Review key provided by the publisher
I remember playing the PC version of Rust in its infancy stages. Right out of high school, I built my first gaming PC and picked up the games of my interest. Rust being one of them, I was excited to see a console release all of these years later. Unfortunately, even though I have grown older and evolved, it seems that Rust: Console Edition is stuck at the same place that Rust was when I first started playing. It’s a survival title that could have potential down the line but as it stands now, it’s a glorified Early Access title.
Gameplay
Most may assume that Rust: Console Edition is just a port of the PC version but that's not fully correct. Double Eleven has marketed this game as its own standalone version of Rust that at its core has the same mechanics as the OG version. It is a port but not in the traditional sense.
This version will follow its own roadmap and ties different aspects into itself apart from the PC version. I quite like that idea in theory but I have some issues with how they actually executed it. The majority of my gripes with the game are part of the actual gameplay and led me to feel disinterested in the game at all.
Rust: Console Edition drops players into a post-apocalyptic world. You spawn with nothing but a rock and a torch and from there, you’re left to your own devices. You’ll have to manage your health, hunger, and thirst in order to survive, but the elements too can have an impact on your character. It’s a mechanic that we’ve seen in most survival games but I actually like the way it’s done here more so than in other titles.
With your rock, you’re able to cut down trees to gather wood and smash boulders to harvest rocks. With these materials, you can craft your tools and resources needed in order to grow your camp into a huge base. Crafting itself is pretty simple (in a good way) and easy to pick up.
Wondering around this wasteland can actually be pretty fun. There's abandoned towns to scavenge for supplies in and different biomes that'll test your might. Some of the locations even have some smart platforming in order for you to progress to areas that other players might overlook. There is an adventure to be had here if you make it so.
I will say that the menus between your inventory and crafting can be a bit sloppy. There’s a bunch of different menus, especially when looting, and it can be quite cumbersome to get around in. I would’ve preferred a more console-friendly approach as this menu system is much better suited for PC.
Combat is pretty hit or miss for me. While it can be admittedly fun to continuously spawn and try to take out other players that have better resources, it can also get pretty irritating. You’ll be doing a lot of fighting too as most players don’t use mics and will kill you on sight. Hit detection is incredibly wonky, even when chopping down trees. So just imagine trying to have melee rock fights when neither you nor your target can make contact with each other.
Besides these issues, you’ll find many others such as enemy AI that’s ridiculously over-powered, wonky movement, and uneven gameplay mechanics that seemingly choose to work or not work at random. That’s just to name a few. I do appreciate seeing the game being updated frequently though. So much in fact that an issue I had has already been patched out entirely within a day.
Audio & Visuals
The obvious place where the game can look weak is in it's visuals. I really don’t have a problem with them myself, but from a critical standpoint, they’re not the best. Most people that don’t necessarily know what Rust is may pass on this just because of how dated it truly looks. Graphics don’t make a bad game better but they at least make it look more presentable. This looks about the same as OG Rust did back in 2013. I do have to give them credit though for making the sky box so nice looking.
What Could Have Been Better
Since this is supposed to be a standalone version of Rust from what you’d get on PC, I would’ve liked to see more flavor tossed in. The devs’ idea should’ve been to make it feel like it was worth a buy for players even if they’d already sunk over 100 hours into the PC version. This doesn’t feel like it’s worth it if you already own it on PC. I also strongly believe that controls and gameplay should’ve been tightened up before releasing this to the public. The game ultimately feels unfinished.
Verdict
Because of the roughness surrounding the majority of its core gameplay mechanics, this title feels like it’s still being tested. Hopefully, as it grows and more players take part, it could become something worth playing further. There’s opportunity for players to have some fun but it needs to be fully fleshed out in order for it to shine. As it stands now, it’s a ho-hum experience that gets further hampered down by its own shortcummings.
