The Review: Did Terraria Hold Up Well With the Times?

Terraria hit it really big on release, with people often even calling it a 2D Minecraft, but better and, to be honest, I was one of those people. The game was new, it was fresh, and Minecraft updates were getting sporadic. Of course, it has been getting great reviews because of it, and had I written one, it would have been great to.

Now, a few months later, my perspective is a bit different. Don’t get me wrong. I still think the game is great. It’s fun to play, there are plenty of things to do in it, plenty of room for creativity. The fact that it’s 2D makes it easier for the developers to add a heap of stuff in every update, to change and improve on the mechanics, to increase the complexity and freedom of controls, without actually making them to complex.

What it doesn’t have, though, is that special something which compels you to keep playing. I went through the notions. I dug deeper and deeper, gathered stronger weapons and armor, killed the bosses and once all that was done, the game went on a figurative shelf. A patch would get some more stuff and I would start it up again to try it out, but that’s about it.

Minecraft, on the other hand, I still play regularly. Even when there’s months between patches, I still visit my base, build a new tower or explore another cave. I still get ideas on what to do next and what projects to start. With Terraria, this simply does not happen. I don’t know why this is.

At a glance, the games are nearly identical, especially now with the 1.8 update of Minecraft. Maybe it’s the lack of a dimension. Maybe because it’s 2D, the game doesn’t instill that “create & explore” desire that Minecraft lives on. In any case, both games are worth the money, only Minecraft is worth a bit more.