must be placeholders. Also, turn off motion blur if you can’t run Rust smoothly, according to chat. It is a bit too motion blurry by default, I’ll admit.
Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.
Another person, already. How lucky. Contrary to what this image would suggest, no, I didn’t immediately proceed to kill and eat this sleeping man. Not this time.
One of the main components of Rust is harvesting, so here’s my attempt to gather some wood. It did not work. Clipped right through that sucker. “Experimental.”
Much like in Far Cry, the bow is my favorite. After firing an arrow, you can physically pick it up and reuse it. All is right with the world.
Decided to craft a pick axe, just to try out the crafting system. As it is now, you click on the item name on the left-hand side of the menu and it just starts going.
Harvesting attempt number two. It works! Those temporary particle effects are quite something.
Getting late. Darkness is normally creepy in Rust but since I’m not at all invested in this character, it’s pleasant, for once. Also, DayZ — people in chat can’t not bring that up.
No sleeping bags yet. If “fully nude, legs spread on a grassy hill” is good enough for this player, it’s good enough for me.
I learned in chat that you can press F3 to go into a third-person view. Heh.
My only real goal thus far has been to find a wolf. Could that — could that be one? Enhance!
It might just be.
It sure is.
Not exactly what you would call “perceptive.” Maybe if I shoot at it…
Still not moving. Now I just feel bad.
Better put it out of its misery.
That seemed to do the trick. But I shot at it a few times just to make sure.
Now, to harvest. I got bones and meat. Not too sure I can even use those in Rust‘s current state.
Explored some more and came across this wall. No one in sight, though.
And another.
I felt strangely obligated to finish what was started.
One swing of the hammer is all it takes.
This guy.
My other goal? To go for a late-night swim.
Nearly there.
I totally saw a guy on the beach, but he didn’t see me. (I hope.)
I’m in! Yes, that’s what swimming looks like right now.
Better switch the camera to show off the goods.
It’s peaceful down here.
It should be noted that at no point have I resurfaced for air.
Think I’ll start a new life down here.
Home sweet home.
No pants, just like in real life.
—
This build of Rust is obviously still rough, but even in a bare-bones state it feels like Facepunch is on the right track. I’ll have to keep an eye on this. Guess they got me back on board.