Information

Platform
Coop Players	8
Developer	Re-Logic
Publisher	505 Games
Engine	Microsoft XNA
Release	May 16, 2011
Genres	Action, Platformer, Adventure, Sandbox

Ratings

Features

	Drop-In/Drop-Out Multiplayer
	Online Multiplayer

On Steam

Error parsing store.

Terraria

Terraria is a side-scrolling RPG and construction game, in the same vein as Minecraft. Like Minecraft, the graphics are designed to look like a mid-1990s game, but Terraria is a two-dimensional side-scroller rather than three-dimensional. Terraria also differs in that it has a greater focus on fighting enemies than it does on building.

While we did spend a lot of time playing Terraria, built a golden castle in the sky, crafted multiples of every single item, had hundreds of each of the rarest elements in the game, and killed every boss easily, the other side of the coin is that the last time we played the game, jet boots were infinite. This was before most of the content in the game now even existed. As a result, we don't really feel that our experience with the game is relevant enough to even bother rating it at this point.
UPDATE: We have played the game enough now in its most recent form to give it some ratings. They are below.

Ratings

Grit: One can argue that the game has some grit for a few reasons. One of us sees grit as more of a "how much determination do you need to progress" factor. In Terraria, you need a hell of a lot, because odds are you will not be having any fun what-so-ever. But if you disregard the grinding, and just focus on the content, there are still some grit-worthy situations. The bosses can be challenging if you are under-geared, making them both gritty and fun. That's about it, though.

Synergy: The synergy is pretty lack-luster. While it's not completely absent, it's certainly not a major point of the game. Working together basically just lets you divide up the "work". One person can mine, one can fight enemies, one can build, etc. That's still pretty much the sum of the whole equaling its parts.

Implementation: We found it hard to justify lowering the game's implementation score below this. There's nothing technically wrong with it. There are a couple of annoying bugs, but for the most part, everything works exactly as intended and delivers the experience you would expect. It's just... so... bad. The game is unplayable without a third-party map image generation program unless you are a masochist. It is also impossible to figure out what you need to craft stuff without consulting the game's Wiki. Can a game that doesn't even stand on its own really have an implementation of 7? I guess.
Note from Doug:Hah Hah Haaaaah. See that 7 Re-Logic? you owe me big time. I liked all the different craft-able stuff and the general implementation of the game. It's true though: this game isn't playable without lots of 3rd party assistance or an infinitely grindy dedication.

Longevity: Assuming you manage to grind through the game, it will last you a while. Grinding to get all the gear to fight the bosses will take many hours. However, most people won't play this game for more than a single play-session. If you can get a large group together, it might be a lot better, but playing with just a few people will get old fast - especially if you're not on equal ground.

Depth: The game doesn't have much in the way of depth. All it has is gear progression. That is not depth. You don't make any significant choices with your gear. You simply craft and use whatever the best gear you have available is. That's all there is to it.

Fun: There are exactly two things to do in the game: grind and build. If you like to build, you are probably better off playing Minecraft. If you like to grind, I'm sure there are many games more rewarding in their grind than this one. I guess there is one more thing, which is fight bosses. The bosses actually can be fun, but you have to do a bit of grinding just to summon them. They also make up such a minor part of the time spent playing Terraria, that we didn't feel it warranted more than a single point boost to the fun score, putting Terraria just slightly above the rank of "least fun game ever".